Why I think that Agile has won

“ Agile is not dead – Agile has won!” This powerful sentence was spoken by Diana Larsen during the closing panel of the XP2024 in Bolzano. It was so eye-opening to me, that I wrote a post on LinkedIn about it.

The post went viral and triggered many interesting discussions (which is great!). There were also some misunderstandings regarding my statement. I wrote this article to rephrase a bit and make it more clear what I meant with this statement.

What do I mean by stating that Agile has won?

Over 20 years ago, when the Manifesto for Agile Software Development was published, the concept of agility was fairly new. Crucial elements needed to be explained, taught and even fought for:

• Customer centricity,
• Incremental development,
• Frequent releases,
• Short feedback loops,
• Cross functional teams,
• etc.

People needed to be convinced that these concepts will:

• Improve customer satisfaction,
• Raise competitiveness,
• Reduce wasteful activities,
• Allow to create more valuable products.

Today the advantages of being agile are generally clear. Almost everyone wants to deliver software in small, valuable increments and have a close customer collaboration.

This way of working has become so basic and obvious, that it is often not even called “agile” anymore. Instead, it is just called “modern” or “best practices”.

Furthermore, due to many unfortunate experiences with “Agile Transformations”, many people avoid using this word at all. I often read posts by Agile Coaches, who recommend to stop using the word “agile” (oh irony!).

And there are good reasons for this.

We should never recommend practices just because they are “agile” – and I think this has happened a lot in the past. Instead, they should be implemented and used because (and only if) they solve a specific problem for the organization or the team.

Here is a dialog I once had with a manager during a workshop on future improvements:

Manager: We should put the “why?” first and work towards common goals. We should deliver value in iterations and create short feedback loops, so that we can adjust fast. How do we sum this cluster up?

Me: Increase agility?

Manager (disgusted): Oh no, let’s not use this word…

And it went on like this for a while… His mindset, ideas and proposed concepts were well aligned with agile principles, but he seemed allergic to the word itself.

For me there is no problem in dropping the word – call it whatever you like, as long as it is helpful and effective.

So, to sum up – the word might be dead or heading towards retirement. But the concepts are very much alive and have melted into our everyday work.

What do I NOT mean by that?

I am not saying that agile methods are implemented and working well everywhere, far from that!

Many transformations have failed. Some have only officially been a success – under the surface, it’s a different story. Teams may still struggle with old habits, resistance to change, or misinterpretations of Agile principles.

However, there has been a significant cultural shift where the values of flexibility, collaboration, and responsiveness are recognized as essential for success in software development. We’re seeing a clear movement away from rigid, waterfall processes towards a more iterative, customer-focused approach.

Of course, there are still discussions whether one framework is better than the other, whether to use Story Points for effort estimation or not, whether a Product Owner is also a Product Manager… and hundreds of other details.

But does anyone ever discuss whether to go back to

• Releasing software once a year?
• Having a requirements freeze before starting a 6-months development phase?
• Spending months on detailed documentation before writing a single line of code?
• Letting developers work separated from analysts and testers in closed silos?
• Calling users „idiots“ and not asking them what they actually need?

While the journey to Agile adoption is ongoing, the consensus to avoid these outdated practices is a testament to Agile’s impact on the industry.

And that is all I’m saying.

What’s next?

Does that mean that Agile Coaches are not needed anymore? Yes and no.

We might soon see less demand for:

• Transformation Experts who guide organizations from waterfall to Agile.
• Scrum Masters who teach teams the basics of Scrum.
• Agile Coaches focused on implementing a specific, chosen framework.
• Prescriptive frameworks that allow no room for adjustments.

What will be needed more and more?

• Scrum Masters who prioritize the unique needs of their teams over rigid adherence to a framework.
• Agile Coaches who understand and adapt to the specific context of their organization.
• Flexible methods like Kanban that can evolve with the team’s needs.
• Open approaches like Flight Levels that offer a broader perspective on organizational agility.
• Revolutionary concepts like FaST (Fluid Scaling Technology) that are more agile than Agile itself.

The focus is shifting towards a more tailored, context-driven approach and away from specific frameworks.

Oh yes, and we might have to change our titles (to Business Flexibility Expert? Or Delivery Improvement Coach?) to avoid allergic reactions.

Summing up, what we witness today is not the flawless execution of Agile everywhere but the universal acknowledgment of its importance. And that is a significant victory.