Yep, it's a problem, and adding my own "what I think agile actually is" would only add to the noise.
However, I do think that the original signers of the manifesto were onto something. My recommendation for people is, rather than learning an official methodology, that they go and read the writings of the various different signers. Get an understanding of what it meant for them at the time that they signed the manifesto.
Martin Fowler has commented that one of the other names they thought about calling their movement was "conversational software", in the sense that software development process was an ongoing conversation between the developers and the users of the system.
The point I gleaned from the book I mentioned was that (in the general case) the power politics of most IT organizations prevents the development process from every being a real conversation.
As I understand it, many of the signers were independent consultants at the time of signing (or helped lead IT consultancies) and could speak the language of business. It seems to me that perhaps this put them in a more "peer" relationship with the business stakeholders, and allowed the development approach to be more conversational.
However, I do think that the original signers of the manifesto were onto something. My recommendation for people is, rather than learning an official methodology, that they go and read the writings of the various different signers. Get an understanding of what it meant for them at the time that they signed the manifesto.
Martin Fowler has commented that one of the other names they thought about calling their movement was "conversational software", in the sense that software development process was an ongoing conversation between the developers and the users of the system.
The point I gleaned from the book I mentioned was that (in the general case) the power politics of most IT organizations prevents the development process from every being a real conversation.
As I understand it, many of the signers were independent consultants at the time of signing (or helped lead IT consultancies) and could speak the language of business. It seems to me that perhaps this put them in a more "peer" relationship with the business stakeholders, and allowed the development approach to be more conversational.