On 14 December 1911, four men led by Roald Amundsen became the first humans to reach the South Pole. Thirty-five days later, Robert F. Scott and four others followed. Amundsen had won the race to the pole. Amundsen's party returned to base on 26 January 1912. Scott's party perished. As historical drama, why this happened is interesting enough, but to people engaged in product development, the story is fascinating. Lessons abound. Among the more important lessons are those that demonstrate the power of the agile approach to project management and product development.

The agile approach to product development can be regarded as a member of a class of methodologies that has probably been with us for a very, very long time -- in all probability, millennia. Among contemporary processes, this class includes, among many, instances known as agile development, maneuver warfare, blitzkrieg, nohuddle offense, float-like-a-butterfly-sting-like-a-bee, lean manufacturing, and OODA. All of these process paradigms share a single central principle:
 

Success depends on being the most agile and efficient among the field of contenders.

In this program, we’ll explore one particular illustration of the power of the agile approach: the Race to the South Pole. Because agile methodology has implications for leadership, planning, scope management, risk management, improvisation, discipline, organizational politics, team dynamics, technology management and project complexity, it created, in each of these dimensions, sharp contrasts between the two polar expeditions. We’ll reach a deeper understanding of what makes agile processes so powerful. And we’ll do it in the interesting and novel context of the race to the South Pole.

Rick Brenner is principal of Chaco Canyon Consulting. He works with people in problem-solving organizations that are making products so novel or complex that they need state-of-the-art teamwork and stronger relationships among their people. In his 25 years as a software developer, project manager, software development manager, entrepreneur and consultant, he has developed valuable insights into the interactions between people in the workplace environment, and between people and the media in which they work. He coaches managers at all levels, emphasizing development of interpersonal skills.

Mr. Brenner has held positions at Symbolics, Inc., and at Draper Laboratory, both of Cambridge, Massachusetts. At Symbolics, he was responsible for development of products based on Macsyma, a computer algebra system. At Draper, he was a principal investigator in a DARPA program, the Evolutionary Design of Complex Software, where he conducted research into advanced concepts for software development environments based on dynamic object-oriented programming languages. Since 1993, he has taught a course in business modeling at the Harvard University Extension School.

Mr. Brenner holds a Masters Degree in Electrical Engineering from MIT. His current interests focus on improving personal and organizational effectiveness in abnormal situations, such as dramatic change, enterprise emergencies, and high-pressure project situations. He has written a number of essays on these subjects, available at his Web site, http://www.ChacoCanyon.com/, and writes and edits a weekly email newsletter, Point Lookout.