u/DeadCells1929

This is maybe a hot take, but opening a discussion. I believe that agile is a framework invented by paper pushers (product managers) to avoid responsibility. It is inefficient, and introduces significant burden onto developers.

Here are some of my observations:

1. Agile gives product managers an out to “change their mind”. Sure, changing their mind on a ticket costs them nothing to rewrite, but the consequences of redoing architecture and reworking implementations are enormous. They waste time.

I always ask product managers: “can you guarantee me that every edge case is documented, and that these requirements will never change in at least 5-10 years?” If the answer is no, then the ticket is not ready.

2. Agile gives the paper pushes license to not think through the entire app. Before we build, EVERYTHING should be planned. If not, how can we accurately design the database with constraints, select architecture, etc.

A full product spec should be delivered up front, and developers build over a period of years.

3. Agile results on costly rework. I had one feature where we did an MVP, and then several augmentations over a period of years. I probably spent 40 days doing it. If everything was scoped up front and we did it years ago all at once? It would’ve taken 25-30 days. We churned through 10-15 days because the paper pushers said “we need client impact now” and “we have to make sales to fund the project”.

If upper management isn’t willing to make a long term commitment and up foot the bill early, then they shouldn’t be in the software business.

Hey everyone, I’m looking for some general advice. Really struggling with all the typical product manager roadmap duties: roadmapping, customer requests for configuration, and feasibility analysis. My main issue is that I try to coordinate with devs on these things, and they have genuinely no idea.

For example: roadmapping. I understand that a perfect roadmap is an unfair ask, but stakeholders want some rhyme and reason for what will be delivered and by when. The dev team is unable to advise, and when I even propose estimates for them to critique, they just say they don’t know. My org is encouraging to make estimates / commitments with no dev input, but this feels wrong.

Another thing: customer requests like integration. When I ask devs who can interface with someone on their side, I get crickets. If I explain an ask, nobody has any idea where to start. My org is now saying I need to use AI and do the integrations myself.

Finally: any kind of feasibility. I ask the devs to ballpark how expensive an idea is, what information they need to make that determination, etc. but they just don’t respond. They have told me they have no idea what feasibility of an ask is, and they just need to try to use AI to see if the prompt works or not.

Ultimately, I know I’m accountable for all of this. But in previous roles, doing all of the above just wasn’t an issue. Any advice on what to do in this situation?

Hey everyone, on a team with a tough situation. We’ve had a product owner, but they are burning out. Sprints are becoming disorganized, their output is dropping, and we are losing clarity.

I wish he had the sense to recognize that he’s worthless and spare us our misery by quitting, but it hasn’t happened yet. At our org, we really don’t have time to hand hold. If someone can’t handle the pressure, then they need to just be gone and go screw up somewhere else.

In the meantime: what can the dev team do? We have tons of unresolved questions, and we are not being staffed. Previously, the product assigned all work items, sliced work, did all discovery & mocks, etc but they are now slowing down.

Anyone been in a situation like this? What can we do to get past this and get back to producing quickly?