Looking back at the origins of agile software development we provide an overview of its unique blend of supple practices and vivid cultural facets that contrast so sharply with the plan-driven world of Waterfall methodologies. We discuss the iterative and incremental nature of agility and introduce a tool, agile charting, that can be used to facilitate communication within agile teams. Against this backdrop we introduce and compare the three methodologies (i.e., XP, Scrum and DSDM) used throughout this book to illustrate our application of agile risk management. We conclude with a glimpse at the state of affairs of agility today and at the management perspective on agile project management thereby setting the tone for the remainder of the book.