I think you've hit the nail on the head, @peteretep.
The problem is that ideologies like TDD try to come up with simple rules for how to develop (i.e. always write tests first). In reality, it's better to use your brain when you're deciding how to approach something (i.e. is this a good situation for writing tests first?)
Labouring under the idea that Tests Must Come First (and everything I've seen, and everything I /do/ see now suggests that that is the central idea in TDD - you write a test, then you write the code to pass it) without pivoting to see that testing is a useful practice in so much as it helps developers is the wrong approach.