Sometimes I get the feeling that a lot of people in programming suffer from some sort of developers Stockholm Syndrome. I mean, everybody whines about clueless management, we’re not allowed to do this and that, yadda-yadda whine-whine.
But then when presented with a option like Agile methodologies and XP which actually provides the power to decide about the things that should matter them as techies (because that is what XP is all about, you have the right to produce quality code given clear guidance under your own estimates and you go home by five etc), what happens? More whining.
It’s so comfy to blame clueless management for giving to little time, selecting a inferior platform and prioritize features over quality code. Many developers are simply not used to accepting full responsibility for their work. They’ve grown accustomed to the safetynet of blameability and need somebody else to take the responsibility if something should fail.
Kent Beck mentions courage as a essential factor for success. It is very true.