The author mentions the Agile Manifesto. It's worth a read, and the concepts it focuses on are somewhat different than the impression that you'd get by reading

The author mentions the Agile Manifesto. It's worth a read, and the concepts it focuses on are somewhat different than the impression that you'd get by reading about Agile in popular blog posts or websites: http://agilemanifesto.org/ http://agilemanifesto.org/ Manifesto for Agile Software Development We are uncovering better ways of 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. That's the gist of it: being Agile means valuing the things on the left more. It is a set of values, not a methodology. I think this manifesto is wise. Like Zen koans, contemplating and discussing it provides an understanding about what Agile is. Fortunately it's not cryptic, although the meaning behind the statements might become clearer with consideration and experience. "Individuals and interactions" is saying, focus on getting people together and talking and working things out, not following a predefined process or using complex tracking tools. "Customer collaboration over contract negotiation" is written, I assume, in the context of contract work, but it applies generally to the relationship between the software team and stakeholders: collaborate with your stakeholder directly, rather than trying to negotiate some kind of specification (contract) up front. The Twelve Principles of Agile Software are also worth a read: http://agilemanifesto.org/principles.html http://agilemanifesto.org/principles.html These principles are what Agile is about -- not some particular methodology. Indeed, blindly following a methodology like Scrum would violate the Agile Manifesto ("individuals and interactions over process"). One of the things that I like about the Agile Manifesto and Principles is that they're not prescribing a particular method; they are instead providing some principles to consider while thinking about a situation. I've always liked Amazon's Leadership Principles for the same reason: https://www.amazon.jobs/principles https://www.amazon.jobs/principles - insight comes from thinking about what it means to embody a principle in a given situation; or what it means to value one principle over another, in what situations, and why. It's not prescriptive nor a method, but it's a starting point for discussion, and a way of talking about what we value as individuals, a team, or a company.