If everything is going fine, why don’t you show progress?

The other day I read a quote on Glen Alleman’s blog.  Funny (not really) but I had such a discussion this morning. 

Last December we engaged into discussions with the supplier and when it became clear that they did not understand our needs, we asked for a meeting.  With the holidays coming, the meeting was set
for late January.

The meeting took place, we reiterated our needs, and then the supplier was to respond via his documentation of requirements and of a supporting system architecture.  I asked again and again but no documents were delivered.

This morning, some guys were unexpectedly in the meeting.  When pressed, they stated that they were "working on it", that they could not give a date, and that we should document perceived road blocks while they are “working on it”.

They are an Agile shop but when you offer your insight on the problem,accepting input from clients is very Agile, they demured.

Fish don’t make noise and they don’t walk but this looks like a (rotten) fish…

What do you think? As always questions and comments are welcome.

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Comments

[Shim Marom]

The fish is certainly rotten and the smell reaches all the way down-under.

[Patrick Richard]

Shim,

Thanks for noticing! I had started to believe that my nose was playing tricks.

Saddest part; one of my clients was exasperated that I was pushing the point. It's just an IT matter...

[Shim Marom]

Pat, I'm surprised that you mention that they are an agile shop. Agile is supposed to be more customer centric, doing something that caters for the end user needs. This is not even Agile.

[Patrick Richard]

It's not? (sarcasm)

They do speak in epics, stories, and story points. They use Confluence and JIRA.

The human part of that project is definitively not Agile