
Why Agile?
People ask me all the time why I am passionate about Agile. I have seen Agile transform people, teams, organizations, and projects/products. Being an Agilist has transformed my career and how I think about work, manage projects, and interact with people. Many organizations become Agile without being Agile. This approach will not yield a true Agile culture. You have to encourage and model the Agile mindset, and that is when real, innovative change takes place.

The Agile Manifesto 2001
The Agile mindset is based on the Agile Manifesto, which was written in 2001.
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Yes, I know this says software development. I honestly believe the Agile Manifesto founders never thought Agile would spread outside of software development. There are Agile Manifestos out there for other sectors such as higher education (I was on the team that wrote that--you can find it under Research), marketing, accounting, etc. You can substitute the word "software" for "project," "product," or "service" based on what your team does. Don't get hung up on the word choice that it blurs your vision of what Agile could do for your team.
The 12 Agile Principles
The 12 Agile principles frame the Agile mindset and how you can bring Agile into your thinking, work, and interactions. Use these principles to guide your thoughts and how you interact with others.
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Here are a few of my favorites:
#10--Maximize the amount of work NOT done--why invest time and money into something that is no longer needed? It is difficult to not see our work through, but being Agile means we always focus on the highest priority work. Sometimes work will be abandoned or left undone. It is okay. Move on to something new.
#2--Welcoming changing requirements continuously--help make your customer awesome by adapting the project/product to their needs. I am not saying to implement every single change every time you are asked. I am saying to listen to your customer and have honest conversations about the change they want. Explain the work in the backlog that might not get done if the change is made.
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