Great read David. Your article offers me some comfort for a huge project that I have just been allocated to. Your garage building analogy hits the nail on the head. From a DBA perspective, we have to have the big picture in mind as the iterations are being worked.

Up until now, I've worked with a more traditional software development methodology where detailed specifications are first written, reviewed, and then finally worked. This new project is using the agile approach and they have very little documentation on requirements or specifications. It's a bit scary for me as I like to plan a bit more. Luckily, I was able to sit with one of the main product guys and get the big picture before we start with the iterations.

Just curious, but what level of control do you give the DBA in your agile process? They are talking about having the Lead developers do the initial data modeling until they have a 'stable', working product and then passing ownership over to the DBAs. Have you experienced this type of approach before? How has your group gone about communicating the data model requirements back to your DBA team?