[bboygravity]

Scrum, XP and/or Agile are not going to save you if the guy leading the project decides the hardware and firmware have to be completely re-done for no good reason other than his own opinion, lack of experience and ego mixed in with a bit of "not invented here syndrome", "if it ain't broken fix it anyway" and "make it complex not simple stupid" (recent random example).

My point being: other aspects of companies and teams are far more important than the latest fashionable project management methodologies/frameworks/philosophies.

I find it hard to care about these trends.

[brightball]

The critical piece to any framework is how work is prioritized. If it’s by 1 guy, you will have the problems you describe.

If you have an approach that forces the people doing prioritizing to weigh Return on Investment (benefit or value / estimated time) to largely guide the priorities, busywork with little benefit like you describe won’t be prioritized.

It’s critical.