I'm not a fan of Waterfall approaches at all. We have a nice post hanging all on the wall (we really like posters hanging on the walls)
Don't do stupid things on purpose
Waterfall is one of those.
But the waterfall project management methodology is simply too easy a target to get worked up about. Royce's original work "Managing the Development of Large Software Systems," 1970 laid out the solution for what was then recognized as a problem with how software was developed and deployed. If we haven't moved on from 1970 then we are doing stupid things on purpose and get what we deserve.
But that's not what I object to in the discussion of waterfall. It's the use of waterfall as the whipping boy for all that is wrong with the development of software. It's the "one problem can be solved by all solutions," any solution other than a waterfall solution. This is the inverse of the "one solution fits all problems." This is simply too easy of a path to take for any methodology. It's like saying MacDonald's is the source of fat people's over eating. Super Size Me aside, the real problem with bad diets (as stated at the end of the movie) is there is no affordable food that is also good food.
Like MacDonald's, Waterfall is a nice collection point for all the evils that are or were wrong with the software development business. Read Royce to get a historical perspective on this - then ask the question why haven't we learned? And like those who eat poorly while acknowledging they eat poorly (this separates those who eat poorly because that's all the can afford to eat) - ask why can't we change our bad habits?
Bad Habits are Hard to Break
Maybe it's because those bad habits actually taste good, are easy to perform, or require a deeper look into our internal self before we can change. Like Jeff Sutherland's previous comment, "management likes Waterfall" because it is easy to comprehend. All the tasks lined up in a row, sequences of activities all understandable, and outcomes forecast long in the future. Double fries and a shake sure do sound good right now after tough 30 mile ride in 40 degree overcast weather.
So how do we break of our bad habits of planning and executing software projects? Like the bad eating habits, stating how bad the food is for us doesn't seem to work. It didn't work for me. Only after a cardiologist drew a bleak picture, did I get back on the wagon and start exercising like I did in the 1980's.
Unless management gets some kind of "wake up call" it is unlikely that stating how bad the processes are will actually result in a change. The US Government forced the contractors to have a "wake up call" with the regulatory requirement of IMP/IMS and Earned Value (DID 81650). There are many medium sized subcontractors that are just getting the message. We got it a few years ago.
Jeff's anecdotes aside, management in many organizations have heard about the problem, but still don't know why they should change. (Those fries sure do taste good) The experience of change may only come from a "near fatal" encounter with their future.
