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Comment by mbeex | Hacker News Reader

I was there when Agile was invented. In my opinion, Scrum has always been the worst embodiment of a good idea.

In terms of content, teams of experienced developers have always worked in the spirit of Agile (of course there are exceptions). This informal understanding was and is superior to a formal horizontal Scrum implementation. For example, it preserves seniority and true accountability - two things that Scrum pretty systematically destroys in my experience. Initially, I was hoping for additional solutions to problems in the vertical direction - management, customer relations, etc.... But that never materialized, at least in my environment. And since I've been in the industry for more than 20 years, that's not too little.

These days, mandatory Scrum is a contra-indicator for any project that crosses my path as a freelancer.

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It seems to me that the industry's original sin with Agile was treating it as anything other than a model for managing a team of software consultants. There are certain types of internal product teams that can meaningfully emulate this paradigm, particularly in a B2B context where a tight feedback loop can be cultivated with customers. Chances are, though, that product teams, particularly in DTC businesses, don't have close enough relationships with their end users to be able to practice Agile as written.

I always viewed Scrum as training wheels. I've imposed it on teams who were dysfunctional as a way to get them on the rails. Hands and feet inside the car. Child safety locks engaged. It's a bit patronizing, but if you've ever worked with an unengaged team, it can be necessary. If you do it well, the team gets the feel for what agile delivery feels like and don't need the rituals to know what kind of touchpoints are actually required. Like the bottom of the Dreyfus model of skill acquisition. If you're "Big Tech" and have only hired the best and brightest and are working on enthralling problems, you tend to get people at the top of the pyramid who just run agile even when you don't tell them to.

> These days, mandatory Scrum is a contra-indicator for any project that crosses my path as a freelancer.

Yes! Although I don't agree that Agile is a good idea that scrum ruined.

How long have you been in the industry?

Agile in 2021 means something different than Agile in 2002. Project Management was a different consideration 20 years ago.

Which of these do you disagree with? https://agilemanifesto.org/principles.html

I disagree with 2. Now, perhaps you disagree with 5. These were written in 2001 for problems in 2001. Now, some of these problems have been solved. Some of them are taken for granted today. However, we take them for granted in large part because a group of people got together and said, "we can do better."

I personally think it's time for another group (not the old agile luminaries but people with new ideas) to take a look at today's problems and take a fresh stab at it. Maybe it looks like "Plan-Build-Ship." But maybe it looks different.

But first, I think we need a clarifying question: What in the principles or manifesto do you disagree with?

I disagree with the whole thing. It was written by consultants to sell consulting services. The "principles" are empty aphorisms that have practically crippled the software development industry.

Edit:

> How long have you been in the industry?

32 years.

Any method/framework that is based on a "Manifesto" is despicable. The Manifesto gives the sense of entitlement of a moral standing. The principles become moral principles, and produce a Manichean divide between the new (good ones) and the old (bad ones), undermining any hope of truly collaborative work places based on trust and purpose.

Rather than moral principles, I prefer to base all discourse on scientific principles.

And those moral principles, deemed to be good, can be taken as assumptions. Assumptions can be questioned. Improved. Even replaced.

A manifesto and the holy writings like the Scrum Guide are unquestionable and give rise to dogma, tribalism, and all sorts of psychotic reality distortion perspectives.

If you're tired of Scrum, Manifestos and Holy Guides, there are better alternatives which foster much more humane, sustainable and collaborative working environments. I invite you to check out my TameFlow Approach.

Ask anything if you want to know more.

> These days, mandatory Scrum is a contra-indicator for any project that crosses my path as a freelancer.

Hmm. Scrum seems like a relatively good means of aligning two-parties with low-context.

> low-context

I understand where you're coming from, a lot of freelance work these days is just code grinding for a short or maybe longer period of time.

My projects are not of this type. Most of the time they are a mixture of specialized mathematics, software design and implementation.

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