The Project Manager's Guide to Mastering Agile: Principles and Practices for an Adaptive Approach

B Glossary of Terms

Agile The word agile is widely misused to mean many different things in actual practice. For example, in the United States, the term agile is often synonymous with the Scrum methodology.

The Merriam Webster Dictionary defines the word agile as follows:¹

• “Marked by ready ability to move with quick easy grace <an agile dancer>”
• “Having a quick resourceful and adaptable character <an agile mind>”

Dictionary.com defines the word agile as follows:²

• “Quick and well-coordinated in movement; lithe: an agile leap.”
• “Active; lively: an agile person.”
• “Marked by an ability to think quickly; mentally acute or aware: She's 95 and still very agile.”

Both of those definitions are probably very appropriate in the context of an agile project manager:

• A cross-functional agile team moves quickly and autonomously with fluidity and grace without an excessive amount of external direction and orchestration.
• An agile project approach is very adaptive to volatile and uncertain environments as necessary rather than being locked in to a well-defined plan that might be difficult to change.
• Agile people are very resourceful, high-energy people who are able to think quickly in a variety of different circumstances.

Note: You will often see agile capitalized.

Agile Modeling Agile Modeling is a methodology developed by Scott Ambler that is a collection of values, principles, and practices for modeling software that can be applied on a software development project in an effective and ...