Lesson 2: When ‘Agile’ is Just a Buzzword – The Pitfalls of Fake Agile Implementations

By Tom Jones, IT Project Manager

Welcome back to my 21-part series on lessons learned throughout my IT project management career. Today, we’re tackling one of the most overused and misunderstood terms in modern project management: Agile.

If I had a dollar for every time an executive said, “We’re going Agile because it’ll make us faster and cheaper,” I’d be retired in the Bahamas right now.

But here’s the harsh reality: Most companies don’t actually implement Agile. They implement Agile theater.

In this post, I’ll break down: ✅ The difference between real Agile and fake Agile ✅ The common traps teams fall into when trying to “become Agile” ✅ How to spot and fix Agile misfires before they derail your project ✅ How tools like ezRACI help bridge the gap between Agile aspirations and reality

The Agile Fantasy vs. Reality

What Fake Agile Looks Like

In 2005, I worked on a major ERP implementation where the CIO suddenly declared, “We’re Agile now!” Overnight, we were told:

• No more long-term planning.

• No more documentation (“That’s waterfall thinking!”).

• Everything should be delivered in 2-week sprints (never mind that this was a 3-year project).

The result? Total chaos.

• No one had a long-term roadmap.

• The business didn’t know what to expect—or when.

• Technical debt piled up as we rushed through features without proper architecture.

• By the end of the project, the system was held together with digital duct tape.

This wasn’t Agile—it was executive impatience disguised as Agile.

What Real Agile Looks Like

True Agile is about: ✅ Customer collaboration over contract negotiation. ✅ Responding to change over following a rigid plan. ✅ Delivering working software over comprehensive documentation. ✅ Individuals and interactions over tools and processes.

Real Agile teams:

• Have cross-functional collaboration between business and IT.

• Deliver value incrementally but with a long-term vision.

• Document just enough to maintain system integrity.

• Use RACI-style accountability (e.g., via ezRACI) to ensure clear ownership across sprints.

The Most Common Agile Misfires (And How to Fix Them)

Here are the biggest Agile disasters I’ve seen—and how to avoid them.

🚨 1. Waterfall in Disguise

❌ What happens: Teams claim they’re Agile but still do big upfront planning, fixed scopes, and rigid phase gates.

✅ Fix it:

• Accept that roadmaps and backlogs evolve.

• Focus on delivering working features, not just completing phases.

• Use backlog refinement to continuously adjust priorities.

🚨 2. The “Scrum-But” Syndrome

❌ What happens: “We do Scrum, BUT we don’t do retrospectives.”

✅ Fix it:

• Don’t cherry-pick Agile principles to fit old habits.

• If you’re doing sprints, commit to retrospectives, sprint planning, and backlog grooming.

• Use a RACI matrix (via ezRACI) to clarify who is accountable for process improvements.

🚨 3. No Product Owner, No Direction

❌ What happens: The development team works in sprints but no one from the business side is engaged.

✅ Fix it:

• Assign a dedicated Product Owner who represents business priorities.

• Ensure stakeholders provide constant feedback—not just at the end.

• Track ownership with a RACI matrix so responsibility is clear.

🚨 4. Death by Standups

❌ What happens: Teams mistake endless meetings for being Agile.

✅ Fix it:

• Standups should be short and to the point—not daily status reports.

• Use tools like ezRACI to reduce meeting overload and make roles/responsibilities clear.

🚨 5. No Definition of Done (DoD)

❌ What happens: Teams deliver “working software” that doesn’t actually work in production.

✅ Fix it:

• Define “done” before starting the sprint (e.g., code complete, tested, reviewed, and documented).

• Use acceptance criteria to ensure features meet real business needs.

• Track quality metrics using Agile dashboards.

How ezRACI Bridges the Agile Gaps

Many Agile failures come from unclear ownership, poor communication, and chaotic scope management. That’s where ezRACI comes in:

✅ Clear accountability: Assign roles using a RACI matrix for sprints and backlog grooming. ✅ Reduce meeting overload: Keep Agile processes structured so you’re not drowning in standups. ✅ Ensure executive buy-in: Connect leadership goals to Agile execution without micromanaging. ✅ Improve backlog visibility: Map user stories to stakeholders to prevent last-minute scope creep.

If your Agile adoption is feeling more like Agile theater, ezRACI can help you regain control.

Final Thoughts: Agile is a Mindset, Not a Checklist

The biggest lesson I’ve learned? Going Agile isn’t about using JIRA, having standups, or eliminating documentation. It’s about fostering collaboration, adaptability, and continuous improvement.

If your company is “doing Agile” but still runs like a waterfall project with extra meetings, it’s time to rethink the approach.

Next time, in Lesson 3: Vendor Promises vs. Delivery Reality, I’ll break down the fine print traps in vendor contracts—and how I almost got burned by an overpromising software provider.

Disclaimer: This blog is written from the perspective of Tom Jones, a fictional IT Project Manager, and is intended for informational and educational purposes. While based on real-world project management principles, all anecdotes and characters in these posts are entirely fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons or events is purely coincidental. The blog also references ezRACI, a project management tool designed to help teams succeed in project execution. However, these opinions are solely those of the fictional character and do not constitute an official endorsement.