waiting for "best practices to settle" is a big misunderstanding of what a best practice is

best practices aren't changing because "it's a new field", they're changing because the environment is changing

the environment is always changing

if you don't think x environment is changing, look again

asking for "best practices that apply for all teams" is a big misunderstanding of what a best practice is

"if only we had <practice, role, technology>, we'd be fast" you don't need it, look again

the only skill that is truly essential is the ability to read your environment

books, articles, talks, etc. will enrich your toolbox but they won't solve your problem

"we shouldn't reinvent the wheel", yes, but not all problems run on wheels

"agile is proven to make you faster", no: agile is proven to make you faster under certain conditions

"big re-writes are impossible to pull off", try again with waterfall :P

reconsider your processes, it's better to be apt than to be agile