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Re: Agile is fucking horrible -- when the cult takes over

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On Sunday, 20 January 2013 15:13:09 UTC, sfd  wrote:
> Introduction
> 
> 
> 
> Agile universities, certifications, agile consulting, traveling coaches, 
> 
> planning poker card sets, agile software products, agile modeling, agile 
> 
> arm bands, countless agile books and the crazed cycle of agile 
> 
> conferences.
> 
> 
> 
> Huh?
> 
> 
> 
> The buzz cycle is in overdrive and it's electrocuted the business world 
> 
> with the promise of faster, better and cheaper. This article is a plea to 
> 
> stop. Stop all the hype, the opportunistic profiting, and the marketing.
> 
> 
> 
> Good Intentions Turned Ugly
> 
> 
> 
> What started out as a challenge to the software development community to 
> 
> think outside the box ( invent, create ), abandon a one size fits all 
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> model to approaching software development and execute your projects in a 
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> pragmatic fashion that takes account of the context you're working 
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> in....has turned into a marketing machine of horrible dimensions.
> 
> 
> 
> There was a time when people talked agile and you knew they were on the 
> 
> vanguard; trying to solve the real problems. They cared. They were 
> 
> passionate, deliberate, and informed. Now, when you hear a colleague 
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> professing agile...they're most likely drinking the kool-aid poured by the 
> 
> snake-oil agile coach from Denver or San Fran. The formulaic response to 
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> the core problems is all too familiar and draining:
> 
> 
> 
>     Poor Requirements - You need user stories and iterations.
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>     Defects in Software - Continuous integration and TDD will solve that.
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>     Bad estimation - Use planning poker. It always works.
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>     Change Management - Break it up into iterations and embrace the 
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> changes given in iteration reviews.
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> 
> 
> I'm not knocking these techniques. Many are novel inventions that do have 
> 
> their place in SD/AD. But instead of being offered as potential options, 
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> patterns, techniques to solving a problem among many other potential 
> 
> solutions; they have become a sales pitch by the opportunist preying on 
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> desperate CIOs. Buyer beware. Bubbles pop and my gut says the needle to 
> 
> prick this balloon is getting very sharp and close.
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> 
> 
> Let's stop agilizing everything. Good ideas, tools, and techniques don't 
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> need the world 'agile' pre or post fixed to be worthwhile.
> 
> 
> 
> Come Back Home
> 
> 
> 
> So turn off the scrum-o-matic. Wipe the agile makeup from your face, and 
> 
> put the kanban sequin dress away. There are still problems to solve. We 
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> haven't unraveled this thing called software development. It's devilishly 
> 
> vexing and we need good minds focused on it. Become neo-software-amish, 
> 
> come back home to the forest of software trolls and invent/create again.

Beautiful post, I'm sorry I only just discovered.... Been thinking this way for a couple of years now. This fad is nothing short of a con. As a time served developer I can hand on heart say I delivered more value using trusted barmy techniques such as specifications to develop against, business requirements being documented, this also gave me something in writing that I could hold up to my customer when they decided to pull the old "this isn't what I asked for" routine..... This still gets pulled now but there aint any sign off any more!!!! Developers are taking on far too much responsibility! Analyst/Test author/QA/Tester/2nd Line support.... The list is growing at a pathetic rate and is simply going to lead to "burn out". 

How I miss the golden olden days where there were no uber developers, just a team of lads and lasses who could do a bit of code and knock out usable systems! *reminiscent outro music here*

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Agile is fucking horrible -- when the cult takes over sfd <sdf@ser.org> - 2013-01-20 09:13 -0600
  Re: Agile is fucking horrible -- when the cult takes over moorzymoores@gmail.com - 2014-03-27 14:38 -0700

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