So how do we run a marathon? That's right, we run a 200m wind sprint! Then another sprint, and another, and pretty soon...
Of course no one does this, you'd die! We don't do this in software either, for the same reason. But when we talk about 'sprints' this is what we tell ourselves we're doing.
The most boring choice would be "section", and boring might be good here.
We could borrow from military strategy, not for the first time, and call it a "maneuver". More sporty, and pointing to the repeating nature, would be "round".
I wish the word "sprint" could be used for "this will call for an unsustainable amount of effort. we will be calling in dinner a few times. this isn't normal, and can't be normal, and everyone gets to rest after, but it's something we have to do".
Instead it's just a way of saying two weeks.
Same with "ceremonies", that one bugs me too, though not as much.
I still don't know WTF a scrum is however (not even sure that's an agile-specific term).
> The fundamental unit of scrum is a small team of people, consisting of a product owner, a scrum master, and developers. The team is self-managing, cross-functional and focuses on one objective at a time: the product goal. [1]
Like, what? I feel like I know less after reading that. That just sounds like...a development team with a team lead and a manager.
1 - https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scrum_(software_development)
Baffling.
Orienteering, perhaps: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orienteering
I like the idea of thinking of software development more as orienteering, if anything, it doesn't go far enough.
To deliver full-featured software in time (note I didn't say on time, but there is certainly such a thing as delivering too late) is 10% velocity and 90% dependency resolution.
I'm still looking for a tool which thinks primarily in terms of dependencies, and treats time as it is: fixed in the past and speculative in the future. I don't care if the person who put the information into the computer thinks something will take three weeks, I care very much if there are three projects which need completing before the main track can get past the third step.
(Sorry, I'm a bit grumpy.)
From what I have experienced, I think that is perfectly reflected in a lot of software too.