Chapter 2. Learning to Drive

I can remember clearly the day I first began learning to drive. My mother and I were driving up Interstate 5 near Chico, California; a straight, flat stretch of road where the highway stretches right to the horizon. My mom had me reach over from the passenger seat and hold the steering wheel. She let me get the feel of how the motion of the wheel affected the direction of the car. Then she told me, "Here's how you drive. Line the car up in the middle of the lane, straight toward the horizon."

I very carefully squinted straight down the road. I got the car smack dab in the middle of the lane, pointed right down the middle of the road. I was doing great. My mind wandered a little. . .

I jerked back to attention as the car hit the gravel. My mom (her courage now amazes me) gently got the car back straight on the road. My heart was pounding. Then she actually taught me about driving. "Driving is not about getting the car going in the right direction. Driving is about constantly paying attention, making a little correction this way, a little correction that way."

This is the paradigm for XP. Stay aware. Adapt. Change.