Time to take a stand against Agile… Sign the un-agile manifesto…
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The so called Agile Manifesto has created so much excitement in the software development world and beyond. But for all those who got their life ruined by agile, for all those who oppose Agile methods in software development — it is time they got their own manifesto. Here it is — The un-agile manifesto.
The Un-agile Manifesto
We are rediscovering better ways of developing software by doing it and helping others do it. Through this work we have come to value:
- Follwing a plan over responding to change
- Contract negotation over customer collaboration
- Comprehensive documentation over working software
- Process and tools over individuals and interactions
That is, while there is some supposed value in the items on the right, we value the items on the left more. The Unagile Manifesto is based on the Unagile Principles.
Rationale
Following a Plan
Responding to change is a bit of a joke. We known since time immemorial that there are no changes. “There is nothing new under the sun.” So what is change? It is just an attempt to create confusion and sabotage the project. It is better to stick to the plan.
Contract Negotiation
Customer collaboration is just another way to try to introduce changes into the project. A contract is what you have to guarantee to yourself and the customer that they get exactly what they pay for.
Comprehensive Documentation
How long will your software keep working if it is not documented?
Process and Tools
In hobby-sized projects people can chat and be nice, in industrial strength projects it is necessary to use processes and tools to align people and products.
This post was updated on 2013-12-18 with a rationale for each item in the manifesto.
A colleague gave me a tip about the half-arsed agile manifesto http://www.halfarsedagilemanifesto.org/ . Go have a look and compare.
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