This is ultimately the point I think Mary is trying to make. Agile became and end to itself rather than a way to learn how to build software within minimal was

This is ultimately the point I think Mary is trying to make. Agile became and end to itself rather than a way to learn how to build software within minimal waste and delay given imperfect information. Obsessing over it is a cargo cult. That said , plenty of tech companies have inconsistent practices that don’t necessarily lead to great success. To say Google’s methods are “far far superior” to Agile assumes they’re uniform, portable or relevant externally, or that they lead to above average success. That’s debatable given Google’s reputation for abandoned half-built products and an almost comical lack of customer focus.