Procrustean Beds and a Case for Agile Methods in Dynamic Systems
A practical framework for succession and governance planning in a world of unknown unknowns
Theseus, son of the King of Athens, was raised in a small town and grew into a strong young man. When his mother decided the time had come, she told him to take his sword and sandals and set out for Athens.
After days on the road, Theseus grew weary and saw a large house ahead. He knocked on the door to ask for a place to spend the night, and a man appeared and welcomed him in.
“Come in—you look tired,” the man said. “My name is Procrustes. I have a magic bed you can sleep on. It is exactly six feet long, and it fits anyone, short or tall.”
Procrustes’ “magic” iron bed did fit anyone, but only in a brutal way. If a guest was too short, he would chain their arms and legs and stretch them until they fit. If a guest was too tall, he would cut off their legs and arms until they were “just right.”
The Agile Method
Until the 1990s so-called “waterfall” methods prevailed in the world of software development. Waterfall is the process of performing development phases in sequential order driven by a central design specification. The developers define all the requirements at the outset, scrutinize existing systems, analyze the proposed system and design all features and operations in detail and set out to build according to the spec.
