That's a lot to unpack. But I agree with your general sentiment - As currently practiced, Agile generally involves a lot of ceremony before actually building,

That's a lot to unpack. But I agree with your general sentiment - As currently practiced, Agile generally involves a lot of ceremony before actually building, with many rounds of collaborative planning and risk management on every decision. It's morphed into something completely different than the original definition... We have come to value: Individuals and interactions over processes and tools. Working software over comprehensive documentation. Customer collaboration over contract negotiation. Responding to change over following a plan.