The question is always asked, which Methodology is best? It is interesting to see or read the responses from people and their reasoning behind their opinion. I actually don't like to use the term Methodology. I would prefer to use the term Approach. Merriam-Webster defines methodology as a body of methods, rules, and postulates employed by a discipline; a particular procedure or set of procedures. An approach is the taking of preliminary steps toward a particular purpose. THAT is what people do. If you review the PMBoK or the Agile Manifesto, neither are going to say in the event of A-B-C, in this sequence, do D-E-F. Life, application development, and project management are complicated enough. You don't need to write an algorithm to know the next step needed to accomplish goals.
There is a pain point in the industry that I've seen ongoing for several years now. In this post, I'm not going to say which approach I think is better and why. It's really kind of irrelevant. I think what is important is we ask ourselves and our stakeholder. What IS important?
A while ago, commented on two blogs that address similar topics. Jesse Fewell wants to empower teams to succeed, equip managers to lead, and enable executives to unlock the secrets of high performing organizations. Jesse wrote a blog post offering the real reasons behind the methodology wars. It's an insightful post and I would recommend you go and read it.
The other blog post was from Mike Cottmeyer, someone I turn to on a regular basis to find inspiration and wisdom within the industry. Mike wrote a blog post asking Why is Agile so hard to sell? Again, it is a very good read and you should set aside some time to read some of his writings.
My bridge to both blog posts is identifying Wants and Needs. Both drive motivations. Once you understand the motivation, you can answer the question "why?"
Before analyzing why one team likes one approach or has disdain for another, you have to question their motivations. We assume we all desire the delivery of value. That’s not necessarily true. Some are more motivated at protecting the status quo or their position in the program.
The hierarchy of wants, not needs, will commonly differ between teams, if we want to admit it or not.
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