This was my first Agile / Scrum book purchase and remains the cornerstone of my Agile library. It's an easy read and a superb starting point for people getting started with Scrum. Ken Schwaber uses case studies to illustrate Scrum concepts and practices. One of the most attractive attributes of the book is that Ken Schwaber does not mind sharing "the good, the bad, and the ugly" about implementing Scrum. He does a great job explaining roles, artifacts, and some "best practices." I consider this a must-have for anyone using or interested in Scrum!
This is number two in my Agile Library hit parade! First, Craig Larman introduces us to agile concepts, presents evidence on why agile methodologies work better than the typical prescriptive development methodologies, reviews four agile methodologies (Scrum, XP (Extreme Programming), UP (Unified Process), and Evo), and finishes up with some practice tips and some FAQs. This was my first exposure to XP and where I started incorporating some XP practices (pair programming, testing, and frequent refactoring) into Scrum. I spent a lot of time in Chapter 11 (Practice Tips).
While not necessarily a "must have" with regards to Scrum, I consider this to be a "must have" with regards to increasing your awareness of other agile principles and how to practically apply them.
After I became comfortable with developing using Scrum, I became interested in the culture of being "Agile" and how the surrounding organizational culture determines the success or failure of implementing agile methodologies. I heavily researched the various agile methodologies and the respective players of each methodology (like Alistair Cockburn, Jim Highsmith, Martin Fowler, and Kent Beck, just to name a few). I ran into the term "Agile Software Development Ecosystems" (ASDE) and became intrigued about its meaning. I went out on a limb and purchased the book with the same name by Jim Highsmith. I was not disappointed. I found what I consider to be the best definition of Agile in this book -- "the ability to both create and respond to change in order to profit in a turbulent business environment."
This book is about creating environments where people can work together in a collaborative manner with minimal processes to deliver the best business value to our customers. Jim does this with case studies and conversations with key players in the agile movement. This is not as easy to digest as Ken Schwaber's "Agile Project Management with Scrum," but you will be rewarded with a greater awareness of how to create a culture of "agileness" within different organizational cultures. I spent a lot of time in Part IV (Developing an ASDE) and referring back to previous chapters.
This is a "must-have" for people who want to influence teams and organizations to be "Agile" or for those of you interested in "rolling your own" agile culture.
