Sprints and planning are useful for organizations that attach a lot of value to planning and deadlines. It creates a lot of additional work and pressure, as you say, but I can also imagine that for certain types of organizations that may be worth it (eg when doing client work on a fixed budget with strict deadlines).
Other than that, I fully agree that Kanban is a great middle ground, as it’s low overhead and focuses on prioritization and flexibility rather than planning and burndown charts and whatnot.
Other than that, I fully agree that Kanban is a great middle ground, as it’s low overhead and focuses on prioritization and flexibility rather than planning and burndown charts and whatnot.