A popular phrase in some agile areas is
X is the Smell of Dysfunction. Y will fix that, usually by NOT doing some established principle known to work, only if you knew how to make it work.
Estimates, governance, planning, architecture, financial forecasting - pick you poison.
One naive response to this smell of dysfunction is to conjecture a solution with no evidence that the problem OR the solution have any principles to be based on that will fix the observed problem.
Let's not do X and the smell will be removed is a common approach.
Common at least when the understanding of how to solve problems is missing.
The first failure mode of this logic is we don't actually know what the dysfunction is before conjectured we have a solution.
Next, comes the naive approach of asking Five Whys without actually understanding how the process of Root Cause Analysis works.
Asking why is a necessary step, but far from sufficient. Any useful corrective or preventive actions for the dysfunction mist first answer ...
- What condition allowed the dysfunction to occur?
- What action occurred that created the dysfunction?
The notion of Condition and Action created an Effect is the basis of Root Cause Analysis using the Apollo method. Without a Root Cause Analysis, any suggested fix for the dysfunction is just flat out bogus.
You don't even know what the problem is, let alone that the solution will fix that problem or any problem. And the result is a solution looking for the problem to solve.
So when you see a NO in front of some word, like #NoEstimates, #NoProjects, #NoManagement, and you don't see the Root Cause Analysis, and a list of testable corrective and preventive actions, then ignore anything from that point on. It's either bogus or a hoax.
So read Seven Steps to Effective Problem Solving and start solving problems rather than listening to unsubstantiated claims of how that problem could be solved. We have a saying (actually we have many sayings) in our Software Intensive System of Systems world ...
That's a Unicorn solution - meaning only if you believe in Unicorns will that cockamamy idea work
And if you work in our space and defense domain, you'll recognize the uniformed version of the unicorn solution. It's called the Good Idea Fairy. This is a paradigm where the idea fairy whispers in the ear of some colleague, that there is a solution to a problem and that solution ignores the existing solution and replaces it with a solution that has no verified principles that have been tested in practices in the domain you work, with evidence that practices actually corrects or prevents the dysfunction you are experiencing.
