I regularly hear the “Agile is good, process is bad” mantra from various Agile communities. In a recent meeting on development methods one contributor even declared “process doesn’t contribute to the product so we should not put any effort into processes”.

I find this mindset rather entertaining.  It really does not need a genius to realize that the heart of any Agile method IS a rigid process definition. A lean, development  centric process but a process all the same. For example Scrum defines ways of working (backlog, prioritization, even the frequency, duration and form of “stand up” team meetings). Deliverable’s, Roles and Responsibilities are defined too.

My impression is that Agile methodologies work well when the process is followed and less so when it is not (for example when a team fails to identify a Product Owner that has a mandate to make product decisions – and more often than not assigns this role to developer who has little or no understanding of the customer or market).

Aside from the religious fervor that seems to emanate from many proponents of Agile there are many experience reports documenting the good, the bad and the sometimes down right ugly reality of Agile use in small projects (For example Savolainen & Kuuseka in “Transition to Agile Development – Rediscovery of Important Requirements Engineering Practices”), however I have seen very little by way of experience reports of Agile use on large scale developments (i.e. Scrum of Scrum). In fact, despite asking many Scrum users and being told such material is available none have managed to produce a statement of what they did, what worked well and what didn’t. Being somewhat agnostic this is much more valuable than lectures on what one should do.

Do you have experience you can share?