What does the research actually say about project size and success?

The Standish CHAOS reports have, since 1994, consistently shown that smaller projects succeed more often than larger ones; the 2015 report quoted 62% success for small projects vs. 6% for grand projects. The methodology has been criticised in academic literature (Eveleens & Verhoef, IEEE Software 2010), so figures are directional. Independent peer-reviewed work (Jorgensen & Molokken-Ostvold, 2006) has replicated the directional finding.

Why does adoption tend to be easier for small tools?

Diffusion-of-innovations research (Rogers, 5th ed. 2003) identifies observability and relative advantage as strong adoption predictors. Small tools that fix an obvious chore score high on both, so adoption tends not to require a formal rollout programme.

When does it make sense to start with a platform instead of a tool?

When multiple small tools have already proven their value and consolidating them would remove duplicated effort. Starting with the platform before that evidence exists typically means building infrastructure for use cases that have not yet earned the right to exist.

Why Small Internal Tools Often Create the Clearest Operational Win

An insight on why small internal tools often create the clearest operational win from CodeCraft Enterprise.