The Tales of Agility Trilogy
The books in trilogy present the concepts of lean and agile technology development in an engaging way. Each is based on a powerful model, and in each the story of one or two fictional development initiatives is told. The stories illustrate the lean and agile principles,which are illuminated both as part of the stories and in linked explanatory sections or chapters. The books correspond to the agile topics in this website.
Two Systems: What is lean/agile and why do we do it?
Two Transformations: How can we change our organizations to adopt these techniques, principles, and values, and
People over Process: How can we sustain performance through leadership for agility?
The books can be read in any order and do not depend upon each other for comprehension.
Note: If you are interested in buying ten or more copies of any of these books, exclusive bulk discounts are available. Please email specialsales@taylorandfrancis.com for details.
People Over Process: Leadership for Agility
The most recent book in the trilogy deals with the most important element of agility, People and Interactions. As agile concepts have proliferated I have observed that many teams have adopted the scrum process, as taught by agile coaches, as synonymous with agility. In this book I take the reader back to the first agile value as stated in the original Manifesto, the primacy of people over process; like the Manifesto’s formulation, I believe that leadership for agility is more valuable than scrum, although scrum is valuable as well.
The book presents a model I call “facilitative leadership for agility” which seeks rigor, alignment, and efficiency through the use of frameworks. As in my earlier books, I share the the model and then share its use in key development activities such as technology and business process architecture, project planning, team structure, scrum and governance meetings, and retrospectives directly and through the use of engaging examples from his experience and the fictional Pacifica Bank.
Pacifica is being pummelled by nimble fintechs and other competitors and has gone all in on agile to build a critical new product. The team is stuck on the transition to development because the standard scrum methods don’t quite fit their situation. One of our stars from the previous books, Mary O’connell, comes to the rescue to help build leadership muscle on the team. She helps them strengthen their team and guides them in innovative approaches to rigor, alignment, and efficiency through frameworks.
People over Process leaves the reader with superb examples of engagement mechanisms, tools, and a superior elaboration on the responsibilities of organizational management that can be immediately useful to readers, and which readers will come back to repeatedly for years.
Thanks to Henny Portman for this great 1-page summary of People Over Process.
A Tale of Two Transformations: Bringing Lean and Agile Development to Life
My second book is designed to help organizations adopt the lean and agile ideas described in the first book of the trilogy. The leaders from Tale of Two Systems, Mary O’Connell and James "Wes" Wesleyan, share a commitment to lean and agile sotware. They have recently joined two very different companies – one, stuck in a slow-moving, unresponsive, process-driven quagmire of a software culture; the other, struggling through the chaos of a sales-driven, process-less swirl. Together with their wise mentor, Neville Roberts, they identify two approaches to making needed changes: Drive People (a top-down approach focused on processes and tools), and People Driven (an enablement approach focused on people and organizations). Mary and Wes evaluate their situations and choose approaches that best fit for them, and the transformations commence.
A Tale of Two Transformations differs from many information technology books by grappling with all the complexities of our organizations: the people, the politics, the financials, the processes – in short, the culture from which our lean and agile journeys must begin. The change model presented in the flow of the stories is generally applicable, and can help anyone thinking about how to improve their organization.
Tale of Two Systems: Lean and Agile Software for Business Leaders
My initial book explains lean and agile development in way designed to be accessible to technologists and business leaders alike. It was driven by my desire to help able leaders, dependent on technology for their businesses, gain knowledge and confidence to help them succeed.
I tell the stories of two fictional systems development projects: Cremins United and Troubled Real Estate Information Management, both launched at the imaginary Cremins Corporation. Cremins is an aging printing company that must transform itself to survive in the Internet age. One project proves to be an abject and expensive failure, while the other succeeds in creating a major new revenue stream and solving important customer needs. Contrasting the methods employed in a traditional, process-centric 'waterfall' approach, with a lean and agile-inspired approach, this book provides business leaders with a tangible understanding of why lean thinking is so well-suited to contemporary environments requiring flexibility, speed, and the input of specialized knowledge.
Throughout the book and at the conclusion of the two tales, I articulate a comprehensive model for agility and provide practical guidance for readers on their own journeys.