Rethinking Agile Principles for the Modern Business World

12 Agile principles were included in the Agile Manifesto when it was written 21 years ago. Some of the original Agile principles still hold up today, but some were written in a business context that isn’t the same today. Even looking at Agile 10 years ago compared to today, a lot has changed. Because of the changing technological world and business in general, we’ve learned how to adapt our approach to Agile Transformation over the years.

In this video, Mike explores which Agile principles still apply today. He connects which ones succeed in large complex organizations typically undergoing a Transformation. Another layer to the conversation is adapting Agile principles to a changing software development and deployment structure.

Finally, he answers the question everyone wants to know. By adopting Agile practices, what benefits will my company see from this new way of working?

Imagine the results of Transformation aren’t tied to anything of value. In that case, it’s difficult, or nearly impossible, to get an entire organization on board—particularly the leaders—to adopt Agile practices and see it through to new systems, team structures, organizational structures, and more frequent incremental product delivery. To get leaders on board, we must tie Agile Transformation progress to measurable business value they care about.

Adapting Agile practices to a changing world is possible, but it must be done with the entire organization and systems in mind. If the systems and organization aren’t set up to support the Agile framework, the systems need to be changed before Agile practices can be added. An organization not set up to support Agile practices will reject them.

As technology continues to evolve, we must continue to adapt Agile practices for the type of business, product, or industry in which they are being used. The Agile practices still work, but we must remember why they were written the way they were and what made them work in the beginning.