Anyone who claims to teach paths by which to optimize Developer effectiveness ought to cite data to support those claims. Until data exists to contrast the results of Company A vs Company B, we'll never be short on speculative articles.
Reading through Fowlers "Good Environment"/"Bad Environment" lists... I can use my own critical thinking to see why one is good, or bad. Fowler while he doesn't really get his hands dirty with these problems he is very good at rounding up the current zeitgeist and common sense in ThoughtWorks and publishing it to the world. He's rarely been flat out wrong. (I don't mean this as an appeal to authority, just how I look at this article, and Fowlers publications in general).