A method is essentially a pattern. Just as a design pattern abstracts and encapsulates knowledge of many experts which, in turn, can help fast track new designs, similarly a method provides guidance for new initiatives based on collective past experiences. Agile as a method (notably Scrum, but also other methods under the Agile umbrella such as XP) brings to us the experiences of practitioners who discovered that visibility, honesty, cross-functionality, and iterations can help a software project immensely.