Has Agile Development Lost its Way?

According to Steve McConnell, chief software engineer at Contrux and a pioneer in the "rapid development" movement, Agile development has fallen short in several areas, straying from its original focus and becoming overly process and tool centric.

I know the original intent behind Agile was to focus on rapid iterations and frequent communication, but I wouldn't be surprised to see it distorted by organizations that miss the point (or that use it as an excuse to forego risk management).

The Scrum approach seems to me to still maintain the right focus, but only the most forward-thinking companies have been bold enough to adopt it (and are reaping the rewards accordingly).

Another point McConnell made was that one size does not fit all. He's right on there. We need to adopt the right approach for the situation at hand.

For more on McConnell's insights, read on...

Agile programming has fallen short, conference attendees told - Computerworld