Agile 2: The Next Iteration of Agile

The Agile movement took us away from big up-front plans, micromanagement, and projects-by-numbers. Yet it dismissed the importance of leadership, structure, forethought, and individual differences. It defined one-size-fits-all practices, often favoring some styles of work over others, and too often defined by frameworks or methodologies that were pushed in an all-or-nothing way by their most ardent advocates. Despite its technical roots, Agile also quickly devalued the importance of engineering. A fresh start was needed: a start that is informed by the first Agile experiment, but that does not hesitate to make major departures: a new beginning. We call it Agile 2.

Lisa Cooney is a Principal at Agile 2 Academy, an agile coach, and an instructional systems designer. She is co-author of Agile 2: The Next Iteration of Agile (2021) and editor of Evolvagility: Growing an Agile Leadership Culture From the Inside Out by Michael Hamman (2019). She has a Bachelor’s degree in Philosophy from Wellesley College and a Master's Degree in Education from the University of Virginia, as well as a variety of agile-related certifications. She speaks on the topics of Agile 2, cognitive bias, and developmental feedback. Lisa lives in Vienna, Virginia with her husband and spends time with her children and extended family each summer in Maine.