| Once again, this is about mismanagement rather than Agile or software development. Besides the objections concerning throwing out the baby with the bathwater when it comes to Agile, I also object to the notion that non-technical managers cannot manage a software project. True, 90% of all non-technical managers do not have the knowledge necessary to manage software development, but very little of that actually includes hard technical knowledge. As a tech manager with 25+ years of development experience, most of my work involves management skills, not technical skills. The technical insight needed can be taught to any smart non-technical manager. Also, managing a software project is not about being "in charge" and micromanaging, but mostly about serving, protecting and coaching a team. People in the "no management" camp mistake management for hierarchy. Being the manager is a team role, just like being a back-end developer, and interaction designer etcetera. None of this is about Agile or management, it's about two sides, old school hierarchical "programmers-are-codemonkeys" management and tunnel vision "we-don't-need-no-stinking-suits" developers, trying very hard not to understand each other. And using Agile as a stick to beat each other with. If Agile is dead, it's because it's been brutally murdered by two factions unwilling to face their own shortcomings. |