There isn’t any real magic to it. It’s main feature is that it’s simple enough to follow. If you just follow the rules, you are almost assured of better than average results. Since we all don’t live on Lake Wobegon, above average is more than good enough. The only problem: You still have to do the items on your list!

Agile processes are very similar in that regard. They tend to be simple enough for most teams to follow (at an acceptable cost in effort) while at the same time encouraging good habits and discouraging bad habits. It does not transmute bad programmers/managers/customers into good ones… It will help protect you from benign neglect/apathy/inertia, but it’s no match for sustained stupidity or ignorance.