I don't like Agile when it's sold as such. I absolutely refuse to discuss Agile with certificate peddlers. SAFe is the worst of the bunch, with expiring certificates, they make money on renewal.

I'm a developer now managing product. if you apply a historical analysis perspective, Agile has either influenced our process, or our process may be described as post-Agile.

We have a backlog, organized by priority. We have self-organizing teams. Teams make their own planning and own their backlog. I, as the person responsible for product, take time meeting the people involved in making the product work in the market. Such as legal, finance, etc etc. The team does not have to participate in this, but they are welcome to.

What I have fought hard for is to not have management push tech stacks at teams. Developers get to decide, unless there is a legacy situation, and then they get to decide if they want to work with it. And we have a clearly defined org culture. That's as in who gets paid more, promoted, and why.

The developers have a higher-than average salary (algo for market value known to all and published internally), a % set bonus from total net, and an option to go for a higher % of bonuses by forgoing some of their salary. Some people like a known salary, some prefer a chance for a higher pay-out with more risk involved.

I'm writing a master's thesis on project management at the moment, part-time, and have had to do entirely too much reading up on Agile and project management history. Like I wrote, we can absolutely be classified as Agile. We just don't have it pushed down our throats, and we have a realistic culture - our part of the business is dependent on excellent developers, we treat them with respect, give them decision-making power, offer a share of the profits, and expect them to care about the product as a whole and their part in it.

If the "Agile" you have been exposed to does not treat developers with respect, nor establish a mutually beneficial organizational culture, the market will sort the organization out, as long as developers remain a crucial part of the equation.

Small a, fine, it's a positive little adjective. Big A, run for the hills.

If you are on a project with more than one person having some kind of process is a good thing.

‘Agile’ gives you the flexibility to determine what that process is. Scrum is a different story.

I am a real developer who likes agile, nice to meet you :)