{"id":13634,"date":"2026-06-09T07:18:49","date_gmt":"2026-06-09T05:18:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/deltaagile.com\/?p=13634"},"modified":"2026-06-28T14:01:14","modified_gmt":"2026-06-28T12:01:14","slug":"why-all-development-cycles-look-alike","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/deltaagile.com\/en\/why-all-development-cycles-look-alike\/","title":{"rendered":"WHY DO ALL DEVELOPMENT CYCLES LOOK SO SIMILAR"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t<div data-elementor-type=\"wp-post\" data-elementor-id=\"13634\" class=\"elementor elementor-13634 elementor-13603\" data-elementor-post-type=\"post\">\n\t\t\t\t<div data-particle_enable=\"false\" data-particle-mobile-disabled=\"false\" class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-2adc469 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"2adc469\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-b8ee4df elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"b8ee4df\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">INTRODUCTION<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-e10f73d elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"e10f73d\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>The Agile world loves creating new models, diagrams, and cycles. Scrum has its own cycle of events, Lean Startup talks about Build-Measure-Learn, Lean UX uses Think-Make-Check, and Deming introduced PDSA. At first glance, these appear to be different approaches with different terminology and different areas of application. However, when we look at them more closely, we discover that they all describe a surprisingly similar idea. Whether we are developing software, designing a new product, improving a manufacturing process, or making tactical decisions, we always follow the same pattern:    <\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-e2cb1ef elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"e2cb1ef\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<ul><li>we move a step forward,<\/li><li>check the real world response,<\/li><li>learn something and<\/li><li>adjust further action in the light of new information.<\/li><\/ul><p>This pattern is significantly older than Scrum, Kanban, or any modern Agile framework. It represents one of the fundamental principles of operating successfully in complex and uncertain environments: <strong>Humans are not very good at predicting the future, so we must continuously test our plans in practice and adapt them whenever necessary.<\/strong> <\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-ab5f93e elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"ab5f93e\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>In the following sections, we will examine the most well-known development cycles and show that behind their different names lie the same fundamental pattern and purpose.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-4f2c0c4 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"4f2c0c4\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">DEVELOPMENT CYCLES<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-53fe5d6 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"53fe5d6\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">PDCA (Plan-Do-Check-Act)<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-05ce945 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"05ce945\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>The Shewhart Cycle, as a fundamental concept in quality management, is a systematic, iterative process designed to improve and control quality in a variety of organisational processes.<\/p><p>The basic principles of the PDCA cycle are based on four key phases:<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-74768c4 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"74768c4\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<ul><li><strong>Plan<\/strong> is about identifying a problem or an opportunity for improvement and developing a strategy to address it.<\/li><li>The purpose of the <strong>Do<\/strong> is to implement the Plan to the minimum extent necessary to verify its effectiveness.<\/li><li><strong>Check:<\/strong> the results (Do) are measured and analysed to see if the solution is working as expected.<\/li><li><strong>Act<\/strong> is action based on results. We decide either to standardise the validated (Check) strategy organisationally, or to return to the Plan phase for further improvements. <\/li><\/ul><p>This cyclical process encourages continuous improvement and adaptability of organisational processes. The value of the PDCA process was recognised early on by Toyota, which implemented it in a minimally modified form as part of its Toyota Production System (TPS). The PDCA cycle manifests itself in at least two TPM loops:  <\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-bd9ac14 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"bd9ac14\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<ul><li><strong>Jidoka<\/strong> (Detect &#8211; Stop &#8211; Fix &#8211; Prevent recurrence)<\/li><li><strong>Andon cord<\/strong> (Signal &#8211; Investigate &#8211; Resolve &#8211; Learn)<\/li><\/ul>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-7a9021b elementor-widget elementor-widget-image\" data-id=\"7a9021b\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"image.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"477\" height=\"460\" src=\"https:\/\/deltaagile.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/PDCA.webp\" class=\"attachment-large size-large wp-image-13609\" alt=\"Razvojni cikli\" srcset=\"https:\/\/deltaagile.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/PDCA.webp 477w, https:\/\/deltaagile.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/PDCA-300x289.webp 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 477px) 100vw, 477px\" title=\"\">\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-5515214 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"5515214\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">PDSA (Plan-Do-Study-Act)<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-3c215b9 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"3c215b9\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>Deming&#8217;s PDSA cycle is the successor to PDCA. The difference between the two is largely semantic, but if we want to be precise, we could say that: <\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-dcaa750 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"dcaa750\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<ul><li><strong>PDSA <\/strong>places greater emphasis on analysis (the <strong>Study <\/strong>phase) and understanding causality. This is intended to be more useful in environments where we want to avoid superficial analysis and generic solutions. <\/li><li><strong>IPDCA <\/strong><strong>Check <\/strong>phase is intended to measure concrete results before moving on to the next phase. It is therefore more execution-oriented. <\/li><\/ul>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-2fe4c90 elementor-widget elementor-widget-image\" data-id=\"2fe4c90\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"image.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" width=\"477\" height=\"475\" src=\"https:\/\/deltaagile.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/PDSA.webp\" class=\"attachment-large size-large wp-image-13611\" alt=\"Razvojni cikli\" srcset=\"https:\/\/deltaagile.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/PDSA.webp 477w, https:\/\/deltaagile.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/PDSA-300x300.webp 300w, https:\/\/deltaagile.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/PDSA-150x150.webp 150w, https:\/\/deltaagile.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/PDSA-100x100.webp 100w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 477px) 100vw, 477px\" title=\"\">\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-335dec9 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"335dec9\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Lean Startup (Build-Measure-Learn)<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-1d2d901 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"1d2d901\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>The Build-Measure-Learn (BML) cycle is probably the most influential concept in modern product development, popularised by Eric Ries in his 2011 book <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.de\/-\/en\/Lean-Startup-Entrepreneurs-Continuous-Innovation\/dp\/1524762407\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">The Lean Startup<\/a>. The BML loop emphasises learning from collected data in order to develop better products. For product managers, following this approach is essential as it moves product success from the domain of guesswork into the domain of empirically validated hypotheses.   <\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-69dfe3a elementor-widget elementor-widget-image\" data-id=\"69dfe3a\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"image.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" width=\"477\" height=\"466\" src=\"https:\/\/deltaagile.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/BML.webp\" class=\"attachment-large size-large wp-image-13613\" alt=\"Razvojni cikli\" srcset=\"https:\/\/deltaagile.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/BML.webp 477w, https:\/\/deltaagile.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/BML-300x293.webp 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 477px) 100vw, 477px\" title=\"\">\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-f426481 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"f426481\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Lean UX (Think-Make-Check)<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-ec1e963 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"ec1e963\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>Lean Startup is a business framework for figuring out what to develop in order to offer some useful value to the market. On the other hand, <strong>Lean UX<\/strong> is a design framework for figuring out how to realise the identified functionalities in the most user-friendly and functionally intuitive way. <\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-b28358c elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"b28358c\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<ul><li><strong>Think <\/strong>phase is designed to define the problem, formulate assumptions, hypothesise solutions and better understand the users.<\/li><li><strong>Make<\/strong> phase is designed to turn ideas into real solutions. This includes wireframes, low-fidelity (usually) prototypes and alternatives. The aim is to test as many hypotheses as possible in a short time.  <\/li><li>In the <strong>Check<\/strong> phase, we test our hypotheses on real users. This can be done using qualitative methods (user testing, interviews, surveys) or quantitative methods (A\/B testing, Wizard-Of-Oz prototype, Fake door prototype, in-app analytics, etc.). <\/li><\/ul>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-0b87f20 elementor-widget elementor-widget-image\" data-id=\"0b87f20\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"image.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"603\" height=\"456\" src=\"https:\/\/deltaagile.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/TMC.webp\" class=\"attachment-large size-large wp-image-13615\" alt=\"Razvojni cikli\" srcset=\"https:\/\/deltaagile.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/TMC.webp 603w, https:\/\/deltaagile.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/TMC-300x227.webp 300w, https:\/\/deltaagile.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/TMC-600x454.webp 600w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 603px) 100vw, 603px\" title=\"\">\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-91712bd elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"91712bd\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Design Thinking (Empathize-Define-Ideate-Prototype-Test)<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-bf5d5d0 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"bf5d5d0\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>This cycle has been developed independently of the Agile or Lean community. Design Thinking is a problem-solving approach that places particular emphasis on understanding users and their needs. Although it is often presented as a sequence of five steps, in practice it is an iterative process, where new insights can lead back to any previous phase.  <\/p><p>The stages are:<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-c03e8f8 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"c03e8f8\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<ul><li><strong>Empathize<\/strong> is designed to understand users and their environment.<\/li><li><strong>Define<\/strong> helps to formulate the problem we want to solve.<\/li><li><strong>Ideate<\/strong> encourages the generation of different possible solutions.<\/li><li><strong>Prototype<\/strong> turns ideas into tangible artefacts.<\/li><li><strong>Test<\/strong> verifies solutions on real users.<\/li><\/ul>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-d1b49ae elementor-widget elementor-widget-image\" data-id=\"d1b49ae\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"image.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"768\" height=\"776\" src=\"https:\/\/deltaagile.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Design-Thinking-768x776.webp\" class=\"attachment-medium_large size-medium_large wp-image-13617\" alt=\"Razvojni cikli\" srcset=\"https:\/\/deltaagile.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Design-Thinking-768x776.webp 768w, https:\/\/deltaagile.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Design-Thinking-297x300.webp 297w, https:\/\/deltaagile.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Design-Thinking-600x607.webp 600w, https:\/\/deltaagile.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Design-Thinking-100x100.webp 100w, https:\/\/deltaagile.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Design-Thinking.webp 1000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" title=\"\">\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-678322f elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"678322f\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Scrum<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-a0a4ace elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"a0a4ace\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>Unlike many other Agile and Lean approaches, <a href=\"https:\/\/deltaagile.com\/en\/produkt\/scrum-master-course\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Scrum<\/a> does not define its own development cycle. It has no equivalent of PDSA, Build-Measure-Learn or Think-Make-Check. Instead, it emphasizes empiricism, the pillars of which are <strong>Transparency<\/strong>, <strong>Inspection<\/strong> and <strong>Adaptation<\/strong>. Scrum puts these principles into practice in Sprint through events such as:   <\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-71ac453 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"71ac453\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<ul><li><strong>Sprint Planning<\/strong><\/li><li><strong>Daily Scrum<\/strong><\/li><li><strong>Sprint Review<\/strong><\/li><li><strong>Sprint Retrospective<\/strong><\/li><\/ul><p>Although Scrum does not name its cycle, the basic idea is the same as in other approaches: <strong>regularly checking the results of work and adjusting further development based on the information obtained<\/strong>.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-5b7866b elementor-widget elementor-widget-image\" data-id=\"5b7866b\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"image.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"999\" height=\"480\" src=\"https:\/\/deltaagile.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Scrum.webp\" class=\"attachment-large size-large wp-image-13619\" alt=\"Razvojni cikli\" srcset=\"https:\/\/deltaagile.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Scrum.webp 999w, https:\/\/deltaagile.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Scrum-300x144.webp 300w, https:\/\/deltaagile.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Scrum-768x369.webp 768w, https:\/\/deltaagile.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Scrum-600x288.webp 600w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 999px) 100vw, 999px\" title=\"\">\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-a12dc44 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"a12dc44\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">OODA loop (Observe-Orient-Decide-Act)<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-ab59f47 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"ab59f47\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>The OODA is a decision-making framework consisting of four phases:<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-0aa4b4a elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"0aa4b4a\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<ul><li><strong>Observe,<\/strong><\/li><li><strong>Orient,<\/strong><\/li><li><strong>Decide,<\/strong><\/li><li><strong>Act.<\/strong><\/li><\/ul><p>This iterative process was developed by military strategist <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/OODA_loop\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">John Boyd<\/a>. By continuously cycling through these phases, the concept helps individuals and organisations make effective decisions in rapidly changing environments. <\/p><p>Due to its military origin, the use of the OODA loop is based on two assumptions.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-1904b99 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"1904b99\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<ul><li>The first is that there is always an opponent. In business, it is the competitor we are trying to overtake. <\/li><li>The second assumption is that speed is an advantage. If we make a good decision faster than our opponent, we are likely to win. <\/li><\/ul><p>Many agile practitioners unknowingly use the OODA loop.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-398a35b elementor-widget elementor-widget-image\" data-id=\"398a35b\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"image.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"640\" height=\"340\" src=\"https:\/\/deltaagile.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/OODA.webp\" class=\"attachment-large size-large wp-image-13621\" alt=\"Razvojni cikli\" srcset=\"https:\/\/deltaagile.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/OODA.webp 640w, https:\/\/deltaagile.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/OODA-300x159.webp 300w, https:\/\/deltaagile.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/OODA-600x319.webp 600w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" title=\"\">\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-b8b9cd5 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"b8b9cd5\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">SUMMARY<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-07cda5f elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"07cda5f\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>Let us group the described cycles according to the predominant fields of application:<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-9a05b17 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"9a05b17\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<ul><li>Quality \u21d2 <strong>PDCA\/PDSA<\/strong><\/li><li>Production \u21d2 <strong>TPS<\/strong><\/li><li>Software \u21d2 <strong>Scrum<\/strong><\/li><li>Startups \u21d2 <strong>Lean Startup<\/strong><\/li><li>UX \u21d2 <strong>Lean UX<\/strong><\/li><li>Product Design \u21d2 <strong>Design Thinking<\/strong><\/li><li>Military Strategy \u21d2 <strong>OODA<\/strong><\/li><\/ul><p>Seven different fields, seven different terminologies, all arriving at practically the same learning loop:<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-6820bf6 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"6820bf6\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><strong>Assumption &#8211; Action &#8211; Feedback &#8211; Learning &#8211; Adaptation<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-95a619b elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"95a619b\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>Only the terminology changes. It just depends on whether the focus is on quality, user experience (UX), product discovery, software development or organisational optimisation. <\/p><p>Whether one uses PDCA, PDSA, OODA&#8230; or any framework that has not yet been invented, the basic message of product cycles is the same:<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-b929f05 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"b929f05\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<ul><li><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><strong>We can&#8217;t know everything in advance (we are not clairvoyant).<\/strong><\/span><\/li><li><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><strong>Reality is a better teacher than plans.  <\/strong><\/span><\/li><li><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><strong>Learning requires contact with real users, customers and environments.  <\/strong><\/span><\/li><li><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><strong>Development must therefore proceed through a sequence of learning loops (iterations).  <\/strong><\/span><\/li><li><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><strong>New information must be able to influence what we develop next (adaptation).  <\/strong><\/span><\/li><\/ul><p>This is one of the reasons why many practitioners of Agile and Lean approaches become sceptical of methodologies that focus mainly on process mechanics and not enough on feedback processing (SAFe, RUP, PRINCE2).<\/p><p>Events, artefacts and role names may vary, but the underlying issue is always the same:<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-4562c20 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"4562c20\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><strong>How quickly are we able to determine whether we are building the right product?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-967784b elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"967784b\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>I do not think this article requires an explicit recommendation for development practice. Humans are bad at predicting the future, so successful systems are designed to learn from reality faster than their competitors. <\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>INTRODUCTION The Agile world loves creating new models, diagrams, and cycles. Scrum has its own cycle of events, Lean Startup talks about Build-Measure-Learn, Lean UX uses Think-Make-Check, and Deming introduced PDSA. At first glance, these appear to be different approaches with different terminology and different areas of application. However, when we look at them more [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13606,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[74],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13634","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interesting"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/deltaagile.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13634","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/deltaagile.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/deltaagile.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deltaagile.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deltaagile.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13634"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/deltaagile.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13634\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13643,"href":"https:\/\/deltaagile.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13634\/revisions\/13643"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deltaagile.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13606"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/deltaagile.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13634"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deltaagile.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13634"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deltaagile.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13634"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}