I mentioned Tom DeMarco just a couple of days ago. I'm re-reading his great book, Why Does Software Cost So Much? for the first time in about ten years.

Personally, I credit Tom as one of the unsung progenitors of the agile movement. Long before we had "Agile" or even "lightweight methods", Tom was talking about the psycho-social nature of software development. 

For instance, here's an excerpt from essay 8, "Nontechnological Issues in Software Engineering":

Imagine your boss just plunked a specification on your desk and asked, "How long will it take you and one other person to get this job done?" What's the first question out of your mouth?

Would you ask, "Can we use object-oriented methods?" or "What CASE system can we buy?" or "Is it okay to use rapid prototyping?" Of course not. Your first question is,

Who is the other person?

Absolutely. Right on, Tom.