Agile guide · Agile foundations
The Agile Manifesto: 4 Values and 12 Principles Explained
In February 2001, seventeen software practitioners met at a ski resort in Snowbird, Utah, and agreed on a short statement they called the Manifesto for Agile Software Development. In fewer than 70 words of values and twelve short principles, it set out the thinking that still guides Agile teams. This guide explains what each part means in practice.
Key takeaways
- Four values rank people, results, collaboration and adaptability above process, documents, contracts and fixed plans.
- Twelve principles turn those values into practical guidance.
- Agile still plans; it plans in layers and keeps plans easy to change.
The four values
The Manifesto states that its authors value the items on the left more than the items on the right. The items on the right still matter; they just come second.
| We value… | …over | What it means in practice |
|---|---|---|
| Individuals and interactions | Processes and tools | Talk to each other before reaching for a form or a ticket. Tools should serve the team, not the other way round. |
| Working software | Comprehensive documentation | Measure progress by results people can use. Write the documentation that is actually needed. |
| Customer collaboration | Contract negotiation | Work with the customer throughout, rather than relying on a fixed specification signed at the start. |
| Responding to change | Following a plan | Plans are useful, but when the facts change, the plan should change too. |
Which value matters most?
The Manifesto does not rank its four values against each other, but many practitioners point to individuals and interactions as the foundation. Collaboration with customers, delivering working results and responding to change all depend on people communicating well. If a team gets that right, the other values become much easier to live by.
The twelve principles
Behind the values sit twelve principles. Here they are grouped by theme and summarised in our own words:
Delivering value
- Satisfy the customer through early and continuous delivery of valuable work.
- Welcome changing requirements, even late in development, because change can give the customer a competitive advantage.
- Deliver working results frequently, from every couple of weeks to every couple of months, preferring the shorter timescale.
Working together
- Business people and developers should 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.
- Face-to-face conversation is the most efficient and effective way to share information within a team.
Measuring and sustaining progress
- Working results are the primary measure of progress.
- Agile processes promote sustainable development: sponsors, developers and users should be able to keep a constant pace indefinitely.
Quality and simplicity
- Continuous attention to technical excellence and good design improves agility.
- Simplicity, the art of maximising the amount of work not done, is essential.
- The best architectures, requirements and designs emerge from self-organising teams.
Improving
- At regular intervals, the team reflects on how to become more effective, then tunes and adjusts its behaviour accordingly.
How the Manifesto addresses planning
"Responding to change over following a plan" is often read as "don't plan". In fact, Agile teams plan more often than traditional teams, just at different levels of detail:
- Long range: a product vision and a roadmap of outcomes, kept deliberately high level.
- Medium range: release planning that groups backlog items into likely releases.
- Short range: detailed iteration planning for the next one to four weeks, and a daily plan made at the stand-up.
The principle is to plan in detail only as far ahead as you can see clearly, and to keep every plan easy to change.
Applying the Manifesto outside software
Replace "working software" with "working results" and the Manifesto applies to almost any knowledge work. A marketing team delivers campaigns in small tests; an HR team releases a new onboarding process to one department first; a research team shares interim findings instead of waiting for the final report. See Agile marketing and Agile for creative teams for examples.
Frequently asked questions
Who wrote the Agile Manifesto?
Seventeen practitioners, including Kent Beck, Martin Fowler, Ken Schwaber, Jeff Sutherland, Alistair Cockburn and Ward Cunningham, wrote it at Snowbird, Utah, in February 2001.
Is the Agile Manifesto still relevant?
Yes. The wording is software-focused, but its values describe how most successful knowledge-work teams operate today, and it remains the shared reference point for every Agile framework.
Can I reproduce the Agile Manifesto text?
The authors allow the Manifesto to be freely copied in any form, but only in its entirety with their notice. The official text is at agilemanifesto.org.
What are the 4 values of the Agile Manifesto?
Individuals and interactions over processes and tools; working software over comprehensive documentation; customer collaboration over contract negotiation; and responding to change over following a plan.
How many principles are in the Agile Manifesto?
Twelve. They sit behind the four values and cover early and continuous delivery, welcoming change, close collaboration, motivated teams, sustainable pace, technical excellence, simplicity and regular reflection.
When was the Agile Manifesto written?
In February 2001, at a meeting of seventeen software practitioners at Snowbird, Utah. See the history of Agile.
Does the Agile Manifesto say documentation is bad?
No. It values working results more than comprehensive documentation, but it says the items on the right still have value. Teams should write the documentation that is genuinely needed.
What does the Agile Manifesto value "working software over comprehensive documentation" mean outside software?
It means measuring progress by results people can actually use, such as a published campaign or a tested process, rather than by reports and plans about the work.
What is the most important principle in the Agile Manifesto?
The Manifesto does not rank them, but the first principle, satisfying the customer through early and continuous delivery of valuable work, is often seen as the purpose the others serve.
What does sustainable pace mean in the Agile Manifesto?
Teams should work at a pace they can keep up indefinitely, without relying on overtime. Constant crunch lowers quality and leads to burnout, which undermines delivery.
Is the Agile Manifesto a methodology?
No. It is a short statement of values and principles. Frameworks such as Scrum, Kanban and XP are the methods that put it into practice; see types of Agile methodologies.
Has the Agile Manifesto ever been updated?
No. The original text from 2001 has not been revised. Later movements have proposed their own statements, but the Manifesto itself remains unchanged.