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Thanks for the detailed reply! I have to say, everything you wrote sounds great. We'd probably agree on more than we'd disagree. That said... > But throwing

Thanks for the detailed reply! I have to say, everything you wrote sounds great. We'd probably agree on more than we'd disagree. That said... > But throwing out the idea that daily standups are a good idea because you've been subjected to a bad implementation of them It's not that I've been subject to "a bad implementation." It's been multiple, across a decade, ever since Scrum became a thing, really. Disaster after disaster. I'd also add that most of the effective engineering I've seen (aside from the occasional uber-productive solo code artist) had clear priorities, effective intra- and inter-team communication, and certainly a disciplined retrospective process, all without Agile or Scrum. In the best cases it was self-organized, because we wanted to do good things for the sake of doing good things, and management understood we were trying to do the right thing, and got out of our way when we were being effective. When we weren't, it was a conversation, not school-time lockdown. I don't think that environment can be replicated by process or fiat, which is what the formalized Agile/Scrum of today seems to try (leaving aside the more cynical cases).

jameshart 5y ago
So let me put it this way: Most businesses do not know how to manage software projects. That's not entirely special to software - most businesses don't really know how to manage anything. Agile tools offer a framework for technical teams for fighting off and thwarting crappy management that doesn't understand how to make software. But some crappy management organizations are really, really hard to thwart. Worse, some crappy management organizations have figured out how to neutralize agile tools, by co-opting them and trying to use them to continue crappily managing the software project. Sometimes they do this pre-emptively, neutering one of the only tools a technology organization has to fight back. I would love to know what else people have had success with as a way to fix crappy management other than setting up a properly agile 'safe space' for tech to happen in.
- ericbarrett 5y ago
  This makes sense and puts it in a slightly new light for me—as a way of salvaging some productivity, when run by the developers, Agile/Scrum would certainly be better than many alternatives. I guess that’s what we did in my earlier reference, about 16 years ago. I wish it hadn’t become so coopted by the usual suspects.

jameshart 5y ago

So let me put it this way: Most businesses do not know how to manage software projects. That's not entirely special to software - most businesses don't really know how to manage anything. Agile tools offer a framework for technical teams for fighting off and thwarting crappy management that doesn't understand how to make software. But some crappy management organizations are really, really hard to thwart. Worse, some crappy management organizations have figured out how to neutralize agile tools, by co-opting them and trying to use them to continue crappily managing the software project. Sometimes they do this pre-emptively, neutering one of the only tools a technology organization has to fight back. I would love to know what else people have had success with as a way to fix crappy management other than setting up a properly agile 'safe space' for tech to happen in.

ericbarrett 5y ago
This makes sense and puts it in a slightly new light for me—as a way of salvaging some productivity, when run by the developers, Agile/Scrum would certainly be better than many alternatives. I guess that’s what we did in my earlier reference, about 16 years ago. I wish it hadn’t become so coopted by the usual suspects.