The Agile Mindset

The Mindset to Achieve Agility

An agile mindset focuses on “being agile” as a foundation for success in “doing agile.” It is defined by the four values and described by the twelve principles of the Agile Manifesto, and then manifested through an unlimited number of practices and different ways of working.

The four values of the Agile Manifesto are the foundation of an agile mindset. In a world full of competing methodologies and frameworks, these values serve as common ground for agile practitioners.

1. Individuals and interactions over processes and tools
2. Working software over comprehensive documentation
3. Customer collaboration over contract negotiation
4. Responding to change over following a plan.

The Agile Manifesto was a game-changer in software development at the time it was created in 2001. In subsequent years, practitioners across industries and disciplines have realized the importance of an agile mindset.

The Benefits of an Agile Mindset

The customer today is in a constant state of motion. To achieve customer-centricity, the agile mindset acknowledges the need for learning and experimentation that enables people and the organizations they form to be more flexible in how they meet a customer’s needs.

When people develop an agile mindset, they embrace challenges and view failure as a learning opportunity. They can truly surprise, delight, and fulfill the needs of their customers by co-creating, experimenting, adapting, innovating and being okay with failure along the way.

A growth mindset

A growth mindset is synonymous with an agile mindset. It is a belief in the ability to learn and adapt. A fixed mindset represents the opposite; it believes that our abilities are fixed that and talent is all we have.

Leaders and practitioners in any field can develop agility and be prepared for the future of business, creative work, and customer-centricity. Marketers, HR managers, finance leaders, product designers, content creators, sales representatives—any discipline can benefit from this mindset and way of working.

Start Your Journey With An Agile Mindset

Foundations certifications equip you with an agile mindset and provide you with a foundational knowledge of agile values and principles. They focus first on “being agile” as a foundation for success in “doing agile.”

Business Agility Foundations Certification (ICP-BAF)

For professionals focused on disciplines outside of the agile delivery space (e.g., HR, finance, marketing)

Explore the paradigm shifts necessary to enable organizational agility in today’s innovative business climate.

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Agile Fundamentals Certification (ICP)

For professionals focused on product development and delivery (e.g. software design, product ownership)

Cover foundational agile topics from a methodology-neutral, mindset-based approach.

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