Perspectives on the Sustainability and Future Trajectory of Agile

Abstract

Agile has gained speed and penetrated into many and varying organizations today. In tune, the term Agile has become representing a widely appreciated mind-set, principles, practices and methods, for varying domains. Despite these benefits of agility, the Agile consultants may evangelize it with commercial concerns resulting in “selling agility” to organizations as an object in the form of packaged practices, which may lead to end of Agile. Also, there are views about/on the Agile Manifesto as it is a product of the past and mainly developer centric. Those concerns have led us to investigate whether Agile is sustainable enough to live for a long time, what the future of Agile look like in the coming years or whether there is any point in the Agile Manifesto to be altered. To find out answers to these questions, fourteen interviews from nine companies in three major industries in Turkey including TechFin (Technology-Finance), Aviation, and Telecommunication were included to collect data. It seems that Agile will be lasting for a long time as it provides many benefits to the organizations. On the way, it may evolve into many different versions shaped around customized needs and contexts of the organizations. Organizations will probably focus more on people related factors, integrating and balancing Agile with other best practices, being-changed communication needs after the pandemic, seeking solutions for the outside of the “initial Agile” zone and Agile mindset. Commonly, the participants expect to see a change in the software focus on the Agile Manifesto, as well as an addition of value perspective on it.