What is the Agile Manifesto?
The Agile Manifesto is a set of guiding values and principles for agile software development. It was first introduced and developed in 2001 by a group of software developers who were looking for a more efficient and flexible way to manage projects. The founding individuals came from diverse backgrounds and had much experience with Scrum, Kanban, Dynamic System Development Method (DSDM), and Extreme Programming (XP) and were frustrated with the challenges they were facing in traditional software development methodologies.
Together, the group identified 4 values and 12 principles that apply to any agile software development framework that changed the world forever.
The 17 founding members
Kent Beck, Mike Beedle, Arie van Bennekum, Alistair Cockburn, Ward Cunningham, Martin Fowler, James Grenning, Jim Highsmith, Andrew Hunt, Ron Jeffries, Jon Kern, Brian Marick, Robert C. Martin, Steve Mellor, Ken Schwaber, Jeff Sutherland and Dave Thomas. This group is sometimes referred to as the Agile Alliance.
Before, traditional software development methodologies such as Waterfall were the norm. These methodologies were highly structured and bureaucratic, with a strong emphasis on planning and documentation. However, in practice, these methodologies often led to delays, budget overruns, and a lack of customer satisfaction.
The Agile Manifesto values
Individuals and interactions over processes and tools
This value emphasizes the importance of people and their interactions in the development process. Agile teams are made up of individuals who work together to achieve a common goal, encouraging the use of face-to-face communication, collaboration, and teamwork to achieve success.
Working software over comprehensive documentation
In Agile development, the focus is on delivering working software to the customer as quickly as possible. This means that documentation is kept to a minimum, and the team focuses on delivering code that is functional and meets the needs of the customer.
Customer collaboration over contract negotiation
Agile is customer-focused. Teams are encouraged to work closely with customers to understand their needs and deliver solutions that meet those needs. This means that the team is more focused on understanding the customer's requirements than on negotiating a contract.
Responding to change over following a plan
This is a larger mindset shift for more traditional project management professionals. In the past, plans were everything and couldn't be altered. Now, not only can a plan change, in fact it should be embraced and accepted.
The 12 principles
The Agile Manifesto also includes twelve principles, which provide a more detailed explanation of the values and how they should be implemented in practice. These principles are:
- Our highest priority is to satisfy the customer through early and continuous delivery of valuable software.
- Welcome changing requirements, even late in development. Agile processes harness change for the customer's competitive advantage.
- Deliver working software frequently, from a couple of weeks to a couple of months, with a preference to the shorter timescale.
- Business people and developers must work together daily throughout the project.
- Build projects around motivated individuals. Give them the environment and support they need, and trust them to get the job done.
- The most efficient and effective method of conveying information to and within a development team is face-to-face conversation.
- Working software is the primary measure of progress.
- Agile processes promote sustainable development. The sponsors, developers, and users should be able to maintain a constant pace indefinitely.
- Continuous attention to technical excellence and good design enhances agility.
- Simplicity, the art of maximizing the amount of work not done, is essential.
- The best architectures, requirements, and designs emerge from self-organizing teams.
- At regular intervals, the team reflects on how to become more effective, then tunes and adjusts its behaviour accordingly.
Is it still relevant?
Agile quickly gained traction in the software development community, and many organizations began to adopt Agile methodologies in their software development processes. Today, Agile is widely recognized as one of the most effective and efficient ways to develop software, and it continues to evolve and adapt to meet the needs of the industry. It has also spread to non-technical organizations and teams like marketing and finance. While the concept is no-longer new, it still guides our strategies and decisions.
