Yes, it really is. There is so much software that has been built without a ticket system. If you need examples, just ask!
Tickets can be a proxy for business value, in a way that a checkbook is a proxy for money, but it’s not the checkbook that pays salaries: Software is built in the brain.
Doesn't the checkbook of a business literally pay salaries? I'm unclear as to what you're arguing here.
Hint: Some businesses don't even use checkbooks.
> I'm unclear as to what you're arguing here.
Is it really unclear?
Having small-scale tickets that you actually finish is the very essence of agile
This I disagree with. "lmm" seems to think that tickets are either "the very essence of agile" or perhaps even essential to "deliver value to the business."