I've been involved with software development since 1972 in one way or the other. Up until late 1983, I was a developer for various public and private organizations. Then I joined Bell Labs (the part that became Bellcore) and was there through mid-1997 doing internal "consulting" in software technology transfer, process and quality improvement, and standards work. For another year or so I was a consultant back to Bellcore, then joined a credit card transaction processing firm from late 1998 to mid-2006. I started being involved in Agile methods during this latter time. I then got into consulting for a friend's small company for ~2 years, doing more agile consulting and training (as well as traditional process & quality work). Then I spent ~18 months with a large consulting firm (Accenture) where I did only Agile-related work. I'm on my own now, but also semi-retired.
In being brought in to coach organizations over about 5 years, people seem to start with Agile through method/practice training. They also usually immediately look to modify certain things for their environment, often in ways that diminish their experience because they never understood the Agile Manifesto's Values and Principles. I very strongly believe we, as coaches/trainers, should clarify the intent of the Values and Principles, so organizations understand the foundation of whatever method(s) or practice(s) they adopt. Then, when they inevitably "tailor" practices, they will know what to make sure they retain as the real goal(s) of the practice so any replacement achieves the same goal(s).
In being brought in to coach organizations over about 5 years, people seem to start with Agile through method/practice training. They also usually immediately look to modify certain things for their environment, often in ways that diminish their experience because they never understood the Agile Manifesto's Values and Principles. I very strongly believe we, as coaches/trainers, should clarify the intent of the Values and Principles, so organizations understand the foundation of whatever method(s) or practice(s) they adopt. Then, when they inevitably "tailor" practices, they will know what to make sure they retain as the real goal(s) of the practice so any replacement achieves the same goal(s).