Just to clarify - since my intent was not to offend.

By "heads down programmer" I refer not a "grunt" or any other such negative euphamism. What I refer to rather is a programmer writing code in a solo environment to the exclusion of all else. If that's what you do - my advice is to reinvent yourself before you get outsourced.

Are your eyes only on the code or are they on the overall goals of the project?

Is your focus to write the best code possible for the job or merely to keep your seat so you can receive a paycheck next week?

The criticism is "Iterative Development w/ a bit more spin" and you're absolutely correct. However without that "spin"/"hype"/documented research you're NOT going to sell the idea to upper management & therefore they're going to impose the Waterfall method on you. Why? Because it works better for business concerns. Be it RUP or XP or whatever methodology/"Hype" you buy into - YES it's common sense coding practices - rendered in the form of a methodology.

So - to recap - we're all for common sense, and we're all for the priciples we preach. But we're against solidifying on a "methodology" because..... we don't like being told what to do?

And for every brilliant programmer like "anonymous monk" how much dead wood makes it's way into the department? How do you keep them in line?

What happens when you get a promotion & you have to manage programmers instead of writing code? Do you teach them the best practices you've learned or do you trust in their artisitic and creative brilliance to spontaneously know what it took you years of experience to learn?

ANY development method tries to organize your approach to development. They get you to think about a problem up front instead of later. They get you to address & mitigate risks up front instead of later when they're more expensive.

And as for the original comment about Resumes... YES if you've worked with RUP or XP put it on your resume. It means that much less training you'll need to fit into a new job where they do such things. It means you know how to work with a team and be organized. Is that enough to get you hired? No. Can it hurt? No.