[BurningFrog]

It should not turn into long discussions, but if standup is for mentioning what you're stuck on, it seems really strange that others are forbidden from mentioning how to get unstuck.

I'm used to pair programming and communicating all through the day. This is incompatible with the surly loner programmers you describe in the last paragraph.

[Udik]

Are you blocking a whole bored and standing team to get help from a workmate on an issue that is relevant to you only? I hope not. I think the Agile orthodoxy prescribes that any conversation that lasts more than a few tens of seconds should be saved for after the standup. And it makes sense. However, if you were stuck on something, then you've probably been for some time before the standup. So I guess you had plenty of time to ask that knowledgeable team member before.

As for the lone programmers you haven't met: lucky you. I seriously believe that in the "agile" companies I've worked in, scrum was actually intended to make people talk, if only once a day and for a few minutes. What was that line? Ah yes: "individuals and interaction over processes and tools". Good luck.

[BurningFrog]

Yeah, a few tens of seconds is all I'm talking about too. We may differ mostly in terminology.

Typically when someone says "we're a little stuck on how to do X" someone else chimes in with how to do it. No big (or small) list of questions to discuss.

If the meeting is done right, the team is not bored, and what's discussed is interesting to the whole team, since we collectively own the code base.

I've definitely met those loner programmers. I might even have been a little like that a long time ago. They can do great work, but need to be kept out of my agile teams.

The way to get people to talk about the work is to pair program. I'm not interested in working solo programming.