| | |  | Software Engineering | Home » » » Succeeding with Agile: Software Development Using Scrum | | | | | | | Product Promotions: | | | | | Description: | | Proven, 100% Practical Guidance for Making Scrum and Agile Work in Any Organization This is the definitive, realistic, actionable guide to starting fast with Scrum and agile–and then succeeding over the long haul. Leading agile consultant and practitioner Mike Cohn presents detailed recommendations, powerful tips, and real-world case studies drawn from his unparalleled experience helping hundreds of software organizations make Scrum and agile work. Succeeding with Agile is for pragmatic software professionals who want real answers to the most difficult challenges they face in implementing Scrum. Cohn covers every facet of the transition: getting started, helping individuals transition to new roles, structuring teams, scaling up, working with a distributed team, and finally, implementing effective metrics and continuous improvement. Throughout, Cohn presents “Things to Try Now” sections based on his most successful advice. Complementary “Objection” sections reproduce typical conversations with those resisting change and offer practical guidance for addressing their concerns. Coverage includes -
Practical ways to get started immediately–and “get good” fast -
Overcoming individual resistance to the changes Scrum requires -
Staffing Scrum projects and building effective teams -
Establishing “improvement communities” of people who are passionate about driving change -
Choosing which agile technical practices to use or experiment with -
Leading self-organizing teams -
Making the most of Scrum sprints, planning, and quality techniques -
Scaling Scrum to distributed, multiteam projects -
Using Scrum on projects with complex sequential processes or challenging compliance and governance requirements -
Understanding Scrum’s impact on HR, facilities, and project management Whether you've completed a few sprints or multiple agile projects and whatever your role–manager, developer, coach, ScrumMaster, product owner, analyst, team lead, or project lead–this book will help you succeed with your very next project. Then, it will help you go much further: It will help you transform your entire development organization. | | | Features: | |
• ISBN13: 9780321579362
• Condition: New
• Notes: BRAND NEW FROM PUBLISHER! 100% Satisfaction Guarantee. Tracking provided on most orders. Buy with Confidence! Millions of books sold!
| | | Product Details: | | | Author:
| Mike Cohn | | Paperback:
| 504 pages | | Publisher:
| Addison-Wesley Professional | | Publication Date:
| November 05, 2009 | | Language:
| English | | ISBN:
| 0321579364 | | Product Length:
| 9.06 inches | | Product Width:
| 7.38 inches | | Product Height:
| 1.02 inches | | Product Weight:
| 1.78 pounds | | Package Length:
| 9.0 inches | | Package Width:
| 7.3 inches | | Package Height:
| 1.1 inches | | Package Weight:
| 1.85 pounds | | Average Customer Rating:
|  based on 34 reviews |
| | | | Customer Reviews: | |
Average Customer Review:
 ( 34 customer reviews )
Write an online review and share your thoughts with other customers.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
34 of 36 found the following review helpful:
 Insightful, practical and a good readNov 05, 2009
By Andrew Stellman
"author, project manager, programmer"
I've read many, many books on software teams and building software, and I've written several myself, and I've come across very few books that do as good a job as Succeeding with Agile: Software Development Using Scrum. This book gives great -- and very readable! -- advice, not just for people using Scrum (or even Agile development), but for anyone who is looking to improve the way their team builds software. Mike Cohn deserves a lot of credit for putting together a great book.
If you've tried to change the way that your team builds software, then you know that it's not easy. All too often, even a change that seems simple or straightforward turns into a royal mess, alienating the team and irritating everyone involved without actually making a difference to the final product. That's why "Succeeding with Agile" stands out as a terrific book.
"Succeeding with Agile" is at once enormously practical, deeply insightful, and a pleasure to read. It combines great ideas with stories and examples from around the software industry. It will appeal to a wide range of readers, from those looking to adopt a new company-wide agile process to developers who just need to improve the way a team is running a single project. Mike Cohn does an impressive job of showing readers the ins and outs of agile practices. But what really makes this book stand out as one of the best in the field is the way it explains how to make change happen in the real world. The extensive advice Cohn gives readers will ring true for anyone who has attempted (successfully or not) to convince a group of people that there's a better way of building software.
The ideas in "Succeeding with Agile" are adaptable to work in a wide range of personalities, teams and organizations. Changing the way a team builds software is a difficult business. Mike Cohn points out the pitfalls and obstacles, and shows you multiple paths around them so that you can choose the one that best fits your team. Anyone -- programmer, architect, tester, project manager or someone who just needs to work with a software team -- who wants to learn about how to improve the way that software is built in a company will find a wealth of real-world, practical advice that's easy to read.
(A few other things to note about Mike Cohn: Jennifer Greene and I interviewed Mike in our book, Beautiful Teams: Inspiring and Cautionary Tales from Veteran Team Leaders, and were extremely impressed and entertained with what he had to say. And if you haven't seen his blog -- [...] -- you should definitely check that out as well. He's got a lot of knowledge and real-world experience with improving the way teams build software, and it comes out in his writing. You should do yourself a favor and take advantage of this gem.)
19 of 20 found the following review helpful:
Excellent BookJan 10, 2010
By W. Menner
Great content. Great layout. Extremely well-written.
This book is written for people who already have some understanding of Scrum or other agile methods. As such, the book is well-timed. Agile methods have been around long enough that many people and organizations have adopted them and now find themselves dealing with nuances not covered in other literature. So, Cohn fills this void, providing experience-based ideas and solutions for the difficult (but rewarding) efforts that must be made to successfully adopt agile methods.
Part I builds the case for agility by citing positive results from experience, research, and surveys. It goes on to provide "tools" (ideas) for developing the awareness, desire, and ability (skills) that are critical for successful agile adoption. How do you adopt agile methods throughout an organization? Do you "start small" with pilot programs and spread the wealth? Or, do you "go all in," converting your entire organization to agility at the same time? What factors are most important?
In Part II, Cohn contrasts traditional organization and project roles with the roles of Scrum and provides strategies for making the transition and overcoming potential resistance. He also draws from extreme programming to provide insight into the technical practices that developers must learn to maximize the benefits of agility. Cohn then extends his treatment of individual concerns to teams in Part III. How do you structure Scrum teams? What is the nature of teamwork in Scrum? How does leadership manifest itself on Scrum teams? What does a Scrum team's work flow look like? How do they plan? How do they address quality?
Cohn tackles organization-level concerns in Part IV. How do you scale Scrum to large, multi-team projects? What if your teams are distributed across significant geographic distances? How do you handle working with other non-agile teams? What changes might your HR, facilities, and program management staffs need to make? Cohn tackles all of these issues and more.
Also important to note is Cohn's community-driven approach to agile adoption that emphasizes methodology creation (organizations or teams fitting a process to the specific needs of their industry and projects, i.e., one size doesn't fit all) and continual improvement (not getting complacent with best practices). Another interesting book feature is the many "Things to Try Now" call-outs that concisely state Cohn's advice.
In my classroom at JHU, I teach the fundamentals of agile methods from an academic perspective. Also a practitioner, I share my agile experiences to help students apply the material to their projects and organizations. But, my experience pales in comparison to that of Mike Cohn, who has spent several years discovering the nuances of successful agile adoption through his hands-on work helping a large number of organizations transition to agile values, principles, and practices. This book allows me to pass these nuances along to my students. It will also allow all readers to achieve a deeper understanding of the success factors associated with agile methods.
(If you are completely new to Scrum and agile methods, I recommend starting with Ken Schwaber's "Agile Software Development with Scrum" and "Agile Project Management with Scrum." Then read Mike Cohn's "User Stories Applied" and "Agile Estimating and Planning." Follow this up with "The Art of Agile Development" by Shore and Warden. Then read Mike Cohn's "Succeeding with Agile." Of course, there are many other good books on agile methods, but this strategy should serve you well.)
8 of 9 found the following review helpful:
Keep this book on your deskDec 05, 2009
By Hubert Smits
"Hubert"
Mike Cohn has been taking notes during his Scrum classes, notes from all the questions and answers from his students. As a Scrum trainer I recognize many of the questions, and I admire Mike's answers. Mike has seen a lot of project situations, a lot of Scrum implementations, in very different organizations, and he shares his insights, tips and practices freely in this book. I admire how he brings his personal experiences, and references to materials from others together, 'elegant' is probably a good word for his approach. The book is so packed with information and experience that you will want to go back to it time after time, like an Agile-Coach-in-a-Book. If you're serious about implementing Scrum then keep the book handy, and refer to it often, it will kick-start your search for the answers to your implementation obstacles.
4 of 4 found the following review helpful:
If you have to pick one agile book, this is it.Aug 08, 2011
By John A Chapman
Succeeding with Agile is comprehensive, insightful and a pleasure to read. When my coworkers ask me about learning more about agile and Scrum, I tell them that this book is the best place to start. It is a wonderful mix of theory, application, insight and advice.
4 of 4 found the following review helpful:
I've never highlighted so many elements in a book before.May 25, 2011
By Daniel Heater
If your are doing agile development this is the guidebook. It's a great read all the way through and also a handy reference.
BTW, unlike many books on software with boxes off to the side, this one reads well on the Kindle...
See all 34 customer reviews on Amazon.com
| | |
|
