Lots of reasons in Tech: constantly changing processes, inconsistent enforcement during time-sensitive critical updates, and poor communication or design. This is why you need a solid methodology and a proper SDLC. At Wells Fargo, though, there’s a pervasive culture of management bullying. My theory is that this behavior took root before and during the account scandal, when managers learned to strong-arm clients into opening unnecessary accounts. Once that scheme was exposed and shut down, they turned their tactics inward, micromanaging employees instead.
Then came Agile. The managers didn’t want to engage in the process themselves, so they hired a whole new layer of mid-level managers to act as scrum masters. Now, with the push for "productivity," upper management has armed this horde of middle managers with the tools to cut workers loose. Most of the scrum masters are gone, and the remaining employees—those who haven’t been offshored—are left to bear the brunt. Technical debt keeps piling up, no matter what SOD policy they throw at it. This bank is sinking in its own tar pit, destined to fossilize with the dinosaurs.