> project should have been finished a long time ago and he can't believe it's taken this long
Yes, this is quite common. The problem is seldom on the performance of developers though, but rather on the misaligned expectations.
Your managers boss is probably stressed out about commitments or promises thy made that cant be met due to such expectations or otherwise really don't like being uncertain about a reality they have little control over. People generally hate uncertainty.
The solution “agile development” came up with wasn't to improve developer performance, or provide better plans, instead the main focus was to tighten feedback loops.
By having frequent “inspect and adapt” cycles with stakeholders two thing happen. First expectations are frequently brought into alignment making it easier to adjust other plans. Second it provides an opportunity change plans, thus providing more control.
It is my experience that stake holders provided with both expectation alignment and control tend to feel safe enough to not worry so much about deadlines and budgets.
Yes, this is quite common. The problem is seldom on the performance of developers though, but rather on the misaligned expectations.
Your managers boss is probably stressed out about commitments or promises thy made that cant be met due to such expectations or otherwise really don't like being uncertain about a reality they have little control over. People generally hate uncertainty.
The solution “agile development” came up with wasn't to improve developer performance, or provide better plans, instead the main focus was to tighten feedback loops.
By having frequent “inspect and adapt” cycles with stakeholders two thing happen. First expectations are frequently brought into alignment making it easier to adjust other plans. Second it provides an opportunity change plans, thus providing more control.
It is my experience that stake holders provided with both expectation alignment and control tend to feel safe enough to not worry so much about deadlines and budgets.