Agile Values

Overview

The agile manifesto was written as a way of communicating the agile philosophy.

The creators of agile have never produced a paint by numbers guide to agile or strict processes to be followed instead they seek to instil their values and principles in us.

The intention being that we can then think what those principles mean to us in our situation and hence go on to adopt agile ways of working that are right for us.

If you read through the values and principles below  I think a good summary might be:

"Agile is about the people involved in development (as customers / stakeholders or producers) trusting each other and working closely together to deliver the right software as simply (and hence efficiently) as possible.

So let's keep that in mind when thinking about how we deliver software.

Agile Values

Here's the agile manifesto and the list of it's four values...

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.

Source: http://www.agilemanifesto.org

Agile Principles

Here are the twelve agile principles

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. Business people 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 behavior accordingly.

 Source: http://www.agilemanifesto.org/principles