Iterative and Incremental Principle Series 1: The Dreaded Assignment
- by llowitz
A few days ago, while making breakfast for my teenage son… he turned to me and happily exclaimed, “I really like how my high school Government class assigns our reading homework. In middle school, we had to read a chapter each week. Everyone dreaded it. In high school, our teacher assigns us a section or two every day. We still end up reading a chapter each week, but this way is so much easier and I’m actually remembered what I’ve read!”
Wow! Once I recovered from my initial shock that my high school son actually initiated conversation with me, it struck me that he was describing one of the five basic OUM principles -- Iterative and Incremental. Not only did he describe how his teacher divided a week long assignment into daily increments, but he went on to communicate some of the major benefits of having shorter, more achievable milestones.
I started to think about other applications of the iterative and incremental approach and I realized that I had incorporated this approach when I recently rededicated myself to physical fitness. Join me over the next four days as I present an Iterative and Incremental blog series where I relate my personal experience incorporating the iterative and incremental approach and the benefits that I achieved.