The cost of beginning too soon or too late is high, and potentially fatal. It is therefore critical to develop ways to recognize the initial signs of difficulty and create methods to reduce the pain involved in reworking the firm. These are evidenced in the behavior of the individuals that compose the company, as well as the quality of the product and ability to deliver on schedule. A Wizard captures within himself or herself the magical incantations hidden deep within the fabric of the code universe. These mysteries must be explained, so as the project stabilizes a Wizard becomes an Engineer .
Engineers work best with a defined path and established, best-practice procedures.
Some of the costs and benefits of this transition are establishment of a uniform process, easier transmission of process and system structure information to new employees. On the other hand, Engineers foster a more deliberate pace of development, restricted innovation opportunities and require multiple information sources for the full-system picture. Since a Guru represents the wisdom of the system, the natural transition type is the Architect . This transition is represented by the need to capture and publish the system-level knowledge. The final transition to discuss is the Saint to a Manager.