It is no longer a secret that Agile has gone bad in 2021. A simple ideology was turned into a wrong movement, and for many people, Agile became a religion. However, over-engineering and religious technology wars have become normal. People believe that X tech is better than Y, microservices are better than monoliths, serverless, k8, etc. We took relatively simple ideas and made them complicated, believing that what works for other large teams will work for us too. But, one size doesn't fit all, and you should hand-tailor the suit to fit your team.

The reality is that around 80% of teams are relatively small and don't need that many processes, tools, or technology. You don't need SCRUMs, and you shouldn't be running your SQL joins over HTTP (aka microservices) or using that new fancy tech that hasn't aged well yet and is not proven. Instead, you should focus on delivering value, whatever that means in your context. If you no longer fit into a suit, hand-tailor a new, larger one.

It almost feels like the good old days of joyful software development are gone, and we're heading to the edge of the waterfall. But, not everyone is on board. The remaining small number of tech people resist and just get it done in a way that is both efficient and joyful. They talk to people, establish trust and relationships, and use that old-but-proven tech that everyone around hates. When things go south (and they will), they improvise and find creative solutions. They get things done, and that's all that matters, while keeping everyone around happy. They are like jazzmen, the Software Development Jazz Band.

Otar