Is it really Agile?

Agile is now everywhere. And almost nowhere at the same time.

The word got so overused — and misused — it stopped meaning anything.

I have no idea how many I've met who said — "we are Agile already. We have Jira implemented with tickets there." I always reply with a "Really? Wow…" (Yes, I make use of sarcasm sometimes…) They follow parts of a framework, layered on top of an already broken process, and still call it Agile. But they have absolutely no idea what the word they are using actually means.

Here's where I always go back to. Before the Manifesto. Before the frameworks. The word itself.

Agile: the ability to think and act quickly and intelligently.

That's the foundation the Manifesto was built on. What it helps teams to become — reacting quickly and intelligently to deliver value to their customers, especially in unpredictable environments. Not a framework. Not sprints for sprints.

Running look-alike Scrum does not mean you are agile. Scrum is a framework that, when well applied, can help a team get there. Same with so many other methods and frameworks. The goal is the destination. The framework is just one possible road.

What I keep seeing: teams so focused on labeling "new" things to show off that they are "scrummy" and Agile — that they don't spend time understanding what any of it was meant for. No time to think. Just act. "Agile is doing things quick," they say.

To get them to reflect a bit, when someone tells me they're Agile, I reply: does what you're doing REALLY help your team react quickly and intelligently to deliver value? Be honest… If yes — great, keep it, whatever you call it. If not, it's something else. Just don't call it Agile.

Once that definition sits — really sits — the question gets shorter. And more recurrent. Someone proposes a new ceremony, a new tool, a new layer. And before I even say it, someone in the room beats me to it:

"But is it really Agile?"

That's when you know it landed.