Wolf in Sheep's Clothes - Agile-ish Waterfall? Or is it Waterfall-ish Agile?

There is a great misconception out there about what Agile is, and what it can do. It is mainly because of those who want to use the terminology without understanding the essence of Agile. They say "we do daily Stand Ups", but there is no format - and it is a status call; it lasts 45 minutes; no one is standing up; they are following a project plan; not all stakeholders are present. That's not a Standup - it's just your typical status meeting. Nothing wrong with that - just call it what it is. They say, we have 2 week sprints, but more often than not the length of the sprint is changed, a slice of work is not considered from end to end - the traditional Waterfall SDLC phases of design/development/testing are broken out across the 2 week time periods. That's not Agile, and it's not a Sprint - it is just the Waterfall timeline broken out to 2 week check points. Again, nothing wrong with that - just call it what it is. Do waterfall well, and you will see success. Methodology doesn't drive success - proper execution of the methodology does.

Many do this because there is pressure from sr management to bring "change". Someone at the top wants to "transform the company", and they heard about "Agile" from a friend or at a seminar, and now they are an "Agile expert". They push the agenda down, without providing enough resource for the transformation to happen properly, and expect people to "figure it out". So what does the middle management do? They Google "agile" or "scrum", read the first article, and start "rolling it out". Rename the status meeting to "stand up" - done! Everyone gets a bonus. Problem solved.

I exaggerate - but you get the point. In the wake of this "transformation", the turnover goes up, and we chalk it up to people's inability to deal with change. The projects fail, and then the naysayers come out "see, told ya". After several thousand dollars of soft and hard cost to the organization, and several years wasted, the organization is either left with this morphed version of waterfall, or "agile" is abandoned because it's 'not right for the organization'. 

Agile can be potent and can transform your organization to become more effective in delivering results, more efficient in predicting outcomes, and your products more relevant - if done the right way. If your company does not have the resources, or does not want to go through the change, the true change, just fix waterfall or any other methodology you are following. It will be less expensive, and overall, more effective. And you won't lose your talent in the meantime.

Good Luck!