If you could only read one book on Agile, which would it be? What about two books? Three or more?
Here is the Official Agile Reading List, the full list of recommended reading to get you Agile:
- Manifesto for Agile Software Development. Start here. Everything else derives from this.
- The Scrum Guide by Ken Schwaber and Jeff Sutherland. The concise definition of Scrum–a must-read for anyone using Scrum.
- Extreme Programming Explained by Kent Beck. Great software development practices for great dev teams. You won’t get far without this.
- Agile Estimating and Planning by Mike Cohn. Know your velocity, prioritize your backlog, and combine them to plan your future. It’s easy!
- The Goal, It’s Not Luck, and Critical Chain by Eli Goldratt. Imagine the Scrum Guide written as a novel. This is Theory of Constraints written as a three-novel trilogy. Crazy and great!
- Lean Software Development and Leading Lean Software Development by Mary and Tom Poppendieck. Put it all together and optimize the whole.
- Continuous Delivery by Jez Humble and David Farley. Optimize the whole software life cycle, from the inception of great ideas, to your customers who use it.
- McCarthy Technologies Core Protocols by Jim and Michele McCarthy. Attend Jim and Michele’s bootcamp for a life-transforming experience.
- Agile Software Development with Scrum by Ken Schwaber and Mike Beedle: An expanded Scrum Guide.
- Agile Project Management with Scrum by Ken Schwaber: An updated Agile Software Development with Scrum.
- Fierce Conversations by Susan Scott. Learn how to discuss the most important things.
- Moving Beyond Icebreakers by Stanley Pollack. Hold great meetings that get people engaged and get work done. It works for people who hate each other enough to kill each other; it will work for you, too.
- Innovation Games by Luke Hohmann. Play games that get work done.
- The Toyota Production System by Taiichi Ohno. The Toyota Production System is the archetype for lean production.
- The Toyota Way by Jeffrey Liker. More on the Toyota Production System.
- Culture’s Consequences by Geert Hofstede. A great read on working with people from different cultural backgrounds. Read my notes on this excellent book.
- Open Space Technology by Harrison Owen. Power to the people!
- The Language Hunter’s Kit by Willem Larsen. Techniques for accelerated learning and knowledge sharing.
- U.S. Marine Corp Warifighting manual. No, really, the US Marine Corp’s ways of getting things done mimic Agile.
- Coaching Agile Teams by Lyssa Adkins. Shu-ra-hi: teach, coach, advise.
- Personality Poker by Stephen Shapiro. Use this game to build empathy and rapport.
- The Business Value of Agile Software Methods by David Rico, et al. David makes the business case for the Agile practices we love.
- How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie. We need to play well together to be able to play well.
- I Will Teach You to be Rich by Ramit Sethi. Focus on what you want and be flexible. Sounds like Agile to me.
- The 4-Hour Workweek by Tim Ferriss. Focus on what you want and be flexible. Sounds like Agile to me.
Upcoming additions to the Official Agile Reading List include:
- Software in 30 Days by Ken Schwaber and Jeff Sutherland
- The Culture Game by Dan Mezick
What would you add to the Official Agile Reading List?
