There is definitely a way of Doing Agile Right and, unfortunately, a way to do agile completely wrong. This book describes both so you can quickly see what your agile team is doing correctly and incorrectly.
Agile sounds so good. Faster results. Quick setup. Self-management. More innovative solutions. So what could go wrong? It turns out there are three major areas where agile fails.
First, depending on the goal, sometimes bureaucracy works better—especially for highly regulated tasks. You wouldn’t want the people checking food safety to be “innovative”. Or your accountant, either. They have procedures for a reason.
Second, agile teams don’t work well when headed by a bureaucratic management team. They need to self-manage to be truly agile.
Third, don’t throw out the baby with the bath water. Agile should be added gradually based on the company’s products and services. Agile isn’t a light switch. It’s also not a copy machine. What works perfectly for one company probably will not work the same for another.
The book continues with some excellent strategies for Doing Agile Right. Overall, this is a good overview of the agile process for business decision-makers. It is written in a clear manner with many examples of real businesses that are making agile work for them. It also shies away from the overly technology-based examples of other books on the agile method. 3.5 stars!
Thanks to Harvard Business Review Press and NetGalley for a copy in exchange for my honest review.