Why agile is not always a good thing
Research commissioned by a consulting firm finds that software projects developed using so-called agile development methodologies have a 268% higher failure rate than those that do not.
While this particular research might be labeled by some as less than impartial, in other words, trying to sell that particular consultancy’s approach, the reality is that agile methodologies have long been criticized, while studies attempting to prove their suitability have provided very little conclusive evidence as to their purported advantages.
The so-called Manifesto for Agile Software Development, translated into more than 70 languages, is a declaration of principles based on 12 extremely lofty principles loaded with a highly positivist term: “agile”. However, and despite the many supports that the manifesto received at the time and the large number of companies that embraced it as the one truth, the reality is that in many cases, this methodology tends to lead to teams talking too much about software without writing software that is dedicated to holding symbolic stand-up meetings that are actually a subtle form of covert one-way leadership, all the while wearing sticky notes as if there were no tomorrow, or as if we were all shareholders of 3M.
According to one of the original signatories of the agile manifesto, Dave Thomas:
