http://lostechies.com/jimmybogard/2012/09/12/why-im-done-with-scrum/
Some valid points the author makes that I've recognized myself, coming from the developer world.
I often wonder at the real benefits of agile and scrum. Meetings can take up valuable time. Does an expectation of 'this is all the work I have to do this week' make developers less efficient? The overhead of scheduling so many things get in the way of actual progress?
On one of my current projects we did not do 'official' sprint planning and such, and as a result, got a ton of work done. But at the cost of client visibility into our process and much more stress due to needing to get to launch in a very short timeframe.
Now that we've launched, we're making changes iteratively and have instated a more formal sprint methodology, but I think there have been some pain points. Once we've been through the first official Sprint managed in this manner, I'm going to elicit some feedback from the teams to get their impressions and see if we can grease the wheels a bit more.
Does anyone else have techniques for re-evaluating these processes with clients? Do you just keep calm and carry on? Do you change from the 'official' processes to make it work and do you find yourself doing that often?
Comments
Good Point
Interesting article. Some valid points.
From my experience, SCRUM only works if you do it right. It is a methodology that demands a very strict implementation. One of the downsides of SCRUM we came into contact with is that there is a lot going on at the same time. We are currently evaluating applying Kanban to limit the amount of "stuff" that is being done at the same time, making sure what is "done" is actually "done done".
Some food for thought, Chew on this...
Hmm. Interesting article, but I'm really not sure I "buy" all of it.
Right hammer for the right nail
Sigh. This is all so dependent on the team, client, product or project, company environment, etc. I'm glad to hear him point out that you shouldn't just follow marching orders and implement a process because it's popular. You have to orient the process to what makes the most sense.
Note, I did not say, what your client or team is most comfortable with. I am a firm believer in pushing for a process when you know it will work better, even if that means there is a period of adjustment in the short-term.
Anti planning much??
I also got the impression that this guy finds planning "highly inefficient" in general. I think if your team has been working together for a while, they are formed and experienced, they know their project very very well, and have a lot of client trust --> maybe cutting out planning can work and you can just focus on understanding and doing.
But I think that's quite a lot of ifs. It's like the holy grail of projects: we all <3 working together, and know our project so well that we don't even need to plan, it'll all come together like a pool of unicorn tears melting together in a rainbow soup of joy that is magically delicious, tra la la!! Does anyone ever get a project like that? If you do, please tell me how long it took you to get there.
I think the reality is more harsh: we don't know how to put things together without collaboration. If everyone walked up to the lego wall and added their lego without talking to each other, imho, we'd end up with a really deformed solution unless you are in the unicorn dreamland I described.
Planning doesn't have to be waterfall, but it does have to happen in my experience. Poor planning, poor understanding of what the other people on your project are doing can lead to many many many issues.
"We were burdened by iteration boundaries to decide to do more work."=> me no get.
Why can't you just... dip into your bucket of 1-off improvements in the backlog and pull it into the iteration? That's what we used to do anyway. Hmm. Weird.
"I remember just getting bored to tears listening to discussions around stories I wasn’t developing on to begin with."
WTF. You shouldn't be in that meeting then. What does this even have to do w/ scrum?? If you're not a chicken or a pig, what are you -- fish? Weird again.
Agree on many of your points,
Agree on many of your points, especially in "right hammer.. ". I do get to work on some projects that are simply cowboy, and that works, but mostly when you are your own client. Otherwise you (at the very least) need some sort of overall goal or direction and someone to make sure that stays on track - or shit just doesn't get done - or it's a frankenstein's monster of a mess.
BTW
I'm super happy to see people questioning critically and not just accepting everything as dogma must-do instructions. These types of articles are really good for progress!