The 6 Agile Principles We Abuse

How Important are The Agile Principles?

To me, the 12 Agile Principles are everything you need to build and guide your practice.

Rather than memorizing a ton of frameworks, rules and regulations, the Agile Principles allow us to hold in memory a few simple, yet elegant, virtues that can be adapted to any industry, client or context.

It’s easy to recite the twelve Agile principles, but living them is a whole different story, and we aren’t always honest about the ways we fall short.

This episode focuses on which of the original Agile principles we tend to violate most often:

1. We like to tell ourselves we’re chasing value—but a lot of what we build comes out of habit, orders, or assumptions, not a clear understanding of what our customers or business really need. We reflect on how often our teams lose sight of value, just following a checklist or building for the sake of building. It’s easier to focus on looking busy than to ensure we’re actually moving the needle for the people we’re supposed to serve.
2. We have a tendency to overcomplicate things. We think we’re sophisticated, but mostly, we layer on extra steps, plans, and artifacts to delay real delivery. Simplicity takes guts, and it exposes us to feedback—something many of us quietly shy away from. Our retrospectives and solution workshops often balloon into Excel nightmares, prioritizing spreadsheet gymnastics over real action.
3. We talk as well about our collective discomfort with saying “no”—a crucial principle of focusing on “work not done.” Too often, we say yes by default and take on more work than we should, fearing the consequences of pushing back on business or leadership. The end result? People are stretched thin and real value gets lost in the noise.
4. Working software—or “finished stuff”—is also on the chopping block. We admit that we usually measure progress by the wrong indicators: meetings attended, hours booked, and busyness, rather than what’s actually delivered.
5. And let’s not forget the supposed collaboration with “the business.” Despite Agile’s emphasis on constant feedback and in-person communication, genuine dialogues with stakeholders are rare. Schedules are packed, and direct conversations get traded for emails that are read too late (if at all).

Honestly, a lot of us treat Agile principles like slogans, not lived virtues. We tend to avoid the riskiest, but most effective, aspects, and fill the gaps with invented “principles” that are easier to check off. This episode is a nudge for all of us to look inward and challenge the ways we’re cutting corners or playing it safe, instead of truly leading our teams and adding value.

You Might Also Like The Following Episodes:

Episode 43 – Revisiting the 12 Agile Principles

We Failed Agile

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