In my opinion, the "standup" is a cargo-cult imitation of what effective teams do informally. Effective, small teams all know what the other team members are wo

In my opinion, the "standup" is a cargo-cult imitation of what effective teams do informally. Effective, small teams all know what the other team members are working on because they tell each other throughout the day and at the bar after work. Once you add a formal "standup" and make rules about how it's supposed to proceed, you inevitably introduce a point of inefficiency. The people who already talk to each other are wasting their time listening to stuff they don't care about or already know about. The people who don't already talk to each other are having a "character flaw" compensated for by bureaucracy. It's similar to what happens in school. The smart kids are slowed down, and the stupid kids are improperly carried forward by the system without being allowed to fail naturally.