> And finally, whatever we attempt here has to work for the whole system, not just the developers, not just the managers, not just the testers, not just the users, not just the sponsors. There is no ”us” versus ”them.” There is only us.
The goal in all these methodologies is to get everybody so perfectly aligned, they'll naturally zero in on The Right Thing.
But the people who are really in charge have no intention of ever letting this happen. It doesn't matter what the methodology is.
People try to apply Agile or whatever in the modern American corporate environment, which is a seething pit of fear and mistrust with no job security. So everyone wants harder guarantees. Brighter lines, that show if they've done their job well or not.
So despite their best intentions, there are strong incentives to maintain all the anti-agility boundaries, in order that blame and credit flow to the appropriate people. If there was a truly Agile product that succeeded, who is to be rewarded? It's hard to say. If it failed, who is to be blamed? Everybody? Nobody?
This isn't short-sightedness -- this is purely rational. This is why you get "Agile"... plus hard requirements docs... hammered out in advance... and a waterfall schedule.
> And finally, whatever we attempt here has to work for the whole system, not just the developers, not just the managers, not just the testers, not just the users, not just the sponsors. There is no ”us” versus ”them.” There is only us.
The goal in all these methodologies is to get everybody so perfectly aligned, they'll naturally zero in on The Right Thing.
But the people who are really in charge have no intention of ever letting this happen. It doesn't matter what the methodology is.
People try to apply Agile or whatever in the modern American corporate environment, which is a seething pit of fear and mistrust with no job security. So everyone wants harder guarantees. Brighter lines, that show if they've done their job well or not.
So despite their best intentions, there are strong incentives to maintain all the anti-agility boundaries, in order that blame and credit flow to the appropriate people. If there was a truly Agile product that succeeded, who is to be rewarded? It's hard to say. If it failed, who is to be blamed? Everybody? Nobody?
This isn't short-sightedness -- this is purely rational. This is why you get "Agile"... plus hard requirements docs... hammered out in advance... and a waterfall schedule.