These projects were explicitly set up to be XP/Agile projects, and were staffed with people with that experience and expertise.
The way the experts say you can turn your environment around to that, is by explaining and showing the advantages of a deadline free process.
Your management will - not unreasonably - suspect you're just trying to work less hard. The way out of that is to build trust by constantly delivering quality software.
If this sounds hard, it probably is. I've certainly never done it. The easier way is to join a team that already works this way :)
It's also worth noting that constant refactoring towards a good design is a difficult skill that not everyone has! It takes a effort and experience to get good at it. For a group of random programmers, it may not be the best way to work.
Thanks! Yes, it's hard to do well even under ideal conditions. That fact is what makes me think that usually my biggest obstacle is probably me, even when I'm certain my deadlines are holding me back, and what in turn causes me to project that onto others who complain about deadlines and management.
The way the experts say you can turn your environment around to that, is by explaining and showing the advantages of a deadline free process.
Your management will - not unreasonably - suspect you're just trying to work less hard. The way out of that is to build trust by constantly delivering quality software.
If this sounds hard, it probably is. I've certainly never done it. The easier way is to join a team that already works this way :)
It's also worth noting that constant refactoring towards a good design is a difficult skill that not everyone has! It takes a effort and experience to get good at it. For a group of random programmers, it may not be the best way to work.