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back to article Continuous Lifecycle 2018: Agile pioneer Dr Linda Rising to keynote

We're chuffed, delighted and excited to announce that our first keynote for Continuous Lifecycle will be Agile development pioneer Dr Linda Rising. And if having Linda set the tone for the conference wasn't enough, she will also be running an exclusive workshop at the event. Linda's career has spanned the worlds of academia, …

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  1. Nick Z

    It would be nice to have some papers and presentations that deal with objections to some of the things Agile proponents say.

    I've been reading an Agile textbook, Introduction to Agile Methods by Sondra Ashomore and Kristin Runyan. And the authors there is say that open office environment, where everybody works in the same room close to each other, is the way to go. And they also say that managers and workers, who don't fit into the Agile environment, might need to be fired.

    And this book doesn't have any references to any scientific journals from Psychology, Sociology, Anthropology, or any other social science. It's all a bunch of management gurus and self-appointed experts promoting Agile ideas.

    I did some googling to find out what social scientists have to say about the open office work environment. And I was surprised to see a lot of negative research findings.

    https://www.newyorker.com/business/currency/the-open-office-trap

    I think Agile proponents need to take such objections seriously. Or else this whole movement is going to lose its credibility.

    8 0 Reply
    1. superfoonly
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      oddly enough I spoke to Linda about this specific point about a year ago - that modern offices are not well designed for developers. I think she would agree with you and so do I.

      Most good agile approaches I have seen avoid dogma and doctrine and work on empirical results i.e. do what works.

      When it comes to offices, a combination of a team space plus quiet areas for concentration was the ideal setup recommended when Kent Beck and Ward Cunningham developed XP on the C3 project.

      That is a long way from the open office with rows of desks - these are nothing but cost saving and has no scientific basis behind it for productive work.

      1 0 Reply
    2. Kevin McMurtrie Silver badge
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      $

      Agile can't make any money as a living scientific document. The big sacks of cash are in selling it like a religion, and that's where people come to hate Agile. The religious Agile sales pitch attempts to resolve problems through more rigorous and expensive training rather than critical analysis. Complain to an Agile preacher/consultant about Agile's failings and you'll smell the flames of hell seeping into the room.

      The reality is that Agile is nothing more than a set of concepts that are valuable to consider as solutions. Follow them blindly and you'll fail miserably. (And have lots of wasted Post-It notes)

      3 0 Reply
  2. Mike Shepherd
    Meh

    "Get your skates on"

    I think I'll just stay here, by the fire, in my slippers. There was a time I might rush to the window at the sound of the nearest fad. Now I'm content to hear it whizz by as I stir my cocoa.

    2 0 Reply

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