Agile methodologies try to make companies and teams focus on delivering value instead of sticking to long, rigid and wasteful processes.
If I had a dime for every time I listen to a developer or a manager mention that they are using an agile process because they use Scrum, or at least the idea they understood of scrum(Ahem...Daily 15 min meeting and 2 week iterations)...well I could be buying a new car by now.
What I want to make clear here is that Scrum is not Agile, Kanban is not Agile, XP is not Agile. All those are methodologies and frameworks based on the core ideology and mantra explained in the Agile Manifesto: agilemanifesto.org
I love Agile because it focuses on the people that is part of the software development lifecycle. Developers, End Users, Stakeholders, etc. It also focuses on adaptability and continuous improvement, something that is vital for innovation and the birth of new ideas and products.