Here’s a challenge: how many of these questions are are true for your team? (Be honest.)

  • Does our team value processes and tools (i.e. our task tracker, source control program, our agile process, our meeting cadence, etc) over conversations between team members?

  • Does our team attempt to document everything (perhaps through long comprehensive ticket descriptions, or massively detailed cucumber features) before focusing on working software?

  • Does our team think about about SLAs, response times and formal release procedures before shipping something and having a conversation with the customer about it?

  • Is following the plan that you agreed in sprint planning more important than changing it in response to a customer?

If our projects sound like this, we’re doing exactly the opposite of the agile manifesto.

The anti-agile manifesto

Processes and tools over individuals and interactions

Comprehensive documentation over working software

Contract negotiation over customer collaboration

Following a plan over responding to change

Read both versions through. Which one sounds most like your project?