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Agile Mindset Books???

Last post 02:00 am April 5, 2018 by Blake McMillan
3 replies
Steve Smith
12:55 am March 20, 2018

Hello.  I am trying to learn as much as I can about Agile and I have studied Scrum and Kanban, have read many books, observed my agile teams and listened to my coaches.  So I thought I sort of knew what I was doing.  But then my agile coach told me that most of what I knew about agile was just the mechanics...daily stand ups, kanban boards, retros, etc.  He then went on to say that those things only make up 1/3 of agile.  I asked what the other 2/3’s were and he said mindset and culture change.  Since then I have heard the same message from several others in the field.  I see a lot about this topic in the forums here on scrum.org too.

I asked my coach for some books on this part of agile so I could learn more about it and he recommended several books including Drive by Dan Pink, Turn the Ship Around, Start with Why and Mindset by Carol Dweck.  These are all great books, but they are not Agile books in that they don’t refer to Agile at all.

So, is it really true that mindset and culture change are big parts of Agile, and yet all of the good books on Agile only cover the mechanics?  Or, if that’s not true, can you please refer me to some Agile books that cover the mindset and culture change aspects?  At this point we have the mechanics down and need to take our program to the next level.

Thank you.

Norbert Huurnink
07:07 pm March 28, 2018

I think "scrum mastery" by geoff watts can fill some gaps that you might experience.

It's more about mindset and shows "what's really important in scrum". Not so much about how to change a culture, though.

 

For me, the books that are recommended on this website are all a piece of the puzzle. Some explain how to implement scrum, some explain more fundamental principles (like drive from pink) that are embraced in scrum.

If you understand how these fit together, it becomes easier to make better decisions and make cultural improvements (as you can explain the need, urgency and benefits well).

As said, I think scrum mastery can help you with this.

Gunther Firk
03:30 am March 29, 2018

Hi Steve!

I agree with Norbert that books (recommended on this website) are pieces of puzzle of your agile/scrum knowledge.

I recommend you these 2 books (maybe you will not agree with me):

- Software in 30 days

- Scrum: A pocket guide

Blake McMillan
02:00 am April 5, 2018

Scrum: A Pocket Guide by Verheyen was great at getting into more of the philosophy of Scrum and not just the mechanics.

Scrum Mastery by Watts is brilliant and I would highly recommend getting the audiobook so you can hear Geoff deliver the content himself.

 

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