Agile way of working
Agile and its origins
Before we dive into the origins of Agile methodology it is important to first understand the word “agility”. As defined by the Cambridge dictionary (Dictionary, 2022) the word “agility” represents the ability to move your body quickly and easily.
However, “agility” as a word representing the Agile Methodology can be better defined through the words of Dr. David F. Rico in Broad Introduction: Agile Methodologies (Rico, 2022):
• The ability to create and respond to change in order to profit in a turbulent global business environment
• The ability to quickly reprioritize the use of resources when requirements, technology, and knowledge shift
• A very fast response to sudden market changes and emerging threats by intensive customer interaction
• Use of evolutionary, incremental, and iterative delivery to converge on an optimal customer solution
• Maximizing BUSINESS VALUE with right sized, just enough, and just-in-time processes and documentation
The origins of agile methods date back to the 90s when primarily in the software development industry and other industries such as aerospace, defence and manufacturing, the traditional methods were simply not suitable anymore when it came to timely product delivery (Agilemania, 2021). Companies and the developers within quickly started developing their own methodologies and mixing old with new. The new methods had a big focus on close collaboration, business value and self-organised teams. In this time methods such as Scrum, Extreme Programming, Feature Driven Development (FDD and Dynamic System Development Method (DSDM) were established and implemented (AgileAlliance, 2022).
The making of the Agile Manifesto:
The frustration with traditional methods continued to increase, especially in the software industry. One of the first so speak up on this topic was Jon Kern, who in 2000 organised a meeting in Oregon with 17 other software developers in order to look for new ways of bringing software products faster to the market. The meeting concluded with two outcomes (Agilemania, 2021):
• To solve the product-market fit and unfinished product problem- shortening the delay of benefits to customers.
• To ensure the usefulness of the new software and improve it- gathering feedback from customers.
The second meeting with the same group took place in Utah in 2001, where the birth of the Agile Manifesto took place. The Agile Manifesto consists of four values (Highsmith, Agile Manifesto, 2001):
• Individuals and interactions over processes and tools,
• Working software over comprehensive documentation,
• Customer collaboration over contract negotiation,
• Responding to change over following a plan,
and of 12 main principles (Highsmith, Agile Manifesto, 2001):
1. Our highest priority is to satisfy the customer through early and continuous delivery of valuable software.
2. Welcome changing requirements, even late in development. Agile processes harness change for the customer's competitive advantage.
3. Deliver working software frequently, from a couple of weeks to a couple of months, with a preference to the shorter timescale.
4. Businesspeople and developers must work together daily throughout the project.
5. Build projects around motivated individuals. Give them the environment and support they need and trust them to get the job done.
6. The most efficient and effective method of conveying information to and within a development team is face-to-face conversation.
7. Working software is the primary measure of progress.
8. Agile processes promote sustainable development. The sponsors, developers, and users should be able to maintain a constant pace indefinitely.
9. Continuous attention to technical excellence and good design enhances agility.
10. Simplicity--the art of maximizing the amount of work not done--is essential.
11. The best architectures, requirements, and designs emerge from self-organizing teams.
12. At regular intervals, the team reflects on how to become more effective, then tunes and adjusts its behaviour accordingly.
Since 2001 and the forming of the Agile Alliance by the software developers, agile has spread beyond the software industry and is now days a popular choice of management, weather that be organisational, team, project, program or portfolio management.
