lazy agile developers

..said my colleague. "How so?" I enquired.

"Well!" he said, "when we do planning, I notice that one or two of the guys are always happy to suggest we only ever attempt to match our previous velocity, they never try to improve. If anyone suggests we aim for more points than we achieved before, they are quick to shoot them down. If that's not laziness, I don't know what is?"

"OK" I replied, "if we set aside the issues of point inflation and the like for the moment, I still don't see how Agile has made anyone lazy? If it's true that these individuals are, indeed, lazy, then what Agile has done is simply made this visible. I would guess that they were always lazy, it's just that nobody really knew before because work and the effort required to complete it were hidden. It's only now that we've introduced transparent methods that these issues have become apparent."

That is if, and only if, they really are lazy. My guess is that they are fully aware of the nature of velocity and the problems of story point inflation.

The reality is that Agile doesn't make you lazy but it does highlight the fact if you are.

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David Putman

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