Perhaps, but having worked for a government sub-contractor that had precisely this problem, I don't think it's as universally true as you would think. At that

Perhaps, but having worked for a government sub-contractor that had precisely this problem, I don't think it's as universally true as you would think. At that particular company, everything was a "task" and tasks were just thrown at employees as they came. This wasn't just limited to software development either...this applied to customer support and service as well. Their solution, and the solution the customer (government contractors) was to schedule numerous and regular meetings in order to touch base and monitor progress...which only contributed to the problem. Also the article itself is actually a case study...