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posted by cmn32480 on Thursday January 04 2018, @02:11PM   Printer-friendly
from the what-if-you-can't-program-your-way-out-of-a-paper-bag? dept.

Agile Development is hip. It's hot. All the cool kids are doing it.

But it doesn't work.

Before I get into why this "Agile" stuff is horrible, let's describe where Agile/Scrum can work. It can work for a time-sensitive and critical project of short duration (6 weeks max) that cross-cuts the business and has no clear manager, because it involves people from multiple departments. You can call it a "Code Red" or call it a Scrum or a "War Room" if you have a physical room for it.

Note that "Agile" comes from the consulting world. It suits well the needs of a small consulting firm, not yet very well-established, that lands one big-ticket project and needs to deliver it quickly, despite changing requirements and other potential bad behavior from the client. It works well when you have a relatively homogeneous talent level and a staff of generalists, which might also be true for an emerging web consultancy.

As a short-term methodology when a firm faces an existential risk or a game-changing opportunity, I'm not opposed to the "Code Red"/"crunch time"/Scrum practice of ignoring peoples' career goals and their individual talents. I have in mind that this "Code Red" state should exist for no more than 6 weeks per year in a well-run business. Even that's less than ideal: the ideal is zero. Frequent crises reflect poorly on management.


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  • (Score: 5, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 04 2018, @02:59PM (2 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 04 2018, @02:59PM (#617699)

    buzz buzz TQM buzz buzz Quality Circle buzz buzz Kaizen buzz buzz Agile buzz buzz Lean buzz buzz Just In Time buzz buzz Scrum buzz buzz Flavor of the Month buzz buzz Six Sigma buzz buzz buzz buzz.........

    Starting Score:    0  points
    Moderation   +5  
       Insightful=2, Funny=2, Touché=1, Total=5
    Extra 'Funny' Modifier   0  

    Total Score:   5  
  • (Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 04 2018, @03:12PM (1 child)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 04 2018, @03:12PM (#617709)

    Death to all buzzwords. Use whatever the fuck works for you and don't give it witty names.

    • (Score: -1, Offtopic) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 04 2018, @06:29PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 04 2018, @06:29PM (#617857)

      Hey now, I also usually disagree with The Mighty Buzzword, but that's not a reason to wish him death.

      ... not that Buzzword?

      ... carry on.