The Adoption and Evolution of Agile Practices

Introduction

It all started in February 2001 with four values posted on a website. The cornerstones of the “Manifesto for Agile Software Development” were nothing more than four sentences, which, however, represented an authentic breakthrough for Project Management. In fact, the authors of the Manifesto aimed to put together a group of characteristics whose underlying values could be traced back to a unique, revolutionary way of defining a system development model.

They had already created several software development methodologies (SDMs) and, after having identified the core values, they decided to write a short but nonetheless inspiring list of guidelines, which should be followed by any Agile practitioner.  

Indeed, “rather than focusing on their differences and the competitive advantage of their own methodologies, 17 creators and supporters of the lightweight methodologies gathered (…) to discuss their common interests and philosophies, coining the term Agile software development”³¹. That is to say, the authors created a mind-set, a framework with general advice, which could be freely interpreted and applied in heterogeneous environments. Furthermore, the Manifesto was completed by twelve principles, which, again, could be employed regardless of the particular SDM chosen for the project.

Agile is based on Values, Principles and Practices. “Agile values are the philosophy behind Agile methods, which are further defined and supported by the Agile principles and Agile practices”¹⁵.  

Each specific project undertaken by a particular team of a certain company might be characterised by the use of a certain set of practices, i.e. “concrete activities and practical techniques that are used to develop and manage software projects in a manner consistent with the Agile pri...