Leading Agile... the Book?

Leading Agile... the Book?: "I have some pretty exciting news... both for me...and hopefully for the regular readers of Leading Agile. A few months ago, Dennis Stevens and I pitched and idea for a book to Addison-Wesley. Well... today we hit the jackpot... we got a contract. The book is tentatively titled 'Rethinking the Agile Enterprise' and... like the Cutter paper... covers much of the material I talk about on this blog.

What's the one-line pitch?

This book lays out a lean strategy… and an actionable framework… for organizing teams, projects, and programs for successful enterprise software delivery

What's the book about?

This book marries three core concepts into an actionable guide for building an adaptive organization. First… the book asserts that adaptive organizations are built around teams. We explain how to form teams… why teams work… and how agile and lean concepts can help managers establish high performing teams. Second… we explain how teams work together to deliver against the larger goals of the organization. This gets into lean project management, program management, and portfolio management. Lastly… we discuss a specific tool called capability modeling that helps organizations decide where to focus their energy to get the greatest return on their investment.

Why is it Important?

Companies are interested in becoming more adaptive… more agile… not because they have an interest in Scrum or XP… but because they are trying to deliver value to market faster than their competition. Most of the current agile literature does not address the real problems facing complex organizations. The literature assumes everyone is organized around small cross functional teams that build software features. Many of these books advocate transition strategies that are not practical for the enterprise and cannot be implemented at scale. The market needs a book that meets business leaders where they are… and helps them get to where they need to be. We are advocating a targeted and disciplined approach to becoming more agile across the entire enterprise.

Why will anyone care?

Business leaders are trying to implement agile methodologies but are not fully aware that their underlying organizational structure is negatively impacting their ability to change. This book provides a starting place for sorting through the complex set of decisions required to implement widespread organizational change. Mike and Dennis explain the strategies… principles… and tactics required to systematically build a more adaptive enterprise.

How you can help

Clearly... clearly... over the next year... Dennis and I will be blogging around the topics we are writing about. Please give us your feedback and share your ideas for making the book better. As chapters are ready... we'll need reviewers. When we get that far... I'll reach out to you guys for your help.

This is going to be quite an adventure and a REALLY, REALLY busy 15 months!

Mike
http://www.leadingagile.com