

Failure looms for "world’s biggest agile project", UK welfare payment system - zurn
http://cartesianproduct.wordpress.com/2013/05/25/universal-credit-government-closer-to-recognising-failure/

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jdlshore
The essay and its followup [1] are sadly lacking in specifics. "Agile" is an
umbrella term that encompasses everything from small, flexible teams using
rigorous engineering practices and collaborating closely with product
management; to large, monolithic organizations slapping the word "agile" on
the door, ditching documentation and testing, but not actually changing any of
their dysfunctional habits. [2] The former tend to succeed; the latter tend to
fail.

[1] "A bit more on Universal Credit and “Agile”"
[http://cartesianproduct.wordpress.com/2013/05/26/a-bit-
more-...](http://cartesianproduct.wordpress.com/2013/05/26/a-bit-more-on-
universal-credit-and-agile/)

[2] "The Decline and Fall of Agile" [http://www.jamesshore.com/Blog/The-
Decline-and-Fall-of-Agile...](http://www.jamesshore.com/Blog/The-Decline-and-
Fall-of-Agile.html)

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ZeroGravitas
Fascinating stuff, but I have no idea what the author is talking about in this
section:

 _"Some steps have been taken to try to rescue the project. The back end – the
benefits calculation – has reportedly been shifted to a “waterfall”
development process – which offers some assurances that the government at
least takes its fiduciary duties seriously as it should mean no code will be
deployed that has not been finished."_

It was so out of step with the rest of the post(s) that I thought it sarcasm
at first.

