> Individuals and interactions over processes and tools
> Working software over comprehensive documentation
> Customer collaboration over contract negotiation
> Responding to change over following a plan
How many big companies do you know that are organizationally capable of valuing individuals over processes and tools, or responding to change over following a plan? Almost all big companies have the opposite value system on those two points, imposed from the top down by the CEO (with the exception that they do value individuals if those individuals are senior management). Many big companies also have incentive structures that strongly countermand the other points, too. Comprehensive documentation is crucial ammunition for redirecting the blame for bad decisions, for example. (Cf. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28674388: "we not only need very thorough clarity on what feature development will yield the greatest returns, but also deniability that we had good reason for doing what we were doing if it turns south.")
A perfect example of using agile rhetoric without agile practices comes from today's post about what tech managers do—"standup" meetings where people don't stand up! https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28677250 This results in the meetings lasting half an hour, doubling or tripling their cost per participant, even before you grapple with the increased number of participants that likely results!
I have my doubts about how effective Scrum could be even if practiced perfectly, but Jeff Sutherland, Mike Beedle, and Ken Schwaber are among the authors of the original Agile Manifesto (not just the signatories!), so at least they endorse those four core values and tried to make Scrum reflect them. So I think it's justifiable to say that if you value processes and tools over individuals and interactions, or following a plan over responding to change, you're not really doing Scrum, or any other agile process.