A friend of mine asked if I wanted to go halves on buying a holiday home he has been staying at for the past few years. He loves that place and the seemingly inexhaustible supply of photos he sends me testifies to his devotion. The owners are selling up and he is heartbroken. So, I asked him about how much it is worth. What is the rental yield? Or even how much does he pay to rent it. No answer to that, just how great it is. “It’s very peaceful” Ok but I am not going to spend on money on something I know nothing about. In this scenario, it’s Waterfall Facts vs Agile Feelings: I’m insisting on concrete data like price and yields, while he’s driven by his emotional attachment to the place.
There’s an old saying in project management circles: “Waterfall gives you control. Agile gives you hope.” And somewhere between those two lies the truth—and often, chaos.
In this blog, we’ll explore the difference between PRINCE2’s traditional waterfall method and Agile delivery, through the lens of “Waterfall Facts” and “Agile Feelings.” We’ll also explore how PRINCE2 Agile tries to bring the two together… and the real danger that you might just end up faking Agile in a very waterfall-shaped box.
Waterfall Facts: Structure, Stages, and Sign-offs
PRINCE2 is the gold standard for waterfall projects. It’s structured, documentation-heavy, and all about planning before you act. You know what’s coming, who’s doing it, and how it’s measured—before a single line of code is written.
The Waterfall Facts
- Each stage is signed off before the next begins.
- The Business Case rules all. If it’s not justified, it’s not happening.
- Governance is king: stage boundaries, roles, tolerances—nothing’s left to chance.
It’s ideal for:
- Infrastructure projects
- Highly regulated environments
- Anything where change is definitely not welcome
But here’s the twist: once you lock down the plan, it becomes sacred. Deviating from it requires exception reports, change requests, and often a lot of teeth-gritting from stakeholders.
Agile Feelings: Flexibility, Flow, and Feedback
Agile isn’t a method—it’s a mindset. Agile projects move fast, flex often, and favour delivering something now over planning everything later. It’s rooted in emotional intelligence: trust the team, empower decision-making, and respond to change.
The Agile Feelings
- Working software matters more than paperwork.
- Collaboration trumps hierarchy.
- You embrace change—even late in development.
Agile is fantastic for:
- Digital products
- Startups and innovation projects
- Teams that know what they’re doing and don’t need handholding
But… feelings aren’t facts. And Agile’s greatest strength can also be its weakness: without governance, things can quickly drift, especially when the product owner is “still figuring things out” six sprints in.
Let’s look at the difference between myself and my friends approach to this holiday home.
The Planning Phase
In a Waterfall project one would start by creating a detailed business case with every requirement is documented, every stage is planned, and every milestone is set in stone. It’s like buying that house with a 500-page manual. I want to know exactly what it costs and what rental yield I am going to get, but I am going to panic if we lose one rental booking.
Agile, on the other hand begins with the houseowner. “Let’s start with what the user feels,” it says, what do all those pictures show us. Agile is all about user stories and iterations. This just like my friend, “How do you feel about buying the house” and then adjusting as you go. It’s flexible, it’s adaptive, and it’s a bit like jazz funk – you never know exactly where it’s going, but it’s always interesting.
The Execution Phase
Waterfall sticks to its script. It’s a linear process: gather requirements, design, implement, test, and deploy. It’s like following plan you have created to purchase the house. You can’t skip steps, and you definitely can’t decide halfway through that you want to buy a caravan instead.
Agile, meanwhile, is more like my friend who changes his mind frequently. Agile teams work in sprints, delivering small, usable pieces of the project at regular intervals. It’s all about adapting to change and delivering value continuously.
Summary
Waterfall is the stoic, unflappable type. It doesn’t care about your feelings; it cares about the plan. If the plan says you need to secure a mortgage before putting an offer in, well, better makes friend with the bank manager.
Agile, however, is all about feelings. User stories are essentially little love letters to the end user. “As a user, I want to be able to go on holiday at the drop of a hat” Agile teams hold regular retrospectives to discuss how everyone is feeling and how the process can be improved. It’s like my friend and his pictures showing me how great his holiday home is.
PRINCE2 Agile: A Beautiful Marriage or a Convenient Divorce?
PRINCE2 Agile was designed to bring the best of both worlds:
- From PRINCE2, you get structure, governance, and business justification.
- From Agile, you get iterative delivery, empowered teams, and continuous feedback.
In theory, it’s the best of both worlds. Prince2 Agile takes the best of both worlds. It combines the structured governance of Waterfall with the flexibility and user-centric approach of Agile. It’s like having a detailed map for your journey but also being able to take detours to explore interesting sights along the way.
Prince2 Agile ensures that you have a clear plan and structure, but it also allows for adjustments based on user feedback and changing requirements. It’s the perfect blend of order and adaptability, making it the ultimate project management methodology for those who want the best of both worlds.
The question then becomes how to choose the correct approach. Prince2 agile includes a concept called the Agilometer, to assess and mitigate agile project risk. This has six sliders that determine the level of agile required.
The project manager engages key stakeholders to determine the values for each category represented by sliders in the Agilometer. The Agilometer serves as a guide for informed decision-making but does not make decisions or provide recommendations. Each slider should be considered individually, avoiding the calculation of an average score across categories. For further information refer to the Prince2 Agile manual or this handy summary here
In practice? You have to be careful. Very careful.
Here’s what often happens:
- The stage gates stay.
- The risk logs get updated.
- The board still demands full scope and timeline up front.
And the team? They’re asked to “work Agile” by delivering sprints inside a rigid waterfall framework. You end up with Agile stand-ups reporting to a Gantt chart. That’s not Agile—it’s the deadly scrumfall cosplay.
Warning: You Might Be Doing Waterfall in Agile Clothing If…
- Your sprint backlog is just the WBS split into two-week chunks.
- You’re still not allowed to speak to users until UAT.
- “Definition of Done” means “signed off by three committees.”
So What’s the Solution?
✅ Use PRINCE2 Agile properly:
- Treat Agile delivery teams as autonomous, not just “faster resources”
- Use minimum viable products as real business cases—not just placeholder buzzwords
- Flex scope, not just task order
✅ Empower teams:
- Let Agile be Agile. Don’t drown it in stage gate bureaucracy.
✅ Educate the board:
- Agile isn’t less governance—it’s different governance. Transparency and velocity replace status meetings and milestone checklists.
Closing Thoughts (Waterfall Facts vs Agile Feelings): Balance the Head and the Heart
Waterfall facts keep projects steady.
Agile feelings keep them alive.
If you can respect both—structure without rigidity, flexibility without chaos—PRINCE2 Agile becomes a powerful tool. But if you force one over the other, you risk the worst of both: a project doomed to fail on time and underwhelming on delivery.
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