The problem is that the more unknowable the future is, the quicker your plans about the future will be invalidated.
Thus a quick iterative feedback loop where there is a tight lead time between user feedback and users using the software tends to work better because it lets you adapt much more quickly to changing circumstances.
This is why I always aim to minimize that feedback loop as much as is feasible.
Unfortunately you are right that it got bound up in a pseudo cult. Worse, the cultish practitioners tend to do as all cults do and put their emphasis on ritual (e.g. standup) and completely miss everything else.
I kind of hate the term agile now precisely because the movement almost set out to create a cult out of this.
Thus a quick iterative feedback loop where there is a tight lead time between user feedback and users using the software tends to work better because it lets you adapt much more quickly to changing circumstances.
This is why I always aim to minimize that feedback loop as much as is feasible.
Unfortunately you are right that it got bound up in a pseudo cult. Worse, the cultish practitioners tend to do as all cults do and put their emphasis on ritual (e.g. standup) and completely miss everything else.
I kind of hate the term agile now precisely because the movement almost set out to create a cult out of this.