Let me tell you about the three books that have had an amazing impact on me and my career.
Agile Project Management with Scrum by Ken Schwaber
The first one is Agile Project Management with Scrum by Ken Schwaber. Ken Schwaber is one of the two most famous founders of scrum.
The book is excellent because it gives a great background on where his motivation for scrum came from. It also gives you the authentic theory of scrum. More importantly it gives you eight case studies based on his early experiences rolling out scrum in all sorts of organisations.
This balance of theory and practical examples all in one book make it an excellent choice for the new and intermediate agile enthusiast, or an excellent source for a more advanced agile practitioner.
Scrum Mega Pack by Paul VII
The next book is my own book, Scrum Mega Pack by Paul VII. Agile Project Management with Scrum gives examples based on Ken Schwaber’s time and focuses on the project management issues from his perspective in those times.
My book was written specifically to apply to anyone and to incorporate everything you will need from the basics to how to influence others to use scrum. Whether you are a developer/team member, product owner, stakeholder or someone that just wants to learn about scrum, this book takes you from the basics right through to the advanced.
The book includes complimentary lessons on topics such as sprint planning and scrum-of-scrums. It is based on over ten years of rolling out practices in huge organisations. So Scrum Mega Pack and Agile Project Management with Scrum are like the left hand and right hand of success with scrum.
(NOTE: Struggling to understand the basics of scrum quickly? Get the Power of Scrum Audio Book. You can use it to get a complete overview and foundation in scrum fast, before even having to “roll-out” a single scrum practice to your team. Check it out here.)
Agile Estimating and Planning by Mike Cohn
Now another book that I have always liked is Agile Estimating and Planning by Mike Cohn. Mike Cohn is renowned for his teachings on agile planning. He pretty much wrote the book on it. No, he literally wrote the book on it : )
In the book, Mike covers why traditional planning fails so often, why agile planning is successful and exactly how to carry out ceremonies such as planning poker.
This book is excellent for those that want to master planning. I have seen it’s practices in use in nearly every high achieving team I have seen. However few people have really studied the theory in depth. Therefore not everyone truly understands how to get the best results out of planning.
Summary
The influence of agile and scrum has changed the way people run projects and has increased the success ratio for delivering on time or to scope infinitely.
People throughout the globe have read these books and become key agile influencers, amazingly successful agile practitioners and the best agile and scrum teams.
So if you want to be like them:
- Read Agile Project Management with Scrum by Ken Schwaber
- Read my book Scrum Mega Pack
- Read Agile Estimating and Planning
(NOTE: Struggling to understand the basics of scrum quickly? Get the Power of Scrum Audio Book. You can use it to get a complete overview and foundation in scrum fast, before even having to “roll-out” a single scrum practice to your team. Check it out here.)
