I hear this all the time and it drives me crazy: "you're not agile if you aren't doing <name a practice>." Just fill in the blank - automated tests, user stories, continuous integration, co-location, product owner in the room, and on and on. At a Certified Scrum Course taught by Craig Larman he used the term "perfection goal." That phrase stuck with me partially because it speaks to a future state where a high-performing team is adhering to the key agile principles and practices. Here's the deal. You don't have to do every best practice and you don't have to adhere to every principle to start being agile. You have to start somewhere - the more you can start with the better, but some aspects can evolve over time.
