It’s Time to Move on From Agile Development
Photo by Eden Constantino on Unsplash
Agile development. It took over the world promising fast delivery, collaboration, happy customers and working software.
Yet a new study has me thinking that Agile might have run its course. The findings are that Agile software projects are 268 percent more likely to fail compared to those that do not use Agile practices.
The Ugly Truth
The study, which surveyed 600 software engineers in the UK and the US, revealed that projects with clearly documented requirements before development were 97 percent more likely to succeed.
This isn’t surprising to me, since at my place of work, requirements constantly change (even while a ticket is in development).
The fact that the Agile Manifesto states “Working Software over Comprehensive Documentation” hasn’t won me over when things are changing so much, I can barely complete any task. Knowing what you need to build before you start is a help to delivering it.
So, why are we still clinging to Agile, which seems to treat documentation like a dirty word?
The Cult Needs to Stop
Agile has been around since the 90’s but is too big to be a cult now. It’s benefited from a homogeny in software development and lack of critical eye when needed.
Remember the UK Post Office Horizon IT system disaster? An early adopter of Agile, its flaws were so glaring that even the most die-hard Agile advocates would cringe.
Agile encourages half-baked features, the dreaded stand-ups, and pointless meetings. Which are all necessary in certain contexts.
The real issue isn’t the methodology itself, but the blind adherence to its principles without considering the project context.
“Pragmatic programmer” Dave Thomas has their own take on this:
“The word ‘agile’ has been subverted to the point where it is effectively meaningless, and what passes for an agile community seems to be largely an arena for consultants and vendors to hawk services and products.”
Word.
Time for a Change
Maybe it’s time to stop worshipping at the altar of Agile and start thinking about what really makes a project succeed: clear requirements, good communication, and a dose of common sense.
Agile isn’t the devil, but it’s not the panacea either. It’s time to look beyond the buzzwords and focus on what works for the people we work with and for. It’s all about the software, after all!
Conclusion
Agile has had a good run.
However like last night’s ramen there is a limit to how long it will keep fresh, and I think it’s time to put it in the trash.
The future of software development lies not in rigid adherence to a single methodology but in a flexible, common-sense approach that puts project success first.
Yet I’ve noticed that there aren’t any software dev job outfits that don’t use Agile. Hmmm.