Are You Ready for XP?
Here's my "Ready for XP" checklist:
Flexible working environment
Tools available on your target platform
Management support at upper level
Key developer and management champions in place
Customer relationship is positive (non-combative)
Customer is flexible in delivery (not tied to internal standards)
Project duration is short (for your first project)
Team cooperation has been proven at some level
Team and customer can be collocated
Reasonable pool of senior developers (team is not bottom-heavy with juniors)
Hardware can be procured for machines
Platform will support continuous integration (build times can be short, etc.)
Work-ethic alignment to XP principles
XP champion has depth of knowledge in XP (may be primarily theoretical)
Project is at a stage where XP can be applied (not deployment time!)
Flexibility in commercial arrangements
In reality no "one size fits all" mentality can be applied to development; you must consider your environment, customers, and value basis.