We all think Scott Adams has worked in our offices, given how often conversations between Dilbert, his co-workers, and his PHB (pointy-haired boss) seem like conversations we've just had. I remember some discussions with management about metrics; the very next Dilbert strip read like someone had recorded our conversation.

Today, Dilbert's PHB paraphrases agile programming to mean "no more planning and no more documentation." The PHB directs the team to "just start writing code and complaining."

That's precisely what many people think agile to be. It's why I often curse the notion of big-A "Agile." Buzzwords almost always end up suggesting equally succinct negative connotations. I spoke recently at a BA conference, and my audience quickly confirmed their perception of agile met these the big myths: no planning and no documentation.

I won't belabor an argument. Basically, to do agile well, you must plan all the time. And with respect to documentation, agile generally says that documentation is a cost that must be recognized. It doesn't say don't do it; it says prioritize documentation with respect to its business value.

In the final panel of today's strip, the PHB says to Dilbert, "That was your training." In fact, that's often all training is nowadays. A concept is distilled into an article, or even two sentences, and the corporation feels that it's done its adequately trained its people. I've actually heard management suggest that its people should be smart enough to seek out and understand new concepts completely on their own.

Yes, agile is a fairly simple concept. Yes, training courses only provide so much value. But there's enough in agile to get wrong and misinterpret that you'd be a PHB were you to ignore the need to properly train your teams.

posted by Jeff L.  # 11/26/2007 11:30:00 AM Database TDD Blogs