delivery-velocitylisted

# Delivery Velocity An evidence-based playbook for maximum software delivery velocity. Every recommendation is grounded in specific empirical findings from DORA (39,000+ professionals), the Standish Group CHAOS database (50,000+ projects), QSM's 491-project analysis, McKinsey's Agile360 study (1,700+ teams), and peer-reviewed meta-analyses. **The novel insight from this evidence synthesis: delivery speed is not primarily a technical problem — it is an organizational and contractual one.** The largest velocity gains come from removing decision bottlenecks, shrinking scope, and structuring the engagement correctly. --- ## Core Thesis: Fix Time, Vary Scope The single highest-leverage structural decision for any delivery engagement is **fixed-time/variable-scope**. **The evidence:** - Standish Group CHAOS 2015: "Both satisfaction and value are greater when the features and functions delivered are much less than originally specified and only meet obvious needs." - CHAOS 2020: Agile projects succeed at **3× the rate** of waterfall projects (42% vs. 13%) - Small Agile projects: only a **4% failure rate** - Jalote et al. (2004, *Journal of Systems and Software*): pipelined timeboxing delivers **n× the throughput** of serial iterations for an n-stage pipeline - DuPont 1980s experiments: timeboxing achieved **80 function points per person-month** vs. 15–25 without — a 3–5× productivity gain **Implementation — Basecamp Shape Up "appetite" model:** 1. Set a time budget (appetite)