🌿 The 12 Agile Principles: A Manifesto for the Craft of Building Great Software
✍️ Origin: Where It All Began
In February 2001, 17 independent thinkers — including names like Kent Beck, Martin Fowler, Robert C. Martin, and Ward Cunningham — gathered at the Snowbird Ski Resort in Utah to discuss better ways of developing software. Their discussions birthed the now-legendary Agile Manifesto, which focused on individuals and interactions over processes and tools, and responding to change over following a fixed plan.
Here are the signatories of the Agile Manifesto:
- Kent Beck
- Mike Beedle
- Arie van Bennekum
- Alistair Cockburn
- Ward Cunningham
- Martin Fowler
- James Grenning
- Jim Highsmith
- Andrew Hunt
- Ron Jeffries
- Jon Kern
- Brian Marick
- Robert C. Martin
- Steve Mellor
- Ken Schwaber
- Jeff Sutherland
- Dave Thomas
Now let’s decode the 12 principles they laid down.
🧭 The 12 Agile Principles — With Examples and Relatable Scenarios
1. Our highest priority is to satisfy the customer through early and continuous delivery of valuable software.
Example: Imagine building an app like Swiggy. Instead of waiting 6 months to launch a complete product, they first released a basic version with just restaurant listings and food ordering. This let them gather user feedback and iterate fast.
🎯 Takeaway: Value comes from utility, not from perfection. Early delivery wins.
2. Welcome changing requirements, even late in development. Agile processes harness change for the customer’s competitive advantage.
Example: Suppose you’re building a property CRM, and halfway through the client wants WhatsApp integration. Instead of saying “It’s too late,” an Agile mindset would say, “Let’s re-prioritize our backlog and see where it fits.”
🎯 Takeaway: Flexibility is not a bug; it’s a feature of Agile.
3. Deliver working software frequently, from a couple of weeks to a couple of months, with a preference to the shorter timescale.
Example: Startups like Zerodha or Razorpay adopt bi-weekly sprints. Even if the changes are minor — a new dashboard or report — it keeps customers engaged and developers focused.
🎯 Takeaway: Frequent delivery beats grand releases.
4. Business people and developers must work together daily throughout the project.
Example: At Amazon, product managers and developers sit together (virtually or physically). They co-own outcomes — a promotion banner glitch is everyone’s concern, not just “the tech team’s issue.”
🎯 Takeaway: Tear down the silos; collaboration fuels velocity.
5. Build projects around motivated individuals. Give them the environment and support they need, and trust them to get the job done.
Example: Google’s famous 20% time for side projects birthed products like Gmail and AdSense. Motivation thrives on trust, not micromanagement.
🎯 Takeaway: People over process. Always.
6. The most efficient and effective method of conveying information to and within a development team is face-to-face conversation.
Example: A quick 5-minute whiteboard huddle often beats hours of email threads. Even in remote settings, a 10-minute video call avoids ambiguity.
🎯 Takeaway: Zoom > Slack > Email when it comes to real clarity.
7. Working software is the primary measure of progress.
Example: Fancy documentation, Gantt charts, or pitch decks don’t matter if the product isn’t usable. A half-baked but live feature is better than a well-documented one still in development.
🎯 Takeaway: Ship code, not excuses.
8. Agile processes promote sustainable development. The sponsors, developers, and users should be able to maintain a constant pace indefinitely.
Example: Ever worked in a sprint where you burned out by week two? Agile isn’t about working 14-hour days — it’s about velocity, not speed.
🎯 Takeaway: Burnout kills innovation. Consistency is king.
9. Continuous attention to technical excellence and good design enhances agility.
Example: Refactoring code might seem like a detour, but it’s like changing your car’s oil. Clean code = fast future changes = true agility.
🎯 Takeaway: Don’t sacrifice good design for speed. You’ll pay the debt later.
10. Simplicity — the art of maximizing the amount of work not done — is essential.
Example: Remember when Instagram launched with just photo sharing and filters? No chat, no reels, no stories. Simple and sticky.
🎯 Takeaway: More features ≠ better product. Focus on what matters most.
11. The best architectures, requirements, and designs emerge from self-organizing teams.
Example: Teams at Netflix are given problems, not instructions. “Make streaming faster in low bandwidth” is the problem — how to solve it is up to the team.
🎯 Takeaway: Creativity blossoms when control fades.
12. At regular intervals, the team reflects on how to become more effective, then tunes and adjusts its behavior accordingly.
Example: Sprint retrospectives aren’t just rituals. When done right, they help identify blockers, improve morale, and boost collaboration.
🎯 Takeaway: No team is perfect, but every team can improve.
🌱 Why Agile Still Matters in 2025
Whether you’re training an AI model, deploying a microservice, or building the next great Indian SaaS — Agile keeps your team grounded, your users heard, and your product growing.
Agile isn’t just a methodology; it’s a mindset. And like all good philosophies, it respects tradition but embraces change.
📜 In the Words of the Manifesto
“We are uncovering better ways of developing software by doing it and helping others do it.”
That line isn’t just poetic — it’s prophetic. And like the great craftsmen of old, the 17 signatories handed us a chisel, not a hammer. It’s up to us to shape the software world, one principle at a time.