7 Signs of Agility

Alistair Cockburn has released a sample chapter from "Crystal Clear Applied: The Seven Properties of Running an Agile Project". I thought I would blog about it because I like that it is neatly and succinctly explained. Even though most of the signs are just repeats of 'Mythical Man Month' principles with the agile spin, it is still worth having a read through. It is nice that he applies his own signs to the article.

For those without time to plough through 10 pages here is my summary of the 7 signs:

1. Frequent delivery/integration using time-boxed iterations


2. Reflect and improve, criticise and fix


3. Osmotic (passive) knowledge acquisition and communication through office organisation and open channels


4. Personal Safety, safe to be honest, confidence to court criticism


5. Stay focused, clear tasks, priorities on work, limit the workload


6. Access to expert users, fast, quality feedback


7. The usual agile stuff: automated testing, CM, continuous integration