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Discussion on: Agile is Difficult Because of Difficulty

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Scott Hannen

The problem with developer knowledge and experience intrigues me. It's real, but they're usually hired and managed by people who don't know the difference. Management wants better results but they don't know why they're not getting them. The developers might be oblivious, or they might want to deliver better results but not know how.

If management lacks the ability to evaluate the skill of employees either before or after hiring them (and, as a result, cannot help them to improve, because they aren't aware of the need) then they can't manage a software project.

But no one corrects that for the exact same reason. If the developers don't know whether they're doing a good job and their managers can't tell the difference, that means that the executives can't tell if the managers are qualified to do their jobs.

At each step the real problems are invisible to every level, from the individual contributor to the executives. The only way they can perceive problems are through delays and budget overruns, and the reasons will be explained to them by people who don't know what the reasons are. So once in a while they fire a manager. Then they try Agile, putting most of their energy into the parts that have the least to do with their problems (which they still don't know about) and get frustrated when the results don't change at all.