So it strikes me that the way we are generally expected to build software is just plain wrong. It's not just "Agile" vs. "Waterfall", but it's the entire context and methods around construction.
There are too many analogies to engineering, or architecture, or physical construction that are ingrained in the heads of so many, but these analogies are just models. Models of facets of software that do not encompass or define the entire activity.
Software is messy. There are little or no real world constraints. It has an artistic quality to it that's subjective; one person's elegant solution is another's nasty hack. It can't be codified into a few simple rules that anyone can follow.
Software development is a unique activity, a combination of creativity, problem solving, art, communication, and learning that the world has not seen before. Embrace that, and focus on what's important, rather than trying to fit software into a box that looks a lot like engineering or building construction.
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