ThoughtWorks debates the term Agile
Apparently there is a bit of a “discussion going on between several ThoughtWorkers about the user of the term Agile.”:http://www.infoq.com/news/2006/12/debating-agility-at-thoughtworks It centres around the idea that Agile has become a religion and was started by Dr. Webber in a blog post in which he stated that he was an Agile Atheist. I am not going to rehash that entire discussion here as the preceding link does a much better job of this than I could; however, I would like to chime in with my two cents.
One point that is made at the end of the article is the following:
bq. If Agile religion exists, it seems to consist of a focus on strict adherence to practices without a need for understanding, combined with judgmental criticism of others – clearly ignoring the spirit of the Agile Manifesto’s “people over process,” values-driven approach. As another commenter noted: “When I refer to Agile – just the word – as you have in the title, I’m focused on the mindset, the spirit, not the practices.” There are in fact NO practices specified in the Agile Manifesto, or its accompanying list of principles.
I agree with this statement. I have seen and read far too many articles that centre solely on the practices of Agile and try to side step the principles. I read an entire marketing “article” by IBM that tried to sell Agile practices, completely ignoring the principles, in order to sell some high priced piece of software that followed those practices.
I personally don’t understand how one can implement Agile by simply borrowing its practices, that is like professing belief in a religion, but only following its observances. (Mind you, I think most religions are actually built on this principle so maybe the comparison between software development processes and religion is not that far off for.)
On one level, I have to agree that we need to remove religion, or better stated, zealotry, from computer science and software development. Discussions over why Linux is superior over Microsoft and why using open source software is the only ethical thing to do need to be put to rest. I am tired of hearing that I am less of a human for using proprietary software. Personally, I really like Microsoft Office 2007 and can’t wait till they implement it on the Mac.
On the other hand, I still consider myself a proponent of Agile and try to following its principles as much as possible. But even in my own limited experience, I have seen, that in order to follow the principles, you have to bend some of its practices. But I believe you can do this and still be doing Agile development.