Succeeding with Agile: Software Development Using Scrum

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.

Mike Cohn is the founder of Mountain Goat Software, through which he provides training and consulting on Scrum and agile software development. Mike specializes in helping companies adopt Scrum and become more agile as a way of building extremely high performance development organizations. In addition to this book, he is the author of User Stories Applied for Agile Software Development, Agile Estimating and Planning, and books on Java and C++ programming.

With more than 25 years of experience, Mike has previously been a technology executive in companies of various sizes, from start-up to Fortune 40. He has also written articles for Better Software, IEEE Computer, Cutter IT Journal, Software Test and Quality Engineering, Agile Times, and the C/C++ Users Journal. Mike is a frequent speaker at industry conferences and is a founding member of the Agile Alliance and Scrum Alliance. He is also a Certified Scrum Trainer, having cotaught the first Certified ScrumMaster class with Ken Schwaber in May 2003.

For more information, visit www.mountaingoatsoftware.com.