Agile is a generic or “umbrella” term for an operational framework or methodology that strives to keep a focus on requirements by using adaptive approaches and continuous improvement practices.

A Simple Agile Explanation

Not everyone has time to read one of my long-winded explanations on Agile, Scrum, and related frameworks. For you guys, I present a 1 minute and 4-second video that gives a high-level overview of Agile. For a longer explanation, see my earlier post What is Agile?.

Agile Slideshow

The important thing to remember about Agile is that it requires very little of what many of the frameworks require.

• You don’t really need iterative product development, you do need some sort of way to continuously improve. The feedback loop of iterative development is one way of doing that. It is the easiest way to do that with software development.  Lean Six Sigma has done it for years outside of software without two-week iterative cycles. They build checks into the process. They grab random samples of output and compare it to the process, sometimes they grab all the output and compare it in a very strict process (usually after a bad part makes it out of the building).
• You don’t need daily standups or daily scrums. You do need a focus on communication and collaboration. Daily standup meetings ensure they happen, but you can come up with other methods. You can define your own process., just remember to do it and enforce it.
• Agile that focuses on the values without the rules of the frameworks is often called Agility. This would be where Organizational Agility comes from.

Sources:

Agnostic Agile: 12 Principles of Agnostic Agile

Agile Manifesto (Software Development Focused): Manifesto for Agile Software Development

Agile Alliance: Agile 101

Agile Business Consortium: DSDM Agile Project Framework