The Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum has an exhibit about the Wright brothers investigating how they, with relatively little formal training, became the first to achieve controlled, sustained, and powered flight.

The exhibit explains how the Wright brothers, starting from existing research, built multiple iterations of flying machines for realistic testing in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.

However, in addition to those big iterations, the Wright brothers also conducted many more small iterations, using a wind tunnel to test hundreds of wing designs to optimize the forces operating on the wings.

Today, popularized by the Manifesto for Agile Software Development, iteration represents one of the most popular ways to build software. So much so that Consultants, inspired by the success of software businesses, drive Agile “transformations” of non-software businesses.

Iteration alone does not suffice; in many cases, the mechanics of the process represent far from the most important factors of success. Like the Wright brothers, you also need the resources, including the knowledge, and the luck and/or circumstances.