Dear Agile, I’m Tired of Pretending (2018)
I agree that almost all of the orgs I encountered that were <i>Doing Agile</i> were pretty horrible.<p>On the other hand, I&#x27;ve also been in orgs that were very successful in developing software in a way that we would recognise as being agile.  We just didn&#x27;t make a big deal out of it.  And we didn&#x27;t do standups (most of the time), or 2 week sprints, or retrospectives.  We didn&#x27;t even pair consistently:  we split up on trivial stuff, paired on hard stuff, as needed and available.<p>In one org we started without TDD, and even without having much in the way of automated tests at all.  But when we <i>discovered</i> testing and TDD, boy did we ever embrace it.  Not because anyone told us to (mid-to-late 90s, so no Agile Manifesto), but because the difference for us developers was <i>night and day</i>.<p>So <i>develop software</i>.  Concentrate on what helps you develop software.  In my experience, you will probably discover something recognisably agile all by yourself.  So when you discover that, help yourself to what helps you.  Don&#x27;t make a big deal out of it.