The psychology of Agile discusses, in a practical way, the importance and impact of the disciplines of psychology and sociology in using and deploying Agile as an overall organizational culture. The Agile Manifesto heralded a quantum shift in the way we work: moving away from the rigors of planned, formal approaches to one that is based on collaboration, communication, and trust. This shift, however, has gone way beyond what the original signatories to the manifesto could have envisaged. Indeed, Agile has helped the software development community climb out of its cellars of up-front planning, analysis paralysis, and siloed (primarily driven by the waterfall lifecycle) approaches to the users and business. Today, Agile is cherished as a culture and value system across all tiers of an organization -- not just software development. Business, in particular, is quite interested in Agile as a way of working. The accompanying Executive Report explores the reasons for this popularity of Agile and the factors that should be considered in ensuring organizations make its use successful beyond IT.

Some of the key aspects of Agile from a psychosocial viewpoint explored in the report are:

• Agile is individualistic. Agile working styles are heavily influenced by an individual's childhood experiences; astute Agile leadership is not only aware of these influences but actively works toward capitalizing on them in practice.

• Agile is a culture on its own. Hence, it has multitudes and will contain opposites. Agile leadership works toward absorbing these opposites.

• "Be-happen" characterizes the future of Agile. The "plan-do" approach of the traditional waterfall lifecycle was superseded by the "envision-evolve" approach of Agile. However, as the report highlights, there is more to Agile than simply envisioning and evolving. Agile opens up the opportunity for an individual to "be" what he or she is, and success is considered as a "happening" rather than a "goal."

• Agilists should not be shy to include laughter in an Agile working style. This argument is based on the psychological need and advantage of laughter.

• The Agile Manifesto has to be in balance in order to succeed in the future. The Composite Agile Method and Strategy (CAMS) is meant to provide such balance.

• Perceptions and biases play major roles in collaboration in Agile. All team members need to understand the source of these biases and how to handle them.

The report underscores the value of Agile beyond a Scrum, a daily standup, and a large and visible chart. All of these techniques are important, and in fact vital, for the success of Agile. The report argues that in attempting to find better ways of developing software we seem to have stumbled upon Agile as something quite fundamental to us. Experience suggests that the nature of software projects is far less organized than construction and manufacturing. This could be one of the main reasons why the field of software development picked up on Agile -- because the many subdisciplines of software are closer to art than engineering, and Agile is much better suited to this type of work.

Agile is less of a theorem to be proved and more of an axiom to be accepted. In fact, Agile is both scientific and artistic. Once we coalesce between science and art, we are on the cusp of genuine understanding and creativity with regards to Agile. The report develops these points to help us creatively work out how and where to adapt Agile, the risks associated with it, and the advantages we accrue if we bring about an Agile culture at work.

We also build on the fact that Agile is a quantum jump in the arena of professional, industrial work -- requiring significant change in the way projects are managed. Leadership, coaching, and collaboration are integral to Agile. Successful projects and organizations give significant credence to this subjectivity of individuals, and therefore leadership becomes vital. Agility supports, promotes, and makes use of leadership. More often than not, a great leader in an Agile environment will be like a catalyst in a chemical reaction -- she or he may be seen as doing nothing and yet, without that person's presence, the project would not be successful.

The deeper we explore Agile, the more we discover it is an innate system of work; it seems to emerge from depths beyond the mind -- perhaps from the "meta-mind." Some of the questions that a meta-mind might ask are the following:

• Was Agile used in the development of the Agile?

• Would there be Agile if there was no waterfall?

• Can one think outside the box if there is no box?

• Are setting and pursuing goals the root cause of failure?

• Can measuring an entity change its behavior?

• Would things "happen" if there was no one "doing" them?

Throughout the report, you'll find it easier to apply Agile in practice across your organizations. It will help you build a robust strategy around Agile that will not only benefit your IT-related activities, but also the rest of the business. The following points summarize the actions you can take based on the report:

• Treat Agile as an innate human characteristic that need not be developed as new but, rather, be uncovered in practice.

• Come up with valid and justifiable reasons for why business is interested in Agile beyond software development.

• Understand the root cause of shift from the original, innate Agile to planned approaches and, even more interestingly, back to Agile.

• Understand briefly some of the psychological theories and frameworks in the context of Agile and the role they play in further improving our use of Agile in practice.

• Study memory mechanisms and their impact on perceptions which, in turn, influence interactions and collaborations in Agile style of working.

• Handle the formation and influence of biases in decision making by individuals and in groups

• Mind-map Agile as a means of understanding it in the context of cognitive, affective, and behavioral components.

• Use transactional analysis (TA) as a practical, usable framework by Agile leaders and team members in Agile styles of working thus positioning Agile at higher layers by verbal and nonverbal communication channels.

• Understand Maslow's hierarchy, the left-right brains, and the way Agile works at the higher ends of the hierarchy.

• Use CAMS as a balanced way forward. This requires leadership to rotate and expand individuals through organizational silos such as architecture, project management, business analysis, and quality assurance.