Requirements Change All the Time!

I have heard countless teams complain that “requirements change all the time!”

Many developers crave stability. Constantly shifting priorities can feel like an endless source of frustration. Many blame stakeholders, product owners, business analysts, believing they should spend more time figuring out what they really want before disrupting the team’s flow.

But requirements change for a reason and teams must understand that. Sometimes it happens because the original objectives were unclear. Other times, it is because new opportunities emerge, and adapting to them creates a competitive advantage.

A truly agile team does not resist change. It embraces it.

XP’s core philosophy is “embrace change” and The Manifesto for Agile Software Development says “Welcome changing requirements, even late in development. Agile processes harness change for the customer’s competitive advantage.”

The real challenge is that many teams are not equipped to handle change. They lack the mindset, structure, and resourcefulness to turn it into an advantage. To use Joshua Kerievsky’s words in his excellent Joy of Agility, they are not poised to adapt and don’t know how to be readily resourceful.

My view is that organisations need to rethink how they operate. Instead of enforcing rigid chains of command where decisions flow downward, they should function more like cybernetic loops.

The people closest to the problem should determine the solutions, responding dynamically to external changes. Their insights feed back into the organisation, shaping the next iteration of strategy and refining business initiatives.

Instead of pushing information up the chain, authority should flow to those with the right knowledge, creating a continuous cycle of adaptation and learning:

Push authority to information, not information to authority — L. David Marquet

The best teams do not just tolerate change. They are built for it.

Originally posted on LinkedIn.