The most neglected words of the Agile Manifesto
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The most neglected words of the Agile Manifesto
And why they are so vital
When you ask people what they know about the Manifesto for Agile Software Development (Agile Manifesto), they will likely cite
Individuals and interactions over processes and tools
Working software over comprehensive documentation
Customer collaboration over contract negotiation
Responding to change over following a plan
Many will also mention that this doesn’t mean you should ignore what is on the right. However, there’s more value on the left.
Also popular are the twelve principles of Agile Software.
But what people often take no notice of, is the first sentence of the Agile Manifesto:
“We are uncovering better ways of developing software by doing it and helping others do it.”
Why is this important? Well, it says “We are uncovering better ways”. It specifically does not state “We have uncovered better ways”. This is crucial. The authors of the Agile Manifesto had an important thing in common: they were all representatives of different lightweight approaches that moved away from heavyweight practices that were dominant in those days.
The authors of the Agile Manifesto could have said: “We have found new ways to create software. Use Extreme Programming (XP), SCRUM, DSDM, Adaptive Software Development, Crystal, Feature-Driven Development, or Pragmatic Programming!” They didn’t. They instead highlighted the importance of uncovering better ways.
I see this as an encouragement to continue finding better ways. Scrum, XP, and other established Agile approaches may be beneficial to you. But in the end, it is not about Scrum, XP or any other approach. It is about finding the best way to create value for you and your organization. About uncovering your own best ways.
After all, your organization is unique. You may find inspiration in other approaches. You may even find them a great fit. But you may also need to uncover your unique way.
The most neglected words of the Agile Manifesto
Thank you for this timely post. I have had some conversations (job interviews) in the last week that left me wondering about the fixation on having experience with certain methods and frameworks. I don't have them but I used what I knew to lead my teams to deliver what's needed adjusting to the circumstances/context we operated in.
"This is not about better ways to build solutions, but ways to build better solutions."
Willem I have pondered on this from the book business analysis agility by Suzanne and James Robertson a lot over the last year or so. I think they are on the same page as you yet use very slightly different words. They emphasize that agile is about being nimble and quick and ensuring the RIGHT problem and RIGHT solution to satisfy needs are discovered and delivered correctly.
Do you see the subtlety of what they say?
I can't do justice here to the their full context, yet I think the book sets it out much better than I can here.