Engineer Explains: Refactoring Allows Developers to be Wrong
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Engineer Explains: Developers, you’ve been scammed about agile
It's the most misunderstood idea in software development, says James Shore, the author of The Art of Agile.
Developers often think of agile software development as a set of tools, such as Jira, sprints, or story points, but agile is a way of thinking about software development.
Agile is a philosophy, says James Shore, VP Engineering at Open Sesame, agile software development consultant with more than 20 years of experience, and the author of The Art of Agile:
It’s the most misunderstood idea in software development!
There is an entire Agile Manifesto about the philosophy written more than twenty years ago (and it has stood the test of time, according to one of its authors!). But Shore emphasizes two key principles:
- People over process
- Adaptability over predictability
He says developers have been scammed about agile, and that’s why they tend not to like it.
CTOs often think that it’s the tools and training that make an organization agile, but Shore says it requires changing the culture because agile is not something you do; it’s something you become.
This video is a part of ShiftMag’s video series, Engineer Explains.
We’ve asked experienced engineers to share how they would explain some basic and some less basic tech terminology to different tech job titles or at three levels of experience — from junior developer to CTO.
More videos from the Engineer Explains series:
Career Tips for Tough Times ft. Pragmatic Engineer
OpenTelemetry and Observability 2.0
Large Language Models Explained
