Waterfall Method: A Colossal Blunder!

Larman, Craig. Agile and Iterative Development. Addison Wesley, 2003.

I have received many requests for documentation of project failures caused by the waterfall method and the history of the many disasters introduced by accident when the Department of Defense standardized on a method that was unproven on large projects and essentially, a blunder by a consultant who had little experience with real software development.

The DOD has long since abandoned the waterfall method, and the consultant has recanted, but the waterfall approach persists as an urban myth in many software development organizations. Craig Larman details and documents this historical tragedy in Chapter Six of his book which compares the two leading agile methods, SCRUM and XP, along with RUP and Evo, an early iterative method.

This five star book is certainly required reading for anyone interested in Scrum, particularly those who are ScrumMasters.