“ No one actually “sprints”.”
Actually they do.
Not in the literal sense of course, but you are always “sprinting” to the next release. It’s just not sustainable to constantly be under so much pressure. That’s one reason why your people are starting to fail at it which is causing you to worry about being held responsible.
It’s a fine methodology but not every challenge is a nail in need of the sprint hammer. People have been developing things forever, and the short 15 years that sprints have been around is a pittance. Even the name is tiring after a while. There will be another whiz-bang development methodology coming down the pike and you’ll see everyone hop on board, just like they always do. I’m hoping it happens after I retire.
BTW both my wife and I are in IT. I’m in systems, she’s in development. We’ve been doing this for years and are very familiar with it all.
It is totally sustainable. I’ve had teams that are still going and highly efficient and self-organizing. There is more to Agile than just sprinting. Most organization have what are called PI’s (program iterations) that are usually quarterly. The last sprint is used for planning for the next PI and gives developers a rest and an opportunity to do some training.
My people are starting to fail because of vaccine injury - brain cloud. They aren’t the same as they were pre-vax. There’s no two ways about it. This is a mature team and they are making mistakes left and right. Our Product Owner was recently in the hospital for blood clots in her brain. That didn’t help at all.
Agile has been around for 15 years and continues to grow exponentially. Certainly it has branched off into different methodologies like Kanban, LeSS SAFe, XP etc, but the core concept remains. Small self organizing teams with servant leadership is the way to go. It works as long as there is a rest period. If the team focuses on the tasks in front of them, they can be successful.
There are many IT industries that MUST have frequent releases (like my former employer AT&T with 30 million sets of eyes every day). A waterfall approach is woefully inefficient for that. Teams need to be nimble navigators.
But, not every organization is suitable for Agile/Scrum for sure. I’ve argued both sides a many a time. And yes, there will be another shiny bill of goods to come down the pike that the brass will be dazzled by. Common work areas are one part of Agile/Scrum that has got to go. Thank goodness we’re all work from home. Productivity is way better in the virtual setting. Availability is better, distractions are minimized, and no one bitches about the commute.