I need to do this. I am writing, but this does not belong in the chapter I am working on and I cannot get past it. Therefore, I must purge myself of it. We have been here before, yes. Consider this a duplicate post if you like.
Agile is not Scrum. It is not XP. Okay? Those are commercial terms. A philosophy has become productized and the very tenets of Agile are lost in the nonsensical ceremonious definitions that make up these trademarked and certifiable methodologies.
Keep it simple.
You what to know what Agile is?
Easy.
Can we please just build software and get over our cute little processes? Agile only makes common sense. It is the agile methodologies that blow me away with their arrogance. And this post has not been spawned by any project I am working on now. I, as you may know, have a book that is late and I detailing a story about a company I worked with that had their own branded agile process. It had all sorts of checkpoints and mandates and on and on and on. That company crashed and burned.
Meanwhile, my buddy Mike (who I still cannot link to but don’t mind because I get to use him without exposing him wherever possible) built screenr.com off of a totally informal process. THAT is Agile. Rather, that is an EXAMPLE of Agile manifested as agile development.
This is not to say there should not be requirements. With stakeholders come requirements. When you have few stakeholders, it is very possible that requirements can be something you just talk about all day as you build. They change. They are required. That means you NEED to talk about them.
It’s not about thinking outside the box. It is about getting rid of boxes until you require them. Like requirements.
Thanks,
Josh