What are the Agile principles?

The 12 principles described in the manifesto are important for understanding the Agile mindset.

You have already been introduced to the four values of the Agile Manifesto, but the principles are a bit more descriptive guidelines, which help us make decisions through our daily Agile activities.

12 Agile principles

Let’s take a look at these principles:

(Take a closer look)

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An accessible document is also available in the downloads section below.

Delivering something of value

Ability to change direction quickly

Concept of a team

Team’s pace

• Gilchrist, K. (2019). Microsoft Japan’s 4-day workweek experiment sees productivity jump 40%
• Sehgal, K. & Chopra K. (2019). Stanford professor: Working this many hours in a week is basically pointless. Here’s how to get more done—by doing less

The KISS principle

Principles 9, 10, and 11 address the more technical aspects of the work. One of the principles developed as part of the Lockheed SkunkWorks program was the KISS principle, ‘keep it simple, stupid.’ Keep in mind that this group was building some of the most advanced airplanes in the world.

Regular reflection for continuous improvement

Finally the last principle, but perhaps the most important one is that the team needs to step back and look at how they are performing the work and make adjustments to be more effective. This idea is often referred to as Kaizenand is key in lean manufacturing.

While many see the 2001 Manifesto for Agile Software Development as the starting point for Agile, it has a history that goes back much further. Regardless of the history, the values and principles penned in 2001 have formed the foundation for every successful Agile team since that time.

Considering all that you have learned so far around the Agile Manifesto, values, and principles, let’s head on over to the next step, and discuss these principles in more detail.