What is agile?
processes and systems shape our lives, let's take control and use them to make shit we love
Agile is, at present, a framework for building processes to help create good software. I want to re-frame the ideas of agile, make them more generally accessible, and explain how a few key points can help drive valuable, fulfilling work in both your personal and professional life.
I will discuss processes, simplification, teamwork, self-love, and ultimately: getting useful1 shit done. I want you to tear down the walls around your work so you can see clearly what needs doing, and then do it. I want you to feel empowered to create more meaningful and resonant work, and I want the world to see and benefit from that work.
My hope in this post is to draw a crude picture of the opinions, tools, and mindsets that we have come to know as 'agile'. I also hope to semantically satiate the word 'agile' so completely that we can form it anew together.
This work is equal parts educational and aspirational. The act of documenting helps me digest and internalize my inspirations. By writing this, I hope to become better at explaining, working, and being 'agile'.
A bit of history
In 2001, seventeen white dudes created "The Agile Manifesto". The manifesto (and the 12 agile principles) focus primarily on creating systems to support building good software. They are a worn, torn, outdated map - useful as a general outline but too wrinkled to be used for daily guidance. I agree with The Power In Agile, which says that the foundational "...practices [of agile] are racist, sexist, and ablest, at minimum."
I want to recognize agile’s history as a stepping stone to the present, but I do not idolize it. I have adapted the manifesto's four main values to make them less software-specific for a general audience:
People over processes
Output over documentation
Exploration over tradition
Adapting over planning
I will specifically call out agile principle #10, which is lovely and can stay - "Simplicity–the art of maximizing the amount of work not done–is essential."
Much of agile discussion is centered around teams building software. That frame is needlessly limiting. I believe an agile mindset benefits anyone, with any intention.
'Agile'
Agile means many different things to different people. On the surface, agile means speed, ease of motion, quickness. It also means feline, graceful and flexible. It evokes motion, speed, elegance.
If we narrow our focus to project management, 'agile' still means many things. To some, it denotes a system of practices that help teams move quickly. To others, it is a bloat of pointless meetings, unbounded process, limitless grinding and tearing away from what actually matters.
The Agile methodology is a project management approach that involves breaking the project into phases and emphasizes continuous collaboration and improvement. Teams follow a cycle of planning, executing, and evaluating.
— Atlassian proverb2
Many companies claim to be 'agile', but aren't. Many people try to bottle and sell 'agile', but their offerings fizzle and fade when exposed to reality.
That's all fine and dandy, but not my focus. The agile I want to present is smaller, simpler, more raw.
What agile isn't
Agile is not a system. A team using Scrum3 may (or may not) exhibit some agile characteristics. A system itself cannot be agile; cannot really even be considered separately from the context in which it's being used.
Agile is not a silver bullet. Adopting agile practices will not launch your project to the moon. Agile alone won't save you from failure.
Agile is not theoretical. Any processes hoping to be agile need testing in real, working conditions, by the real, working team. You can't synthesize agility in a lab.
Agile isn't something you can buy, though many want to sell it to you. It is not an object or a person. You cannot add "one agile please" to your shopping cart and continue on your way.
Agile is not a monolith. Many try to gatekeep agile, saying something is or isn't agile. There is no "one true agile" process or book or source. The work, team, time, context, etc. all matter.
There are many preconceived and otherwise competing versions of this idea. We have heard claims of "agile-ness" from countless companies. Most people & teams do things by brute force, agile is the alternative. I want to wipe the slate clean to make way for a more personal meaning.
What agile is
Agile is intentional. To solve problems effectively, it helps to block out everything else. Intention gives us boundaries, which limits the possibility space for solutions. By leading with intention, we make space for creativity to flourish.
Agile is about balance. An agile process seeks to understand the extremes and find a comfortable seat somewhere in between. Finding that middle-ground is the goal, and many things will influence where the balance should lie. There is no right balance point, only a point that is right for this solution, with this team, at this moment.
Agile is a tool. It can be useful, but can be abused or weaponized in the wrong hands. Don't be scared of your tools, and don't let them own you.
Agile is alive. Agile systems grow, collapse, splinter, and reform themselves constantly. This growth is a hallmark feature of agile, as it allows processes to adjust themselves to the new realities they'll inevitably encounter. A system with no flexibility is as good as dead.
Agile is personal. You have to make your own way. No two agile processes will ever be the same. An agile process includes the tools, team, time, and (con)text that it's applied in, and the process should bend to fit the needs of the present.
Agile is cheap. Since you create it, you can always scrap what you have and start over. You can frankenstein pieces together from books and talks and posts online. You can invite a friend over and smash your two systems together to make something entirely new.
Agile is experimental. Things won't work perfectly the first time. Or any time. Try new things, keep what works and throw everything else away.
I realize I've used a lot of words to paint a very vague picture of agile. This is partially intentional - that vaguery highlights the nebulous, highly-custom art of creating and following and re-creating a process. Now, however, I'll attempt to summarize the core of what agile means to me - mainly to give this piece some semblance of closure:
Agile is a way of thinking which seeks the root cause, it's a way of finding a balance between thoughts and action, it's a tool for breaking down and moving through complexity. Agile is intention, iteration, and flexibility to change. By driving towards a single well-defined problem, agile processes reduce distraction and focus effort.
Any problem of any size can be solved using agile, solo or with a team - the same simple rules can be used to simplify and iterate anything. From this perspective, everything is agile.
Agile is a mold-able, playful thing. It strives to take on new shapes and expand to fit its container. Nailing it down is difficult, but let's try to wrangle it together - the best way to learn is to do.
An exercise in restraint
Grab a blank doc or a piece of paper. At the top, write down something you want to do by the end of the week (something that needs a little thought, but isn't too complex). Sit and reflect on that goal, and then do whatever comes naturally.
That's the whole exercise. Hopefully a blank page below your goal motivates you to move - as guided or free-flowing as you like. Go where your mind takes you, but keep your focus on your intention. If you find yourself wanting to wiggle around and change the phrasing of your goal, go for it! There are no rules except the ones you set for yourself.
This is my favorite (and simplest) playbook for getting things done. A strong intention provides positive constraints, which limit the possibilities and streamline focus. I used this process when writing this post, in fact. My goal changed a bit while I went, but it currently reads:
Break down agile preconceptions and explain the broad direction for the newsletter, be a little poetic, a little mysterious, and try not to sound like a charlatan
Whether I achieved my goal is not actually important. What's important is this process put me in motion towards something I wanted. I've never written an article like this, and there were many false-starts and fake-outs and hiccups and stumbles along the way. But today, I sat down, wrote down my intention, and then wrote this post. That motion is what excites and drives me, and I want to learn to share it with you.
Thanks so much for reading! I hope this was valuable to you, even though it's a bit of a ramble. I plan to dive deep into specific applications of agile in future posts.
If you have any feedback for me or want to suggest a future topic, please reach out! I would absolutely love to hear from you - or to have a coffee and talk agile.
Inspiration and personalization
Agile is about balance, and this is an attempt at agility. I'm not a writer by day, so this post's very existence is moving me towards sort of balance. But there are deeper, fractal balances I hope to strike.
I want to counteract the beige, starchy, intellectual tones of a process blog by injecting recommendations, personal anecdotes, and other non-sequiturs. I want to steer very clear of sounding like a "business blogger" or a salesperson.
I want to create something human-scale and inject myself into it.
I am very much learning and developing my creative process. Please bear with me (and give me feedback)! While writing this piece, I was inspired by a number of things, including:
Drawing Manga the Hard Way - I want to learn to draw, so it's really empowering seeing someone with so much ability discuss the challenges of learning a new technique. His journey is a roller-coaster and I'm happy to be on board.
High precision speed reducer using rope - Watching someone engineer and explain a new idea will never not be exciting to me. I especially love his elegant 3D models, his testing rigs for different types of rope, and his beautiful note-style illustrations.
"I feel like a headmistress at a clown college"
I'm also starting to develop a personal style with fashion. My biggest inspiration on this front is Kathleen Illustrated, who is such a force of positivity and quirkiness that I can't leave one of her videos uninspired. One I found really exciting is Recreating Pinterest Outfits (at the thrift store), which also ties nicely to this post since she hits a snag halfway through and needs to iterate and change the whole vibe of the video. I love the way she builds up an outfit and becomes giddy as it starts to take shape and reflect her style. I, too, want to feel like a headmistress at a clown college, or at least that's the level of self-love and confidence I'm shooting for.
My guiding light since discovering Substack (only 1 week ago!) has been research as leisure activity, which is both a lovely example of style and class, and an absolutely game-changing mental shift for me. I've been approaching research anew, with my amateur perspective. It makes the whole process feel so much more accessible, and it directly led to the creation of what you're reading now.
I've also been really inspired by and interested in the experimental|poetic|weird web. I have been jaded by so many years of websites growing plain and standardized, so I love seeing the creativity people bring to the medium. Some notable examples:
Wired Sound for Wired People - I love Serial Experiments Lain, and this site does an awesome job of capturing the vibe of the show, while also being technically impressive, striking, and creepily beautiful.
A Good Enough Guestbook - Projects that combine the digital and the physical always give me goosebumps. This one takes it to the next level by requiring and showcasing artistic expression, and also by requiring the site to take an actual photo of the print out. It's dripping with attention and charm, and I'm here for it.
Thank you again for reading! Please reach out if you have any thoughts or just want to connect!
Until next time,
<3 Jase
Useful, beautiful, fun, exciting, awful but necessary - substitute a goal of your choosing
A widespread Agile system for building software, sometimes seen as rigid and complex