1

THE AGILE MINDSET

What Is An Agile Mindset?

Practitioners are thus said to have an

Agile mindset when they are
preoccupied—and sometimes obsessed—with innovating
and delivering steadily more customer value, with getting
work done in small self-organizing teams, and with
collaborating together in an interactive network.
 2

Such organizations have been shown to have the capacity to

adapt rapidly to a quickly shifting marketplace.

By contrast, managers in traditionally run organizations are

often said to have a bureaucratic mindset when they are
primarily preoccupied with making money for the company
and its shareholders, when they are organizing work
according to rules, roles and criteria that they determine,
 3

and when they are operating the organization as a top-down

hierarchy with multiple layers and divisions.
 4

What Is the Agile Manifesto?

The Agile Manifesto is a document that outlines the central

values and principles of Agile software development.
Officially referred to as the Manifesto for Agile Software
Development, the guide aims to provide an effective
model for teams to successfully adopt the philosophy of
Agile project management and use it to improve their
work process.
 5

The lightweight framework of the Agile Manifesto was

designed to improve upon existing software development
processes, which were more complex and contained a lot of
documentation. The founders wanted to speed up these
processes and create a more efficient working model for
teams.

Put simply, the Agile Manifesto is an alternative to

traditional software development methodologies.
 6

Although the Agile Manifesto was designed for the software

development community, it has been used as a key resource
for planning all types of projects. The State of Agile report
noted numerous sectors outside software development that
have adopted Agile practices, including IT, operations,
marketing, HR, and sales.
 7

But what exactly are the best practices outlined in the Agile
Manifesto? Let’s look at the values and principles in more
detail.
 8

The four Agile Manifesto values

The Agile Manifesto was founded on four key values, which

are as follows:

. Individuals and interactions over processes and tools

. Working software over comprehensive documentation
. Customer collaboration over contract negotiation
. Responding to change over following a plan
 9

1. Individuals and interactions over processes and tools

The first value gets straight to the core of Agile

methodology: the focus is on the people. You can use the
best processes and tools available to support your projects,
but they will only work if your people are doing their best
work. Your team is your most valuable resource.
Communication plays a key role here — when people
 10

interact with each other regularly and share their ideas, they
build better products.

Jim Highsmith, one of the authors of the Agile Manifesto,

wrote about the importance of the “mushy stuff,” meaning
prioritizing people over processes. Rather than simply
proclaiming that people are the most important factor, he
advises that software developers actually act as if people are
the most important factor.
 11

2. Working software over comprehensive documentation

Before Agile practices were fully implemented, teams would

spend hours creating exhaustive documents with technical
specifications, requirements, and more. These lists would be
prepared before developers started to write the code,
meaning the whole process was delayed as the
documentation took so long to compile.
 12

The Agile philosophy is to streamline these documents and

condense the information into user stories. These stories
equip the developer with all the details they need to start
working on the software and get it ready for release.

The idea is to accelerate the launch process and make

product tweaks in the early stages, improving the
software in future iterations.
 13

3. Customer collaboration over contract negotiation

The third value of the Agile Manifesto highlights the

importance of customer collaboration. This is viewed as
superior to contract negotiation, which involves outlining
product requirements with the customer before
commencing the project and then renegotiating these
deliverables at a later stage. The issue here is that the
customer is not engaged throughout the development cycle,
 14

so teams lose out on user feedback that could enhance the

product.

When you bring your customers into the development

process, you can ask for their opinions regularly and take
their suggestions on board. By delving into their specific
needs while the software is still being built, developers
can gain valuable insights to create the ultimate user
experience.
 15

4. Responding to change over following a plan

Traditional methodologies advocated for as little change as

possible, recognizing that significant alterations could cost
time and money. The aim was to create a comprehensive
plan that followed a structured, linear path and avoided
obstacles where possible.

The Agile mentality turns this rigid method on its head,

arguing that change can benefit the software development
 16

process. When you embrace change, you open yourself up

to new possibilities and ways to improve. Agile teams
work in short, iterative cycles, meaning they can react
quickly and implement changes on a continuous basis.
This ultimately leads to better products.

These four values form the basis of Agile software

development, highlighting key priority areas for teams to
 17

focus their energies on. The core values are supported by the
12 Agile Manifesto principles.
 18

The 12 Agile
Manifesto
principles
 19

The Agile Manifesto lists 12 principles to be followed by

software developers:

These principles are as follows:

1. Place customer satisfaction above all priorities.

2. Self-organizing teams are the ideal team.
3. Working products are the best success.
4. Embrace logical change at every step of a project.
 20

5. Face-to-face communication over other forms of

communication.
6. Never underestimate the power of simplicity.
7. Work towards a sustainable pace of development.
8. It’s essential for business and tech people to work
together.
9. Put a sufficient amount of time into producing quality
products.
 21

10. Aim to improve your working deliverables at a

continuous rate.
11. Learn valuable lessons from your failures and
successes.
12. Produce quality results by building projects around
motivated teams.
 22

1. Our highest priority is to satisfy the customer through

early and continuous delivery of valuable software.

What is the number one rule in software development? Keep

your customer happy. Aim to deliver software to your users
at regular intervals throughout the project life cycle, rather
than keep them waiting for one final deliverable.
 23

2. Welcome changing requirements, even late in

development. Agile processes harness change for the
customer's competitive advantage.

Software developers should be capable of handling last-

minute changes to a project. They should be flexible enough
to turn these changes into improvements quickly,
minimizing delays and ensuring an uninterrupted flow of
work.
 24

3. Deliver working software frequently, from a couple of

weeks to a couple of months, with a preference to the
shorter timescale.

Agile teams break large projects down into short timelines to

guarantee regular delivery. In the Scrum methodology, these
timelines are known as sprints, which often run between one
and four weeks long.
 25

4. Business people and developers must work together

daily throughout the project.

As mentioned, collaboration is key to Agile project

management. When the project stakeholders communicate
on a daily basis, it minimizes the risk of confusion and
ensures that everyone’s goals remain aligned.
 26

5. Build projects around motivated individuals. Give

them the environment and support they need, and trust
them to get the job done.

When you have the right people for the task, the project is
more likely to be successful. Spend time choosing the
perfect team, equip them with the resources they need, and
trust them to deliver exceptional results.
 27

6. The most efficient and effective method of conveying

information to and within a development team is face-to-
face conversation.

Barriers are broken easily when teams can converse in

person. Co-locate teams where possible to promote good
communication and boost the flow of information. In a
remote working situation, Zoom is a great alternative to
 28

phone or email, enabling people to interact more effectively

via camera.

7. Working software is the primary measure of progress.

To keep your customers satisfied, you must deliver high-

quality software. That is your ultimate priority and your
metric for success — everything else is a secondary
consideration.
 29

8. Agile processes promote sustainable development. The

sponsors, developers, and users should be able to
maintain a constant pace indefinitely.

Agile teams must be consistent throughout their project life

cycle, maintaining their speed throughout. This means they
can sustain a constantly evolving environment without
succumbing to delays.
 30

9. Continuous attention to technical excellence and good

design enhances agility.

In Agile, you don’t just deliver one good product and call it
a day — your focus should be on continuous improvement
and innovation. Each iteration should bring with it a new
update, feature, or advancement of some kind.
 31

10. Simplicity — the art of maximizing the amount of

work not done — is essential.

The Agile approach is to not overcomplicate things: meet

your requirements and do just enough to complete the task.
Don’t waste time with additional steps that don’t add any
real value to your product.
 32

11. The best architectures, requirements, and designs

emerge from self-organizing teams.

Why micromanage teams when they are skilled enough to

work on their own? By allowing them to work within their
own structures, you create more room for ideas to flourish,
ultimately delivering better results.
 33

12. At regular intervals, the team reflects on how to

become more effective, then tunes and adjusts its
behavior accordingly.

When you review team performance regularly, you can spot

issues before they escalate, as well as potential areas for
improvement. A healthy Agile team is one that self-reflects
in order to eliminate unhelpful practices and advance skills.
 34

By studying the four values and 12 principles of the Agile

Manifesto, software development teams will have a clear
understanding of what it truly means to be Agile.
 35

Why is the Agile Manifesto important?

The Agile Manifesto is a valuable resource for software

development teams as it equips them with a flexible
framework to guide their project management processes and
uphold Agile best practices.

The foundational document also clarifies what is important

to Agile project management, enabling teams to prioritize
their activities and align their objectives. For example,
 36

software developers will know that customer satisfaction is

key, and so all project plans can be based around that
guiding principle.

However, teams should be wary of what is known as the

“Agile Industrial Complex.” This refers to people and
organizations that impose Agile best practices on teams
rather than giving them the autonomy to decide what works
best for them. There is no one-size-fits-all approach to
 37

project management, and trying to force an unsuitable

methodology will not deliver the desired results. Martin
Fowler, one of the Agile Manifesto founders, adds that
“even the Agile advocates wouldn’t say that Agile is
necessarily the best thing to use everywhere.”

In short, the Agile Manifesto is a hugely important

document for teams that wish to implement or sustain an
Agile methodology in their organizations.
 38

How to use the Agile Manifesto

How can you apply the values and principles of the Agile
Manifesto to your work process? Rather than a detailed list
of instructions or how-to guide, there is only one key nugget
of advice to keep in mind: interpret it for your own team.

Discuss the Agile Manifesto with your colleagues and see

what inspiration they draw from the values and principles. It
is a flexible document designed to be adapted for your Agile
 39

needs. Take the time to assess it, see what works, and figure
out how you can adjust it for your team without losing sight
of its core mission.

Just like your chosen project management platform, a

guiding document such as the Agile Manifesto should be
versatile enough to suit a variety of software development
needs. Tailor it to suit you and make it work for your
Agile projects.