alt Hacker NewsI think the confusion comes from considering Agile as a process instead of a set of values and principles. The Agile Manifesto only talks about values and principles(https://agilemanifesto.org/). Values are not right or wrong, they are just values you agree to or don't.
The problem mostly arises when processes are shoe-horned under the guise of 'Agile' in setups where they might not be the best fit by so-called process experts under pressure from management which does not know any better. The authors of Agile Manifesto have frequently said the concept of Agile has been badly twisted.
I think it’s long past the time where we can pretend that The Agile Manifesto is representative of what the word “Agile” means in tech companies.
The manifesto is a minimal set of principles but every real world Agile shop I’ve interacted with has subscribed to a set of processes that everyone in tech would recognize as “Agile”.
The manifesto has become a safe retreat that agile fans bring out whenever someone has criticisms about real-world agile; Whenever someone has a complaint about Agile as implemented in the real world, someone will show up and try to defend it by pointing out that The Agile Manifesto doesn’t contain the specific thing they dislike.
The Agile industry moved beyond The Agile Manifesto almost as soon as it was popularized. We can’t keep returning to it as some safe home base that shields Agile from any criticism.