"Agile" isn't the goal

Books. Conferences. Meetups. Frameworks. Slack channels. Lunch & Learns. Transformations. Even magazines (do people actually read those any more?).

It’s easy to find examples of all of these dedicated to the concept of “Agile.”

But why?

Agile is never, and has never, been a goal of its own.

Agile is a tool. A means to an end.

What end?

Quoting from the Manifesto for Agile Software Development:

We are uncovering better ways of developing software.

So what if we have a way to successfully develop software that isn’t “agile”? Is it wrong?

Of course not. What works is not wrong.

So don’t worry if you’re doing or being “Agile” unless what you’re doing isn’t working. If you have a problem to solve, then maybe Agile (or some other tool) can help. But if you have no problem, don’t try to fix it.

If you enjoyed this message, subscribe to The Daily Commit to get future messages to your inbox.