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Comment by crazygringo | Hacker News Reader

Well sure, anything can "sound like" extreme dysfunction if you don't actually know what it is.

Do you know what planning poker is, and are you aware it's not a game for fun?

To be fair having demeaning names for the engineers' work activities is not the worst part of corporate agile. Unfortunately.

I have heard some third tier companies and lower play "planning poker" at work. It doesn't sound like any fun or efficient but a cheap paycheck for an "agile helper". I am not sure how many of them have remained employed during these layoffs.

It's not supposed to be fun. It's work, not a game. It's productive because it results in more accurate estimation of tasks, and a better understanding of the work entailed.

Are you against those things? "First tier" companies use planning poker as well, you know.

You seem to be oddly hostile to the concept without seeming to understand it at all.

I don't think there's much evidence if any at all that it provides more accuracy or understanding. First tier companies tend not to use "sprints" at all.

There's nothing to understand, the agile manifesto or worse the "scrum" pamphlet can be read on a lunch break. Somehow engineers who put ten-thousand hours into their craft need a layman agile helper to understand it?

Every sentence of your comment is factually incorrect or irrelevant. I'm not going to continue a conversation with someone who doesn't have an interest in facts.

What you might actually mean is that you are going to try to sell agile snake oil to someone who knows less. Try a middle manager without technical background? They tend to be more receptive.

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