COMPEL Glossary / agile
Agile
Agile is a set of principles for software development emphasizing iterative delivery, team collaboration, responsiveness to change, and working outputs over comprehensive documentation.
What this means in practice
While Agile and COMPEL share surface similarities (both are iterative, both value learning), they operate at different levels: Agile governs how cross-functional teams deliver working outputs in two-to-four-week sprints, while COMPEL governs the strategic, multi-cycle transformation program that determines what to build and whether the organization is becoming more capable. COMPEL's Produce stage is where Agile integration is most natural -- teams executing AI solutions can use Agile sprint planning, daily standups, and retrospectives within the broader COMPEL cycle. COMPEL provides the strategic scaffolding that Agile lacks: the answer to 'What should we build?' and 'Are we becoming a more capable organization?'
Why it matters
Many organizations attempt to use Agile alone for AI transformation and discover it lacks the strategic scaffolding needed to answer 'What should we build?' and 'Are we becoming a more capable organization?' Agile excels at iterative delivery of defined work but does not address the strategic, governance, and organizational dimensions of enterprise transformation. Understanding where Agile fits — and where it falls short — prevents both methodological gaps and unnecessary conflict between Agile teams and governance functions.
How COMPEL uses it
COMPEL's Produce stage is where Agile integration is most natural — teams executing AI solutions can use Agile sprint planning, standups, and retrospectives within the broader COMPEL cycle. COMPEL provides the strategic scaffolding that Agile lacks: the Calibrate stage determines what to build, Model designs the target state, and Evaluate measures whether the organization is advancing. The Process pillar (D5-D9) assesses how well Agile practices integrate with governance requirements.
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Related Terms
Other glossary terms mentioned in this entry's definition and context.