Ask HN: Companies that reject Agile cultism?
Any tips for finding companies that have rejected the Agile cargo cult and instead prioritize high IQ?
4 comments
Smaller companies that aren't "tech" companies are more likely to not be followers of the theology of FrAgile. However, in such cases, you may have to put in effort to advocate against those who want the team to adopt some variant of it. This is not just because FrAgile is usually a waste of time, but because it can end up being nothing but a micromanagement tool at small to medium size companies.
> and instead prioritize high IQ
It's interesting that you say that, because I believe it juxtaposes your desire to avoid FrAgile, since that is a concept embraced by many people with higher than average IQs.
On the contrary, I'd rather be at a company that values practicality and excellence (while respecting work-life balance) over intelligence. I find raw intelligence to be massively overrated, and the worst teams I've had to work with are ones full of geniuses, most of whom inevitably waste time on poppycock that creates development friction and doesn't deliver value to customers. I'd rather work with people with maybe a bit higher than average intelligence who can see the forest for the trees, while also avoiding FrAgile-adjacent methodologies.
> and instead prioritize high IQ
It's interesting that you say that, because I believe it juxtaposes your desire to avoid FrAgile, since that is a concept embraced by many people with higher than average IQs.
On the contrary, I'd rather be at a company that values practicality and excellence (while respecting work-life balance) over intelligence. I find raw intelligence to be massively overrated, and the worst teams I've had to work with are ones full of geniuses, most of whom inevitably waste time on poppycock that creates development friction and doesn't deliver value to customers. I'd rather work with people with maybe a bit higher than average intelligence who can see the forest for the trees, while also avoiding FrAgile-adjacent methodologies.
Meta, Shopify - both companies reject the Agile + Microservice cult
Really??? I find this shocking and hard to believe since these are part of the tech establishment revolving door landscape. No sprint/scrum bs at those companies???
In my experience many organisations do Agile even if they don’t call it that. Agile is just a series of sensible principles to get stuff done. The problems start when people mistake the process for the goal.
This makes me curious. What about Agile is it that you don’t like?
Do you dislike SAFe[0] specifically or Agile in general?
The original Twelve Principles of Agile Software[1] doesn’t seem very controversial to me. Of course, anything that people follow blindly without even knowing why, can lead to bad situations.
[0] “The scaled agile framework”
[1] https://agilemanifesto.org/principles.html
Do you dislike SAFe[0] specifically or Agile in general?
The original Twelve Principles of Agile Software[1] doesn’t seem very controversial to me. Of course, anything that people follow blindly without even knowing why, can lead to bad situations.
[0] “The scaled agile framework”
[1] https://agilemanifesto.org/principles.html
Yes the manifesto is not objectionable. However what Agile really means in practice is “Jira ticket factory.”
It seems to me that the reason Agile gets such a bad rap is not because it's necessarily inherently bad but, because most companies don't implement it properly. Out of all the companies I've worked at since Agile became popular most didn't do it properly and it kinda sucked. It really did improve the quality of the software at the companies that did implement it properly, however.
What it often means in practice. Far too often. But I've worked a place where it didn't.