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Comment le Manifeste Agile a vu le jour

How The Agile Manifesto Came To Be With Dr. Jeff Sutherland20 years ago, I made a trip to Snowbird, Utah to join with 16 others who shared a goal; change the way our industry, software development worked for the better. Put customers first. Work in smarter ways. Deliver faster, more often, and better. 

At that meeting, we created the four values and 12 principles better known as the Manifeste Agile. I am proud to be one of the 17 signatories of the document that has helped transform so much. 

On this 20th anniversary of Agile, I’d like to share the story of how the Manifeste Agile came to be (you can also watch it on our Chaîne YouTube). But first, I want to affirm and thank everybody who was there. 

I’d also like to thank all of you who are implementing Agile processes. Thank you for all you have done to take a great idea and turn it into a global transformation. 

We’ve all done a lot but there is so much more to do. So, let's celebrate 20 years of Agility and go into the future even more Agile than we are today.

What Brought Us Together

Back then, there was a lot of concern about the way software development was moving. It was primarily done using the Rational Unified Process, which had become very heavyweight and not very Agile at all. 

Many of the people at the Manifeste Agile meeting had been active in internet newsgroups working up what amounts to precursors to Agile processes. We were trying to create a better alternative. 

Then in 2001, Bob Martin, who ran a company doing object technology consulting, called us all up and said, “let’s get together.” Uncle Bob, as he’s known by many in the Agile community, was the chair of the Manifeste Agile meeting. 

But why did we meet in Snowbird? 

Alistair Cockburn and Jim Highsmith, two Manifeste Agile signatories, lived in Utah at the time. 

Jim had just written a book on adaptive management, and Alistair had written several books on a framework that he called Crystal. 

All 17 of us were thought leaders in the industry. We were facing a competitive threat in the form of heavy software development processes that no one liked. That was what motivated everybody to come together. We knew there had to be something better.

Why Is It Called Agile?

On the first day of the meeting, each one of us had a chance to talk about their own ideas and what they were doing. At the time we were using the term ‘lightweight processes.’ We knew we needed a better word. 

Calling it Agile was Mike Beedle’s idea. 

He was inspired by a book about hardware companies that had formed a consortium to figure how to take Lean to the next level. Lean is really good for efficiency, but it is not very good at connecting with customers or getting them excited. So, the consortium wanted to figure out how to take Lean to the next level (I still keep a copy of the book on my bookshelf). 

At the end of the first day, we had a series of names on a flip-chart. 

We selected Agile as the word we would use. It was an important decision all thanks to Mike Beedle

Creating The Four Agile Values

 

Picture showing the creation of the four values of the Agile ManifestoAround 10:30 in the morning on the second day, we decided to take a coffee break. It was winter and we were in Utah, so nine of the 17 gathered decided to go for a quick ski. The eight that stayed in the room are the ones you see in the picture on the Manifeste Agile website

Martin Fowler, who authored many books on software development and was part of the first Extreme Programming (XP) team went to the whiteboard and said he was concerned that we would spend a couple of days together and not agree on anything besides the name Agile. 

“Is there anything else we can agree on?” he asked. Someone said, “Well, we know that great teams make great software.” They added, “It’s all about the individuals and how they work together.” 

So, Martin wrote individuals and interactions on the board. 

There were two people there who worked for companies that sold development tools who asked, ‘what about processes and tools?’ 

The rest of us said they normally slow you down, but we don’t want to ban them. 

Martin, still at the whiteboard, completed the sentence. We value individuals and interactions over processes and tools. The first Agile value. 

Then Ron Jeffries, who was on the original XP team, said “We value early and regular delivery of working software. That is the most important thing. It's way more important than documentation.”

But, others noted, some documentation is always needed.

So, Martin wrote we value working software over comprehensive documentation.  The second Agile value was born. 

Now, we only had about 15-minutes in this coffee break, and the next five minutes were spent talking about the customer. 

Here, I was a strong advocate because I had just come off four years as CTO at one of the biggest healthcare software companies in the world. We were constantly fighting over contracts. They were often the root cause of project failures. Clearly, getting the customers involved and working with us was the key to success. 

After a considerable discussion, we all agreed that we valued customer collaboration over contract negotiation. The third Agile value.

Finally, one of the XP folks said, “We value responding to change over following a plan,” which was the mantra of XP. The fourth Agile value. 

The coffee break was over. The others returned. We all looked stood there, staring at the whiteboard. 

It got really quiet, then Ward Cunningham (developer of the Wiki and many other software tools) said, “that’s awesome!” 

Nobody changed a word. Not one. 

It was written and edited in 15 minutes.

If you talk to us now, we say it's like we took a half-page note, put it in a bottle, and threw it in the ocean. Then everybody read it. It’s amazing to see that the work we did is now a global phenomenon. 

But we were just getting started. 

Créer les 12 principes agiles

L'après-midi, nous nous sommes réunis à nouveau car nous savions que nous devions mettre de la viande sur les os des valeurs Agile. Nous avons donc passé plusieurs heures à rédiger le 12 Principes agiles

Elles amplifient et précisent les quatre valeurs. 

Aujourd'hui comme hier, si vous vous rendez dans la plupart des entreprises, vous entendrez de nombreuses discussions sur ce qu'il convient de faire, sur les priorités, sur qui doit faire quoi et sur qui doit être financé. 

Souvent, le client est très peu abordé. Il est considéré comme un pis-aller.

L'une des principales choses que nous voulions faire était donc de placer le client au centre de nos préoccupations. Car en fin de compte, tout ce qui ne rend pas le client heureux est une perte de temps et n'apporte aucune valeur ajoutée.

Nous avons également mis l'accent sur l'importance d'une livraison rapide et progressive. 

Il faut mettre un produit sur le marché et le faire évoluer très rapidement. C'était et c'est toujours la clé du succès. Et bien sûr, c'est la deuxième valeur de l'initiative Manifeste Agile. 

Sur le site Manifeste Agile À l'occasion du 10e anniversaire de l'entreprise, nous nous sommes réunis et on nous a demandé ce que nous changerions. Ron Jeffries a déclaré que la seule chose qu'il ajouterait serait une note au bas du Manifeste qui dirait : "Livraison précoce et incrémentale des logiciels. Nous le pensons vraiment". 

C'est le cœur de la méthode Agile.  

L'avenir de l'agilité


Agile development methodology concept on virtual screen. Technology concept.
La méthode Agile a largement dépassé le cadre des logiciels. Chez Scrum Inc., lorsque nous discutons des quatre valeurs Agile du Manifeste Agile, nous utilisons le mot produit au lieu de logiciel.

La plupart de nos activités se déroulent dans des secteurs autres que le développement de logiciels. Il en va de même pour d'autres organisations similaires. 

L'utilisation d'Agile et de Scrum continue de croître, mais il est possible de faire plus. Je suis fermement convaincu qu'à terme, toutes les organisations seront agiles. Tout le monde a besoin d'être Agile, mais ceux qui le sont sont moins. sont les plus agiles, ils seront les plus performants.

Les organisations les plus rapides et les plus innovantes qui adoptent les quatre valeurs et les 12 principes énoncés dans le Manifeste Agile perdureront et prospéreront. 

C'est pourquoi je tiens à souligner l'importance non seulement du Manifeste, mais aussi des personnes qui se sont réunies pour le créer. 

Chaque personne présente avait une contribution unique à apporter. Je pense que nous nous sommes assagis au fil des ans, mais à l'époque, nous n'étions d'accord sur rien. 

A l'exception des quatre valeurs et des 12 principes qui composent le Manifeste Agile. Il nous a fallu beaucoup de travail pour nous mettre d'accord sur ces points. Le jeu en valait la chandelle. Et 20 ans plus tard, il reste aussi précieux qu'il l'était à l'époque.

 

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