[Tloewald]

I agree with much of what you've said, but I have to pick on this remark:

"And yes there were teams that did this before Agile became popular, but it certainly wasn't the norm."

And there are now lots of teams not doing it but calling what they do "agile" because they're engaging in cargo cult practices. A whole bunch of stupidity is simply painted with agile terminology (e.g. unfocused daily meetings that are referred to as "standups").

I'm sure "healthcare.gov" was "agile".