Have you ever wondered about the conversations that you hear on the work floor or at the work meetings, where someone says, “We are so Agile?”If you are nodding your head, please count me on the same boat. In any organization, you will find people saying we are agile and we are doing that by the book. This might make you think, “What is Agile?” .
The interpretation of Agile
Agile has been interpreted in so many ways and people have tried to market it in a bulk of different ways. While some believe Agile is a methodology, others think of it being a specific way of software development. Some think it’s a framework while others believe it to be a process. This marketing strategy has taken us away from the basic understanding of what Agile is.
Let’s just step back for a second to revive the basics. Agile is defined in Agile Manifesto. It makes it clear that neither is Agile a methodology nor is it a process or framework.
So question remains, what actually is AGILE?
Manifesto states, and I will quote it:
“We are uncovering better ways to developing software by doing it and helping others do it.
Through this work we have come to value:
- Individuals and interactions over processes and tools;
- Working software over comprehensive documentation;
- Customer collaboration over contract negotiation;
- Responding to change over following a plan
That is, while there is value in the items on the right, we value the items on the left more.”
So while developing a product or software if you VALUE, Individuals and interactions, working software, customer collaboration and responding to change, you are agile. Agile is about valuing items on the left more than the ones on the right in above mentioned bullet points.
Using Agile development techniques for software delivery is very exciting journey and this journey indeed consists of a learning curve. We learn from each step we take and enhance our ways to work with each other towards the common goal.
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