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Showing posts from June, 2011

Back to the agile values

In recent years the term agile has become overused. Many seem to think that if they have have unit tests, standup meetings and burn-down charts, they're agile. All these practices are good, but they don't necessarily make you agile. Even iterations or some kind of certified master don't necessarily make you agile. So what is agile? If I were to sum it up with one word it would be communication . Communication is everywhere in the agile manifesto : [We value] individuals and interactions over processes and tools. I see this as a reaction against processes like RUP that felt like a software development factory where developers were replacable cog wheels. Agile recognizes that it's individuals with intelligence, creativity and drive that make a project succeed. But individuals are not working in isolation, they need to interact with others. Interactions means communication. Not one-way communication but interactive dialogues. Misunderstandings are inevitable in comm