[jdlshore]

> My take is that these problems stem inevitably from approaching the goal ass-backwards.

Yes, and that's the problem that's unsolvable. (Or very, very difficult.) I'm not saying people can't figure out how to use tools like Fit or Cucumber well; I'm saying that, for a lot of complicated human reasons, they don't. And I don't think there's anything a tool can do to change that.

The reason is that using Fit (or Cucumber) well requires that you change the way that you interact with your business-oriented colleagues. That's hard. It's not a technical problem; it's a social problem, and it needs face-to-face politicking. My experience is that teams that turn to tools first are even less likely to be able to solve these problems than those that don't. Many of them don't even understand that the problem exists.

In order for a tool to solve this problem, it would have to force—or strongly guide—the "proper" workflow and be highly desirable for everyone involved. Aslak & company are working on https://cucumber.pro/, which is a valiant attempt; it will be interesting to see if it works out.