Agile Methodology

Agile isn't a single method — it's an umbrella term for approaches built on the 2001 Agile Manifesto's four values (individuals and interactions over processes and tools; working software over comprehensive documentation; customer collaboration over contract negotiation; responding to change over following a plan) and its twelve supporting principles. Scrum, Kanban, Extreme Programming (XP), and Lean are all Agile methodologies that implement those values differently — see our [Scrum vs Kanban](/glossary/scrum-vs-kanban) comparison for how two of the most common ones differ in practice. Where Waterfall locks in scope and delivers everything at the end, Agile teams work in short cycles, ship incremental value early and often, and re-prioritize the backlog as they learn — from user feedback, market shifts, or technical discoveries. This makes Agile well suited to products where requirements are likely to evolve, at the cost of the predictability a fixed Waterfall plan offers. At scale, frameworks like SAFe® extend Agile principles across multiple teams and portfolios. CertScope's CSM® and CSPO® courses teach Scrum as the most widely adopted Agile framework, while covering how it fits into the broader Agile landscape.