The subtitle of Extreme Programming Explained , Kent Beck’s groundbreaking book, is “Embrace Change.” The full range of behaviors that this seemingly simple phrase can be affect are in fact very far-reaching. Part of this impact can be explained by altering the focus of the phrase to one that is a little, well, fuzzier: embrace uncertainty. In his intriguing talk on the future of agile development at the Agile 2008 conference, David Anderson commented about three outcomes: right, wrong, and uncertain. Of the three, uncertainty, is the hardest to deal with in most organizations. The comment, “I don’t know,” is often an unacceptable response, while it is often the best response. To a manager’s question, …

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