Software design and related practices and methods have had a signif­icant influence over the Instru­ctional Design field. For example, ADDIE, Dick and Carey, and Rapid Protot­yping are heavily influenced by software develo­pment method­ologies (Rawst­horne, 2005).

Software design method­ology is now going through another paradigm shift — Agile Design. And rather than being a method­ology, it is more a philosophy or ethos that is best described by its manifesto (Agile Alliance, 2001):

 ­ ­"We are uncovering better ways of developing software by doing it and helping others do it. Through this work, we have come to value:

 ­ ­In­div­iduals and intera­ctions over processes and tools
 ­ ­Wo­rking software over compre­hensive docume­nta­tion
 ­ ­Cu­stomer collab­oration over contract negoti­ation
 ­ ­Re­spo­nding to change over following a plan

 ­ ­That is, while there is value in the items on the right, we value the items on the left more."

The Agile approach recognizes the need for collab­ora­tion, faster design solutions, feedback, and continuous improv­ement for producing business value in our ever faster and more networked society. For learning profes­sionals to keep pace with the rest of the organi­zation, Agile Design can be adapted to fit the needs of the learning and training community by providing an ethos for the design of learning:

 ­ ­"We are uncovering better ways of designing learning processes by doing it and helping others do it. Through this work, we have come to value:

 ­ ­In­div­iduals and intera­ctions over processes and tools
 ­ ­So­lutions that promote and speed the develo­pment of learning processes over compre­hensive docume­nta­tion
 ­ ­Cu­stomer collab­oration over contract and formal negoti­ation
 ­ ­Re­spo­nding to change over following a plan

 ­ ­That is, while there is value in the items on the right, we value the items on the left more."

Agile is a more of a philos­ophy, it has values and principles that guide its practices. The Sidky Agile Measur­ement Index (SAMI), developed by Sidky and Arthur (2008), is probably the most widely used method for guiding Agile princi­ples. It is composed of five values: commun­ica­tion, collab­ora­tion, evolut­ionary, integr­ated, and encomp­assing. These three of Malcolm Gladwell’s ideas in The Tipping Point heavily inspired the five values:
People: Commun­ication and collab­ora­tion
Message: Evolut­ionary, integr­ated, and adaptive
Suitable enviro­nment: All encomp­ass­ing
The five values with their descri­ptions (descr­iptions have been adapted to fit learning design rather than software develo­pment):
Encompassing: Establ­ishing a vibrant and all-en­com­passing learning enviro­nment to sustain agility
Adaptive: Responding to change through multiple levels of feedback
Integrated: Developing high quality learning solutions in an efficient and integrated manner
Evolutionary: Delivering learning processes and platforms early and contin­uously
Collaborative: Enhanced commun­ication and collab­oration

The Agile Manifesto outlines twelve princi­ples; however, Sidky and Arthur (2008) discovered they could group them into five tight principles (the descri­ptions have been adapted to describe learning design rather than software develo­pment):
Embrace change to deliver customer value
Plan and deliver learning processes and platforms frequently
Human centric
Technical excellence
Collaboration with business people

1. Self-o­rga­nizing teams collab­orate to ensure the values and principles of Agile Learning Design are upheld to bring value to the organi­zation or business.
2. An apprec­iation for adapta­bility and flexib­ility that brings small changes over the long term, rather than the uncert­ainty of prediction that waterfall or linear design methods impose.
3. Iterative design methods that are based on real world experience and research.
4. Customer involv­ement and collab­ora­tion from start to end to ensure their needs are met to the fullest.

These value and principles make Agile more adaptive rather than predic­tive; and people­-or­iented rather than proces­s-o­riented (Fowler, 2003). However, it is misleading to view it on the opposite end of a spectrum from a plan-d­riven or discip­lined method as it implies that agile methods are unplanned or undisc­ipl­ined. A more accurate distin­ction is that methods exist on a continuum from adaptive to predictive and agile methods lie on the adaptive side of this continuum (Boehm, Turner, 2004).