The Agile Manifesto: A Timeless guide to achieve sustainable Software Development

Probably this is not the first time you see a developer writing about the famous buzzword “The Agile Manifesto”, it I promise you, it will definitely not be the last.

If this is your first time reading about it, let me give you a bit of context: The Agile Manifesto, created in 2001 by a group of very experienced and visionary software practitioners, is a set of ground rules (or rather, priorities) which remains a foundational guide for modern development practices. Its principles continue to influence how we approach software engineering, project management, and team dynamics today. When a team tells you that they are an “Agile team”, it means that they prioritize the Agile manifesto over everything.

Understanding the Agile Manifesto

The Agile Manifesto consists of four core values and twelve principles, all designed to prioritize adaptability, collaboration, and customer centrism.

The Four Core Values

1. Individuals and interactions over processes and tools

   • Agile prioritizes people and effective communication over rigid frameworks or software.
   • Tools help, but it’s collaboration that drives innovation.

2. Working software over comprehensive documentation

   • While documentation is important, delivering functional software takes precedence.
   • Agile teams aim for continuous progress, ensuring the product provides real value.

3. Customer collaboration over contract negotiation

   • Agile emphasizes working closely with clients to adapt to their evolving needs.
   • Success is measured by delivering what users truly need, not just what was originally specified.

4. Responding to change over following a plan

   • Agile embraces flexibility, adjusting to new insights and market changes.
   • Unlike traditional methodologies, it sees change as an opportunity, not a setback.

“That is, while there is value in the items on the right, we value the items on the left more.”

Why the Agile Manifesto still matters

1. Faster Time-to-Market

Agile’s iterative approach enables teams to release features incrementally, allowing companies to get real-world feedback and refine their product quickly.

2. Enhanced Collaboration & Transparency

Agile fosters cross-functional teamwork, daily stand-ups, and open communication, ensuring all stakeholders remain aligned.

3. Continuous Improvement

Agile encourages reflection and iteration, helping teams refine their workflows and increase efficiency over time.

4. Better Risk Management

Frequent releases and customer feedback loops reduce the risk of building the wrong product. Teams can pivot early, avoiding very expensive mistakes.

Agile in Action: Popular Frameworks

Agile is not a rigid framework, but the philosophy behind every “Agile framework” created. Several methodologies are very famous nowadays in the market which try to achieve Agile principles:

• Scrum: A structured framework with sprints, stand-ups, and defined roles (Product Owner, Scrum Master, Development Team).
• Kanban: A visual workflow management system that optimizes efficiency by limiting work in progress.
• Extreme Programming (XP): Focuses on engineering best practices, including Test-Driven Development (TDD) and pair programming.
• Lean Development: Inspired by manufacturing principles, Lean minimizes waste and maximizes value delivery.

Challenges in Agile Adoption

While Agile offers a fair list of benefits, implementing it successfully comes with many challenges which I was able to while working with many different clients:

• Cultural Resistance: Teams accustomed to their traditional project management style and Ways of Working struggle a lot to embrace Agile. I have found it specially difficult to pitch for colleagues who found themselves for many years doing the same process and accumulating valuable company knowledge, that in order to embrace Agile principles, they would actually need to share their knowledge widely with their teammates (sharing the secret knowledge that made them special), and be open to feedback from others while doing retros and code review (what has been perceived by them as a personal attack and micromanaging). Let’s just say that in the end we had to agree to disagree on a few points.
• Scaling Issues: Large organizations may find it difficult to scale Agile across multiple teams. Many companies I have seen try to coordinate sprints across multiple teams by having equal start and end dates, while Product Managers from all teams try to coordinate their sprints in a way that avoids blockers and enables a smoother cross-team collaboration. Still, it is a lot of effort and energy from the teams to achieve such a harmonious collaboration.
• Misinterpretation: Some teams claim to be Agile but fail to embrace its core principles, what I love to call an “Agile Frankenstein monster”. Usually such monsters are extremely micromanagy, try to constantly manipulate their developers to compromise on very big tasks while downplaying their complexity. The good news is that such aberrations are very easy to identify and address.

In the end, the Agile Mindset matters More than the Framework/Methodology

Agile is not about blindly following a methodology, as I have seen once in a while. It’s about fostering a mindset that values adaptability, collaboration, and continuous improvement. As the tech landscape gets more inclusive for non-techies and grows its’ relevance constantly, the Agile Manifesto remains as relevant as ever, reminding us that people, working solutions, and responsiveness to change are at the heart of successful software development.