What is Agile Anyway?
So did you find your way to this blog and have no idea what Agile is? Well then you are on the right page!
So is this blog all about “well coordinated movements or actions”? No.
So then is this blog all about “being able to think quickly” or being “mentally acute or aware”? No.
Well if it isn’t about Agile, as the dictionary defines it, then what am I talking about? Well, if you don’t already know, then it may be somewhat disappointing to find out that this blog is about all things Agile, as in, Agile software development. Yep, software development. Sorry!
If you are still reading, and now want to know what Agile software development is all about, well its actually pretty simple, so let me explain. I promise to keep it brief.
Agile is a philosophy about software development. Huh, a philosophy? How can we talk about something like software development, something that pretty much implies a technical endeavor, and then describe the approach to it as a philosophy? Well, I could fill several pages answering this, so stay posted to this blog for posts that address what it means to be Agile.
Agile is a framework, not a methodology, for software development. I specifically mention that it is not a methodology because the word “methodology” implies a prescriptive approach to something, in this case software development. And with software development, change happens so often over the course of a typical project, that utilizing a prescriptive approach tends to result in failure. Agile instead provides a framework from which to build a process that suits your team, your project, your product, your environment, your culture, and your customer. Agile recognizes that we must be pliable to our unique situation.
Agile recognizes that software development requires a different project management approach. Agile is revolutionary, if seen through the prism of PMI (project management institute) glasses. Agile requires a shift of culture and thinking about the way we do projects. This shift if huge. It is a shift on the level of a paradigm change.
So if you are still interested in what it means, what it takes, and how to do Agile, then you have found a great place to spend a little bit of your time.
Need to know more NOW!?! Then here is a link to the Wikipedia page about Agile.
Stay tuned!
