Iteration or Target State Planning

This episode explores the dichotomy between iterative planning and target state planning in software development, discussing the benefits and drawbacks of each approach and providing decision factors to help you choose the most appropriate method for your situation.

• Understand the core difference between iterative planning, which emphasises agility and responding to change with short planning horizons, and target state planning, which involves laying out a more defined long-term direction.
• Discover that while iterative planning is often considered the "right way" for software development, target state planning can be valuable for setting a general direction, which can be updated as you learn.
• Learn why addressing problems atomically in an iterative fashion can be valid, but that evaluating multiple potential improvements together with a target state in mind can lead to better coordination, efficiency, and consistency.
• Explore the decision factors that might lead you to favour iterative planning, such as high uncertainty, learning-focused work (discovery, prototypes), and fast feedback loops.
• Understand the decision factors that might lead you to favour target state planning, such as clarity on the problem, working in production with high coupling, regulatory/safety risks, slow feedback loops, high cost of mistakes, broad scope of impact, and high coordination costs.
• Learn why choosing a planning method by default is a warning sign, and that considering the usefulness of upfront planning without being limited by dogma is important.
• Understand that upfront planning (target state) can enable adaptation as you learn, and that negative perceptions of it often stem from costly, incorrect plans that were difficult to change.
• Discover that the choice between iterative and target state planning is a spectrum rather than a pure dichotomy, and that a target state doesn't necessarily need to be a long-term plan.

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