Back in February 2001, at the lodge in Snowbird Utah, 17 thought leaders from the software industry got together to discuss the state of software development and compare various lightweight frameworks that popped up in the late 90s because of dissatisfaction with the traditional waterfall approach to building products.
The participants shared and learned about each other’s frameworks, including Scrum, eXtereme Programming (XP), Feature Driven Development (FDD), Adaptive Software Development, Crystal, Dynamic Systems Development Method (DSDM), and others, and summarized the essence of their work by publishing the Manifesto for Agile Software Development consisting of 4 value statements along with 12 principles.
Manifesto for Agile Software Development
We are uncovering better ways of developing software by doing it and helping others do it. Through this work we have come to value:
Individuals and Interactions over Processes and Tools
Working Software over Comprehensive Documentation
Customer Collaboration over Contract Negotiations
Responding to Change over Following a Plan
That is, while there is value in the items on the right, we value the items on the left more.
The 12 principles behind the Manifesto
Our highest priority is to satisfy the customer through early and continuous delivery of valuable software.
Welcome changing requirements, even late in development. Agile processes harness change for the customer’s competitive advantage.
Deliver working software frequently, from a couple of weeks to a couple of months, with a preference to the shorter timescale.
Business people and developers must work together daily throughout the project.
Build projects around motivated individuals. Give them the environment and support they need and trust them to get the job done.
The most efficient and effective method of conveying information to and within a development team is face-to-face conversation.
Working software is the primary measure of progress.
Agile processes promote sustainable development. The sponsors, developers, and users should be able to maintain a constant pace indefinitely.
Continuous attention to technical excellence and good design enhances agility.
Simplicity–the art of maximizing the amount of work not done–is essential.
The best architectures, requirements, and designs emerge from self-organizing teams.
At regular intervals, the team reflects on how to become more effective, then tunes and adjusts its behavior accordingly.
Scrum’s influence on crafting these values and principles is clear with its focus on team composition, self-organization, regular communication and collaboration between team members and customers, working in Sprints to maintain a sustainable pace, frequently delivering a working valuable product at the end of each Sprint, focusing on customer satisfaction and customer value, regularly adjusting to new requirements, and continuously inspecting and adapting to become more effective.
Scrum is a framework that organizations and teams can use to become Agile and live by these values and principles. Scrum is never the goal. It’s just a tool to help you deliver value.
For more details, sign up for an upcoming foundational ScrumMaster® (CSM®) class or a Certified Product Owner® (CSPO®) class or Certified Scrum Developer® (CSD®) class.
Next check out the entire Scrum in a Nutshell series:
Scrum in a Nutshell
Scrum is a framework for developing, delivering, and sustaining complex products. It all starts out with our stakeholders, customers, and users that have an idea about a product they need and want developed. They collaborate directly with Developers to turn this idea into reality. Developers in Scrum are not just programmers. They are part of […]
Scrum Accountabilities, Artifacts, and Events in a Nutshell
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Scrum Team in a Nutshell
The Scrum team consists of 3 accountabilities, Developers, Product Owner, and Scrum Master. Developers are accountable for building and delivering a quality working Product Increment at the end of each Sprint. They are a small group, typically 3 to 9 members that are cross-functional and self-organizing. Developers are cross-functional to remove bottlenecks and dependencies. Developers […]
Product Backlog Refinement in a Nutshell
The Product Backlog is an ordered list of hypotheses, requirements, features, enhancements, or Product Backlog Items that help the team accomplish the Product Goal. The Product Backlog is the team’s single source of work. Meaning, anything the Developers are working on should be coming from the Product Backlog. There are no side requests. Any work […]
Sprint Planning in a Nutshell
In Scrum, the Sprint starts with Sprint Planning where the Scrum team plans out their work for the Sprint and creates a Sprint Backlog. The Sprint Backlog is the team’s plan to accomplish the work. Sprint planning is timeboxed to 2 hours per week of Sprint, so for a 2-week Sprint it is one event […]
Daily Scrum in a Nutshell
The Daily Scrum is a brief daily planning event by the Developers to inspect their work and the progress they are making toward the Sprint Goal that will result in a Product Increment. The Developers created their Sprint plan or Sprint Backlog in Sprint Planning at the beginning of the Sprint. However, this plan is […]
Sprint Review in a Nutshell
The Sprint Review is a working session for the stakeholders, users, and customers to collaborate with the Scrum team which includes the Developers, Product Owner, and Scrum Master, and inspect the progress made toward the Product Goal based on the latest Product Increment. The Sprint Review is about getting feedback from the stakeholders and users […]
Sprint Retrospective in a Nutshell
The Sprint Retrospective is a reflection event that occurs at the end of each Sprint. It is for the entire Scrum team which includes the Product Owner, Developers, and ScrumMaster to inspect how they are operating and then come up with a continuous improvement plan to adapt and become more effective as a team and […]
Product Increment and the Definition of Done in a Nutshell
The Product Increment is the output of every Sprint and is an increment that brings the team one step closer to the overall Product Goal. This means that each Sprint is focused on a cohesive set of Product Backlog Items that meet a Sprint Goal and not random unrelated items. Once a Sprint starts and […]
Scrum Values in a Nutshell
For teams to succeed with Scrum, team members must become proficient in living the 5 Scrum values of commitment, focus, openness, respect, and courage. Commitment: In Scrum, the team commits to each other, not to other people, but to each other, on supporting each other to deliver on the Sprint Goal and Product Goal. Focus: […]
Scrum Foundations and Theory in a Nutshell
Scrum is a framework for solving complex adaptive problems with high levels of unknowns, uncertainties, or risks around what to build or how to build it. Scrum involves a cross-functional and self-managing Scrum team that uses empiricism to build products iteratively and incrementally to reduce risk and deliver early and often. The Scrum team uses […]
Scrum and the Manifesto for Agile Software Development
Back in February 2001, at the lodge in Snowbird Utah, 17 thought leaders from the software industry got together to discuss the state of software development and compare various lightweight frameworks that popped up in the late 90s because of dissatisfaction with the traditional waterfall approach to building products. The participants shared and learned about […]
