A completely hypothetical conversation between an IT Manager and a lead programmer. I hope you'll add to it.

-- KenMcKelvey

'''ItManager''' 
	[he says]:	''"We've got to do something.  We have a pattern of releasing software months behind schedule.  We are frequently over budget, and our software has far too many defects."''
	[he thinks]:	''"I've been pouring money into these programmers and all I get is bad estimates and poor software.  The CIO is on my ass and its making me look bad."''

'''LeadProgrammer:'''
	[he hears]:	''"The CIO is on my ass and its making me look bad. You've got to fix it."''
	[he says]:	''"I agree, we have a problem, but its an organizational problem, not specifically a programming problem. I've been reading up on a software development discipline that I believe could fix these problems."''
	[he thinks]:	''"Oh gawd, I'm going to have to tell him its called 'Extreme Programming'. Why couldn't this be called the 'Beck Model for Accurate Development Estimation and Increased Quality'?".''

'''ItManager:'''
	[he hears]:	''"Hey, its not my fault, you're going to have to change some stuff around here."''
	[he says]:	''"I'd love to hear your ideas."''
	[he thinks]:	''"If these programmers would just buckle-down and code instead of worrying about new techniques and tools, they would meet their deadlines.  That's what I used to do."''

'''LeadProgrammer:'''
	[he hears]:	''"Go ahead and tell me about it, I'm desperate enough to give you a listen."''
	[he says]:	''"Well, I think our problems can be broken down into three general areas: one, inadequate communication among programmers and between the programmers and customers; two, overly complex and detailed specifications and programs; and three, untimely/incomplete detection of application defects. The core principles of the model I've been reading about are communication, simplicity, feedback, and courage.  If we follow this model, I believe we could really improve our estimation process while at the same time providing higher quality software."''
	[he thinks]:	''"Please don't ask me what this discipline is called."''

'''ItManager:'''
	[he hears]:	''"We need more meetings, less documentation, and more people assigned to testing."''
	[he says]:	''"What is this discipline called?"''
	[he thinks]:	''"This 'courage' thing has me worried..."''

'''LeadProgrammer:'''
	[he hears]:	''"What is this discipline called?"''
	[he says]:	''"XP"''
	[he thinks]:	''"Oh shit..."''

'''ItManager:'''
	[he hears]:	''"Microsoft XP"''
	[he says]:	''"Oh yea, I've heard of that, its part of Microsoft's new operating system.  I didn't realize Microsoft incorporated a new programming discipline into that release."''
	[he thinks]:	''"This isn't so bad, anything Microsoft came up with must be pretty good."''

'''LeadProgrammer:'''
	[he hears]:	''"Excuse me, but I'm not so smart. You're going to have to skip the acronym and spell it out for me."''
	[he says]:	''"No, its not a Microsoft product.  It stands for 'Extreme Programming'."''
	[he thinks]:	''"Courage..Courage..Courage..."''

'''ItManager:'''
	[he hears]:	''"bla bla ....EXTREME.... bla bla"''
	[he says]:	''"Hmm. That sounds very... umm... interesting..."''
	[he thinks]:	''"Shit, that name scares me! It must be CowboyCoding again. We have to get our CMM level"''

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I think it's interesting that your conversation is documented in a similar form to the "two-column" method described by PeterSenge in his book ''TheFifthDiscipline : The art and science of the learning organization.''  Was this somehow in your mind when you wrote this? 

Nope, never heard of it.  This was strictly StreamOfConsciousness.

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Excellent! A very good example of DontCallItExtreme. I wonder if it would be worthwhile to write up some AcceptanceTestsForMethodologies.