Technology
Definition
Agile is an iterative approach to software development — and increasingly to project management broadly — that prioritizes short development cycles, continuous feedback, and adaptive planning over rigid upfront specification.
Agile emerged from the 2001 Agile Manifesto, a document signed by 17 software developers that articulated four core values: individuals and interactions over processes and tools, working software over comprehensive documentation, customer collaboration over contract negotiation, and responding to change over following a plan. These values were a deliberate reaction to 'waterfall' project management — the sequential model where requirements are fully specified upfront, then designed, built, and tested in phases — which routinely produced software that took years to deliver and was already obsolete by the time it shipped.
Agile is a philosophy, not a specific methodology. The most widely used methodologies built on Agile principles include Scrum (work organized into 1–4 week sprints with defined ceremonies: sprint planning, daily standups, sprint review, and retrospective), Kanban (a continuous flow model with visual task boards and work-in-progress limits), and SAFe (Scaled Agile Framework, for large enterprise programs). Scrum is by far the most common in software teams; Kanban is popular for operations and support workflows; SAFe is used in complex multi-team programs.
The practical mechanics of Scrum involve: a Product Backlog (the prioritized list of all work to be done), a Sprint Backlog (the subset of work committed to in the current sprint), a Definition of Done (the criteria that must be met for a work item to be considered complete), and regular retrospectives to continuously improve the team's process. The goal is to produce a working, demonstrable product increment at the end of every sprint — enabling rapid feedback and course correction.
Most non-technical business owners hiring a development team or agency will encounter Agile terminology and processes. Understanding the framework helps you participate effectively as the Product Owner — the person responsible for prioritizing the backlog and making decisions about what gets built — rather than being a passive observer of a process that's producing the wrong things. An experienced technology consultant can help you establish the right Agile process for your team's size and context, and coach you on how to be an effective client or product owner.
For businesses where development velocity has stalled, or where there is chronic tension between the business and engineering team about what gets built and when, an outside Agile coach or technology consultant can often diagnose the process breakdown quickly and implement improvements that produce immediate results.