Agile is best described as a mindset because the values and subsequent principles explain ideas and attitudes with which people approach a situation, but do not prescribe exactly what they do in those situations.

Every situation is unique – there is no single “agile” approach. There are a variety of techniques, processes, and tools which can be applied in different combinations to different extents depending on the context. Agile teams are best served when they select a particular combination of techniques, processes, and tools that fit their context and help them work in agreement with their chosen mindset. This combination can be considered the team’s methodology.

There are a number of branded frameworks that fall under the broad banner of agile. These frameworks are collections of specific practices and ideas that have been proven useful in a specific context. These frameworks have some common characteristics:

• respect for people and the importance of creativity in delivering value,
• the importance of rapid delivery, feedback, and learning to ensure the product or service being produced meets real customer needs,
• collaboration and communication among the team members and the stakeholder community in order to build shared understanding, and
• break work into small slices of business value and deliver them incrementally and iteratively.

These frameworks include Scrum, Kanban, Extreme Programming, Adaptive Software Development, Lean Software Development, SAFe, LeSS, DAD, and many others.

It is important to understand that the context in which a framework worked at one time may not be the same as the context for a different initiative. There is no "one size fits all" in the agile mindset. The key to agility is to find what works in a particular context. Many teams find it helpful to combine techniques and practices from multiple frameworks to address the challenges of their context.