When I was 9, my mom decided it was time for me to learn to swim. She took me to the county pool at least once a week all summer. At first she equipped me with a paddle board, life preserver, and floats. Week by week, she'd remove flotation devices. Soon I gained confidence and began removing them myself. One midsummer day, she observed me happily paddling around the pool, towing one last float tethered to my foot.
"Mark," she said, "You're swimming."
"No I'm not," I replied, "I don't want to sink."
She smiled, and said, "Honey, all that float is doing is slowing you down. You'd be better off without it."
I've been swimming ever since.
Agile is equipped with a great many flotation devices: sprints, stand-ups, story points, planning ceremonies, retrospectives, WIP limits, and such. These often make the team, and the customer, feel comfortable. But none of these devices are agility. Agility is about swimming through the waters of software development, knowing you can lead the team to the other side without anyone sinking.
The Agile Manifesto gives us 4 values, and 12 principles. Internalizing these into your actions is a skill to be developed. It is swimming. Swimming does not require devices, and the Agile Manifesto does not specify any. With mastery of the skill, you will have buoyancy; you will have agility.
Your teams will often require devices. Which devices, and for how long, will vary with the team. But always remember: less is more; comfort is not the goal; the goal is not to promote devices; the goal is agility.
