What do you think?
Rate this book
Exploring Scrum: the Fundamentals
2nd Edition! August 2013New!This is the best book about Modern Scrum that you will find anywhere!This is the Second Edition of the book, and it has been updated to include the latest, and greatest, information about Scrum.Scrum is the world's most popular Agile Development Framework, and it has been changing constantly since its discovery in 1995. Over the years, Scrum users have found what does (and does not) actually work, and the Scrum Framework has changed to keep up (part of Scrum's own inspect and adapt process). The rate of change has slowed down over time and, as of late 2013, there is hope that Scrum has stabilized. This book presents that stabilized version of Scrum, along with discussions of why and how it got that way.Dan and Doug wrote this book in order to help people with their implementations of Scrum, and to make sure they have the most current understanding of Scrum to work with. They have found that many of the ideas found in older versions of Scrum are not only out-of-date, but harmful.Both Dan and Doug have trained and coached thousands of people, most of whom are already using Scrum. In spite of the fact that they have read about Scrum, have been trained or coached in Scrum, and are using Scrum, their most common complaint is that they need help to do it 'right'. Dan and Doug have found that many (if not most) of them need some help.This book is for them and others like them.This book is not an introductory text. Dan and Doug assume that those who read this book know, or think they know, something about Scrum. This book takes a deep, exploratory, look into the Scrum framework (as it has changed over time), and offers advice about how to think about it, and how to use it. Some of this advice is philosophical, some is pragmatic, and all of it is practical.Dan and Doug are brutally consistent and true to the essence of Scrum. This book is not the result of an academic exercise; every suggestion or conclusion in this book is grounded in real-life issues they have encountered, and suggestions that they have made for teams and people they have coached or trained.
380 pages, Kindle Edition
First published July 21, 2011
28 people are currently reading
111 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
August 2, 2011
When I work with people about to start their transition to Scrum, I always ask what they've read. Up until now, I struggled with what to suggest that would help them see how to live the Scrum principles and practices. Now I know. The answer is this book, Exploring Scrum: The Fundamentals (People, Product, and Practices).
There is no theory here. No sir. This is a book that arises from hard-won experience. That deep experience, all those years of teaching and coaching and consulting Scrum teams shines through, and provides the substantial value that Dan and Doug bring you.
For example, many project managers have accountability for project results, and Exploring Scrum explains why a project manager can then not be a Scrum Master and should be a product owner. The rest of the discussion of the multiple modes of Scrum Master and Scrum Master as change agent are brilliant.
Another example of the practical approach is the issue of feedback as the output of the sprint. Scrum suggests that the team produce potentially releaseable product each sprint. Many teams interpret that to mean that they always have to produce running tested features. But sometimes, you want feedback about the potential deliverables, such as the user interface or the performance of the system or the security or something like that.
Teams new to Scrum have trouble with determining how many stories they can plan to complete in an sprint and how to manage the work that isn't stories. Dan and Doug have a great solution here. They suggest that for a 2-week sprint, a team plan on about 10 stories. That's a great target because it helps teams realize when they have sliced their stories thin enough. And, because not all work is stories, they suggest that is enabling work for the team is called "Chores," and that the team expect to spend about 30% of their time on Chores. That's a great guideline for teams and for Product Owners.
I loved this book. I'm a sucker for books where the authors have put their hearts and souls into their books and have said to the reader, "Here's everything I know. Read it. Please. Use it. Do it. If you do it this way, you will succeed. I know you will." You will, too.
There is no theory here. No sir. This is a book that arises from hard-won experience. That deep experience, all those years of teaching and coaching and consulting Scrum teams shines through, and provides the substantial value that Dan and Doug bring you.
For example, many project managers have accountability for project results, and Exploring Scrum explains why a project manager can then not be a Scrum Master and should be a product owner. The rest of the discussion of the multiple modes of Scrum Master and Scrum Master as change agent are brilliant.
Another example of the practical approach is the issue of feedback as the output of the sprint. Scrum suggests that the team produce potentially releaseable product each sprint. Many teams interpret that to mean that they always have to produce running tested features. But sometimes, you want feedback about the potential deliverables, such as the user interface or the performance of the system or the security or something like that.
Teams new to Scrum have trouble with determining how many stories they can plan to complete in an sprint and how to manage the work that isn't stories. Dan and Doug have a great solution here. They suggest that for a 2-week sprint, a team plan on about 10 stories. That's a great target because it helps teams realize when they have sliced their stories thin enough. And, because not all work is stories, they suggest that is enabling work for the team is called "Chores," and that the team expect to spend about 30% of their time on Chores. That's a great guideline for teams and for Product Owners.
I loved this book. I'm a sucker for books where the authors have put their hearts and souls into their books and have said to the reader, "Here's everything I know. Read it. Please. Use it. Do it. If you do it this way, you will succeed. I know you will." You will, too.
April 16, 2017
This is a great book and definitely a reference on the topic! It is well written and structured, explanations and examples are easy to follow, and the authors are very knowledgeable. It is perfect for beginners or intermediate level scrum/agile enthusiasts, but even advanced practitioners should know and read this book.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews