
Agile Manifesto Needs Overhaul - movari
Now with Covid-19 causing widespread teleworking, control freak type companies are grappling with trusting their employees. The Agile Manifesto is almost 20 years old and with its principle of face&#x2F;face communication, collocation has become a euphemism for command and control which is not agile. These huge impressive campus facilities that cause horrendous commutes except for the executives who live nearby are not agile.  https:&#x2F;&#x2F;docs.google.com&#x2F;document&#x2F;d&#x2F;1Tj_YWykvs9TImjPkM1tJxZDuCkruhsdGgSSoTCg7q2A&#x2F;edit
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codingdave
The Manifesto itself is fine, and says nothing about "face to face"
communication. It says to value interactions. The principles that support the
manifesto do talk about face-to-face, but those are supplementary to the
manifesto itself, and as you said, are 20 years old. Those principles may need
modernization, but that does not invalidate the short and simple 4 points of
the manifesto.

People have twisted it into "Agile", with formal processes, certifications,
and practices, and the results of all that is not fine. Many of the good agile
practitioners will tell you so right off the bat... and then distill the
processes down to their core to help you get back on track.

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movari
Not one of the 4 values but it is is the 6th of the 12 Agile Principles

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matt_s
Control freak companies that don't trust their employees to work remotely or
don't have any empathy for employees during this pandemic aren't going to
change their ways if someone alters a word or two in a document.

Face-to-face communication is possible using many different services these
days. You could even do those planning exercises remotely, post-its on a white
board with a webcam if your company doesn't have a system/service they are
using to track and plan work.

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movari
Agreed. There is so much creativity going on with figuring out ways to do
those collaboration activities that are hybrid low tech/hi tech solutions as
you pointed out. The control freak companies is well entrenched in our
industrial culture with a catalyst being the face/face and daily scrum.
Changing culture is hard and slow, but this pandemic can be the start of a
culture shift if we collectively figure out ways to push it and demand it.

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mrfusion
I feel like we lost a lot of autonomy and respect when we submitted to daily
stand ups.

Experienced engineers have to justify what they’re working on every day. What?

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codingdave
"Walk the Board" \- experienced teams should not be reporting on personal
status, they should be walking the board to collectively see where help is
needed to keep the work moving. I've seen huge improvements in morale and
satisfaction on teams just by switching to a walk-the-board style of standup
meeting.

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danbolt
To everyone, it's worth remembering that the Agile Manifesto was some dudes in
a room with a whiteboard, and doesn't have to be taken as word on high.

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movari
I am a firm believer of the 4 values of the manifesto. It is the 6th principle
stating face to face communication.

