The Three Ways of Agile: Principles for Modern Work
Agile demands a great deal from organizations, but before any transformation can truly begin, leaders and teams must first understand the “Three Ways.” These principles—Flow, Feedback, and Continual Learning—form the foundation of high-performing technology organizations.
The First Way: Flow
The First Way emphasizes the fast and smooth movement of work from development to operations and ultimately to the customer. The goal is simple: deliver value quickly and consistently. This requires reducing batch sizes, limiting work in process, and making work visible across the entire value stream. Tools like Kanban boards help teams see where bottlenecks emerge, while practices such as continuous integration, continuous testing, and automated deployments shorten lead times and build confidence in change. Ultimately, the First Way is about optimizing for global goals rather than local efficiency, enabling organizations to out-experiment their competition and increase reliability.
The Second Way: Feedback
The Second Way introduces rapid and constant feedback loops throughout the value stream. In complex systems, failure is inevitable—what matters is how quickly problems are detected and resolved. Feedback loops ensure issues are identified early, when they are still cheap and easy to fix. This may include pervasive telemetry, automated testing, and peer reviews, all designed to keep quality close to the source. When something goes wrong, teams must swarm the problem—much like pulling the “andon cord” in lean manufacturing—so that knowledge is preserved, and systemic improvements follow. Feedback, when embedded in daily work, creates resilience and prevents small problems from becoming catastrophic failures.
The Third Way: Continual Learning and Experimentation
The Third Way focuses on creating a culture of trust, curiosity, and relentless improvement. Organizations must treat every success and failure as an opportunity to learn, applying a scientific approach to both product development and process refinement. This means investing time in improving daily work, running controlled experiments, and even introducing stress or simulated failures to build resilience. Over time, local lessons are turned into global practices, enabling the organization to adapt swiftly to changing conditions.
Conclusion
Together, the Three Ways form more than just a framework for Agile—they shape a philosophy of work. Flow ensures value moves rapidly to customers. Feedback creates safety and resilience in complex systems. And continual learning ensures teams grow stronger with each challenge they face. When embraced fully, these principles create organizations that are not only more innovative and competitive but also more human, adaptive, and prepared for the future.