Being Agile Over Doing Agile

Agile methodology is a people-focused and software focused approach that is changing the world. It is a mindset that allows people to be self- organized thereby resulting in shorter delivery time. It is a flexible approach that improves the quality of the project through continuous iterative improvement. There are various frameworks that support agile methodology like Scrum, XP, DSOM, FDD, Crystal, Kanban, etc.

Agile Values:

Agile manifesto uncovers various ways of getting the software developed in a way that it reduces the failure and improves the success rate of the project. There are 4 set of core agile values which is important and valued more than the traditional approaches.

Agile Principles:

There are 12 agile principles mentioned in “Agile Manifesto”, these are not the fixed set of rules, but rather the rules that will help one think the agile way.

1. Our highest priority is to satisfy the customer through early and continuous delivery of valuable software.

2. Welcoming the change requirements, even if it is a later stage of development. Agile processes harness change for customer’s competitive advantage.

3. Deliver working software frequently, from a couple of weeks to a couple of months, with preference to the shorter timescales.

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- is 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 behavior accordingly.

Doing Agile Vs Being Agile

Doing Agile: It is more about executing agile practices in a more efficient * effective manner. When you say, you are doing it in an agile way, it often means that he/she follows the best practices, interactions, incremental, user stories, etc. The team mostly looks for the set of items on the backlog, working in a consistent way.

Being Agile: This is a mindset, and ultimately depends on the underlying consciousness of the organization and its people. It is based more on values and behavior. Teams adapt their culture, psychological behavior, willingness to take risks, and express their ideas more efficiently. They are open to more brainstorming, which ultimately results in delivering a better solutions to their customers.

Doing agile is not equal to being agile

Teams can follow the agile method just cause the company follows it, but in order to be agile, one needs to change their mindset and not be forced to blindly follow the practices. Thus, in short, AGILE is a MINDSET….

BEING AGILE OVER DOING AGILE results in successful deliveries.

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