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Wild West to Agile: Adventures in Software Development Evolution and Revolution
Wild West to Agile: The evolution and revolution of software development, drawn from personal experience, from the Apollo moon mission to digital transformations.
In 2023, "technology is your business--no matter what your business." But how did we get here and how could a historical perspective prepare us for the future?
Jim Highsmith tackles the evolution and revolution of software development, embellishes them with personal experiences, from the Apollo moon mission to modern digital transformations, and introduces the adventurous pioneers--from structured era developer Ken Orr to Agile methodologist Kent Beck--who strived to make the world a better place, by building better software.
Jim's six-decade career has encompassed the Wild West (1966-1979), to Structured Methods and Monumental Methodologies (1980s), to the Roots of Agile (1990s), to the present Agile Era (2001-present). In each era, he explores the evolution of software development methods, methodologies, and mindsets.
Whether you are from the 1970-1980's generation looking for an "I was there too" moment, a newer generation interested in the evolution of software development, the Agile generation interested in how Agile methodologies were born and evolved, or have a general interest in information technology, Wild West to Agile has something for you.
"Jim Highsmith is the Forrest Gump of software development. What made the 1994 movie so entertaining was how frequently Forrest found himself in the right spot as history was being made. Unlike Forrest, though, Jim's actions influenced that history."
--Mike Cohn, cofounder of the Agile Alliance, and the Scrum Alliance; author of Succeeding with Agile
"If you want to understand the shape of software development today, this is the book for you. If you want to understand how to navigate a turbulent career with grace & style, this is also the book for you. If you enjoy memoirs, ditto. Enjoy his story."
--Kent Beck, Chief Scientist, Mechanical Orchard; author, Extreme Programming Explained
"This entire journey--beginning with the Wild West era of software development through the Agile Era to today's Digital Transformation era--is entirely empowered by people. Thank you, Jim, for sharing these beautiful stories and honoring the people that were a part of this amazing journey."
--Heidi J. Musser, Vice President and CIO, USAA, retired
"I've always felt that understanding history is important, because it's hard to understand where we are unless you understand the path that we took to get here. Jim's memoir is an entertaining and astute odyssey through this history."
--Martin Fowler, Chief Scientist, Thoughtworks
In 2023, "technology is your business--no matter what your business." But how did we get here and how could a historical perspective prepare us for the future?
Jim Highsmith tackles the evolution and revolution of software development, embellishes them with personal experiences, from the Apollo moon mission to modern digital transformations, and introduces the adventurous pioneers--from structured era developer Ken Orr to Agile methodologist Kent Beck--who strived to make the world a better place, by building better software.
Jim's six-decade career has encompassed the Wild West (1966-1979), to Structured Methods and Monumental Methodologies (1980s), to the Roots of Agile (1990s), to the present Agile Era (2001-present). In each era, he explores the evolution of software development methods, methodologies, and mindsets.
Whether you are from the 1970-1980's generation looking for an "I was there too" moment, a newer generation interested in the evolution of software development, the Agile generation interested in how Agile methodologies were born and evolved, or have a general interest in information technology, Wild West to Agile has something for you.
"Jim Highsmith is the Forrest Gump of software development. What made the 1994 movie so entertaining was how frequently Forrest found himself in the right spot as history was being made. Unlike Forrest, though, Jim's actions influenced that history."
--Mike Cohn, cofounder of the Agile Alliance, and the Scrum Alliance; author of Succeeding with Agile
"If you want to understand the shape of software development today, this is the book for you. If you want to understand how to navigate a turbulent career with grace & style, this is also the book for you. If you enjoy memoirs, ditto. Enjoy his story."
--Kent Beck, Chief Scientist, Mechanical Orchard; author, Extreme Programming Explained
"This entire journey--beginning with the Wild West era of software development through the Agile Era to today's Digital Transformation era--is entirely empowered by people. Thank you, Jim, for sharing these beautiful stories and honoring the people that were a part of this amazing journey."
--Heidi J. Musser, Vice President and CIO, USAA, retired
"I've always felt that understanding history is important, because it's hard to understand where we are unless you understand the path that we took to get here. Jim's memoir is an entertaining and astute odyssey through this history."
--Martin Fowler, Chief Scientist, Thoughtworks
Kindle Edition
Published May 17, 2023
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
July 8, 2025
Entretenido para alguien en las tecnologías de información y con miras a prepararse como Project Manager
June 24, 2023
It’s quite an interesting approach of several “braids”-autobiography, history of software methodologies and people with the Agile as presumed pinnacle.
At the same time, it’s getting more shallow and lifeless-“consultancy speak”, as the author moved to consulting for the 40 years of his career. You feel his perspective of an outsider, not even trying to be “empathetic” anywhere but in words.
One example: a “courageous executive”, hero of one of Agile adoption story is declaring on Friday to the team, that’s they are moving to open space from their personal offices on Monday. The author -being a road warrior-seems to be completely ignorant to the fact that not all of developers are happy with such announcements from managers.
And overall-the author doesn’t see the “dark side” of Agile at all. It’s not that I’m saying that Agile is bad -but in many cases it is misused to push low quality code and push teams to overwork.
At the same time, it’s getting more shallow and lifeless-“consultancy speak”, as the author moved to consulting for the 40 years of his career. You feel his perspective of an outsider, not even trying to be “empathetic” anywhere but in words.
One example: a “courageous executive”, hero of one of Agile adoption story is declaring on Friday to the team, that’s they are moving to open space from their personal offices on Monday. The author -being a road warrior-seems to be completely ignorant to the fact that not all of developers are happy with such announcements from managers.
And overall-the author doesn’t see the “dark side” of Agile at all. It’s not that I’m saying that Agile is bad -but in many cases it is misused to push low quality code and push teams to overwork.
January 6, 2024
In general, I vote:
* 5 stars for books anyone, anywhere should read
* 4 stars for books that anyone interested in the topic should read
* 3 stars for books that might be a good read if you are interested in the topic
It was hard to rate this book.
* it is an autobiography. For that, I would rate it a 4 star.
* it is a history of Agile. For that, I would rate it a 3 start. Partial, and lengthy, I wanted to skip and go forward multiple times.
* 5 stars for books anyone, anywhere should read
* 4 stars for books that anyone interested in the topic should read
* 3 stars for books that might be a good read if you are interested in the topic
It was hard to rate this book.
* it is an autobiography. For that, I would rate it a 4 star.
* it is a history of Agile. For that, I would rate it a 3 start. Partial, and lengthy, I wanted to skip and go forward multiple times.
June 5, 2023
Got the book and couldn’t put it down. Following Jim’s journey and the way he tied it into both software development approaches and technology/history events spanning 6 decades was great. It helped me remember my own great stories from 4 decades, so far. It’s a classic. If you want to truly understand the roots of agile practices, this is a must-read!! Thank you Jim!
July 6, 2023
Terrible, awful, self-centered book.
Given the cool title, I was curious. Then, seeing the table of contents organized as a history of agility by decade, I was intrigued.
But the contents simply detail one persons experience with countless companies and methodologies. No learnings for me whatsoever.
Given the cool title, I was curious. Then, seeing the table of contents organized as a history of agility by decade, I was intrigued.
But the contents simply detail one persons experience with countless companies and methodologies. No learnings for me whatsoever.
March 17, 2024
I quite liked this one. It helps that the author is into mountaineering and rockclimbing (so am I) and he's able to connect that with software development.
As someone who only started coding in the mid-2000s I missed a lot of the backstory of how we ended up where we are. This book gave me an appreciation for what came before. It also laid out a bit of a roadmap for the future.
July 19, 2023
Great Story on the History of Agile
There has been a lot said about the history of agile and the intent behind it. This is a great story from someone who was there and found better ways of working by doing the work and helping others do the work.
There has been a lot said about the history of agile and the intent behind it. This is a great story from someone who was there and found better ways of working by doing the work and helping others do the work.
May 30, 2023
Amazing heartfelt historical journey of Jim's life and ways of working / agile. A fun, read with lots of great learning about how agile came to be. Must read for anyone curious on the topic.
December 9, 2024
Nice title, but the mix of personal anecdotes, projects the author was involved with and the history lesion did not work for me.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews