Re:Ask HN: Do you think Agile/Scrum is beneficial for softwa...
by kube-system on Friday March 05, 2021 @02:56AM
(#26354079)
Bear in mind I was speaking specifically about following scrum. While agile is flexible and open ended, scrum is a specific way to implement agile, and it has a process.
If, for instance, you’re not doing time-bounded sprints, you are objectively not doing scrum. Scrum has an implementation guide that outlines this.
https://scrumguides.org/scrum-guide.html
> While implementing only parts of Scrum is possible, the result is not Scrum. Scrum exists only in its entirety and functions well as a container for other techniques, methodologies, and practices.
Many people borrow ideas from scrum for use in their homegrown agile solution, and that’s ok. But it’s not scrum.
To me that approach goes against the original principles for agile, especially "Individuals and Interactions over Processes and Tools". I'm not a huge fan of highly structured Agile and scrum processes. But I think the best agile implementations come when teams have ownership over their own agile processes.
And if the team truly has ownership they are responsible for their success or failure. Sure, their process may be objectively bad, but that doesn't mean a better process should be imposed from outside of the team. The team should have some level of trust to fix it.
I also disagree with your three points being hard requirements. They may be really good suggestions for teams doing scrum, especially in lower trust environments. All three are specifically for scrum, for instance they lose meaning if you aren't doing sprints. But that's just arguing semantics. Fixing compromised scrum isn't strictly necessary if the team can be successful by dropping scrum.