Agile, it existed long before the manifesto, but did not yet have the name. Agility, it will still exist long after Agile will have become something of the past.
What was the purpose of the movement when the manifesto was crafted? And now?
The agile way of working, way of thinking, is slowly evolving from its IT background into general mainstream. Slowly evolving from IT-heavy sectors into other areas, not IT heavy. After 20 years, we’re still talking tools, techniques, methods, principles, yes principles everywhere. No principles no glory. Agile Wars between methods, all united against traditionalism. Many have seen the light. Much has evolved. We’ve learned so much. We’ve developed so much. We’ve reused so much.
So for a couple of years, we are now talking about agile businesses, agile organisations. That’s our new horizon. Organisations and businesses that need to survive in the VUCA world turn to agility. And yet, there’s still doing agile and being agile. And what’s wrong in doing agile when you’re not being agile? Or vice versa? Although we’re growing up, we’re sometimes still dogs learning new tricks. To what avail?
Can we have a look beyond the horizon? What might be there? What will we keep, what will we throw away? What will last beyond the word Agile? What are the real problems the world is facing, and can agility play a role in solving those?
