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.
Comments (9)
Jonathan Babcock
Congrats, Mike! That's exciting stuff!
I'm definitely interested in the topics you plan to tackle and will be looking forward to the finished product.
In the interim, I'll be glad to give my $.02 via comments/feedback here.
Again, Congrats!
JB
Mike Cottmeyer
Thanks for the support Jonathan… stay tuned for more to come.
Kevin E. Schlabach
Awesome news, congrats! Looking forward to reviewing another book!
Stewart Rogers
Congratulations Mike!
I am an excellent reader when time for reviews come along! Someone has to be keep you honest on agile product management! :-)
Stewart
Mike Cottmeyer
Kevin and Stewart! Thanks for the offer. I will take you up on it!
Mike
Bob Williams
Mike,
This is great news. I look forward to reading the book.
The topic of organizational agility is near to my heart as I have struggled to get people to even think about how organizational structure can limit efficiency. I hope to see some information around pushing decision making down to the people who are closest to the customer and day-to-day business.
-Bob
Alan Skorkin
Congratulations on the book deal, sounds like you'll be covering some interesting ground.
I only found your blog a little while ago, but would be happy to give my thoughts as you're writing (or have a look at the whole thing when the times comes). I am very intersted at organisation-level agility and it sounds like you'll be focusing on that quite a bit.
Regards,
Alan
V. Lee Henson CST
Congrats Mike! VERY well deserved! Please do let me know if there is anything I can do to support you in the process of getting published!
~ Lee – AgileDad
Francois Botha
Hi Mike, where can I buy this book?