Agile Principles

What can be defined as agile principles? Is it just the Agile Manifesto, or are these principles broader in scope? Let’s delve into these principles in this new article.

While many believe that the Agile Manifesto is the origin of agility, it’s not entirely accurate. In fact, agility was conceived in 1991, a full decade before the Agile Manifesto. If you’re curious about the true story of agility, you might find this article interesting: The origin of agility existed before the Agile manifesto.

Agile Principles

I invite you to explore the complete set of agility principles. You’ll discover that they are relevant not only to IT businesses but also to organizations across various domains.

Agile Manifesto

The Agile Manifesto, established in 2001, puts forth four values and twelve principles to elucidate the essence of agility in IT organizations. The Agile Manifesto values are:

Individuals and interactions over processes and tools
Working software over comprehensive documentation
Customer collaboration over contract negotiation
Responding to change over following a plan

These values are not incompatible with the essence of agility; they emphasize product development. In contemporary times, some prefer to interpret “working software” as “operational results” to adapt this value across all agile organizations.

Agile Culture

Agile culture has evolved over time. The agile wheel depicted below encapsulates the core principles of an agile organization. I appreciate this representation because it doesn’t prescribe how to “do” agile, but rather what agile truly is—an overarching mindset, not just a set of actions.

Agile Principles by Modern Agile

Some individuals have undertaken the task of reimagining the Agile Manifesto to present a modern perspective called Modern Agile. This innovative approach is particularly captivating because while it stems from the software context, these agile principles are transferrable to diverse organizations.

These four agile principles are undeniably intriguing, signifying a contemporary revamp of agility within our companies.

Heart of Agile

Alistair Cockburn, one of the Agile Manifesto signatories, offers a modern perspective on agility through the concept of “Heart of Agile.” These principles closely resemble the modern agile principles we discussed earlier.

Indeed, these principles align with the recent perspectives we’ve encountered. Notably, this depiction reflects the absence of a software-centric focus. Thus, agility, which traces back to 1991, continues to evolve as an extension of past approaches, transcending various contexts to this day.