The ART of Avoiding a Train Wreck: Practical Tips and Tricks for Launching and Operating SAFe Agile Release Trains

by Em Campbell-Pretty, Adrienne L. Wilson, Dean Leffingwell (Foreword)

In The ART of Avoiding a Train Wreck, Em and Adrienne share their “trade secrets” for launching and operating powerful and effective Agile Release Trains. There's a lot at stake when launching an Agile Release Train. When taking on an Enterprise Lean-Agile Transformation you only get one shot at a first impression. Runaway trains are expensive. Money gets wasted, time gets lost and the reputational damage can take years to repair.

Going well beyond the standard SAFe training, this book deep dives into the practical tips and tricks that only over 15 years of combined real world experience can teach. Peppered with innumerable war stories, this book provides plenty of entertainment (as well as education) in the form of personal anecdotes, cautionary tales and pro-tips for both the colocated Agile Release Train and its more complicated globally distributed cousins.

You will learn how to get a ticket on the SAFe railway, load the cargo on your train, set the timetable, SAFely board and stay on the tracks. No matter your context, you are sure to find plenty of actionable ideas for launching and operating Agile Release Trains. Let's face it, any train can derail, so let The ART of Avoiding a Train Wreck be the coach in your pocket, warning you of the obstacles on the tracks ahead before you train wreck.

Genres: Business, Nonfiction

407 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 2, 2019

Reviews

[Robert Shaw · Rating 4 out of 5]

Unfortunately there should be a bit more editing to clean up the grammar. I works also like a list of all the links in the footers after the bibliography as there is a lot of useful information on the websites but looking back through the book is s bit tedious.

However the content is very useful and obviously built on a lot of experience.

[Alexander Teibrich · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is definitely one I would recommend! At the same time I can only give 3 stars.

I find the content extremely valuable: an amazing summary of best practices for starting an ART! Em really speaks from experience here and this is definitely a solid resource I would rely on.

Unfortunately the book also has it‘s flaws. Sometimes too many spelling errors and at other times a missing narrative that ends in a pure aggregation of facts and best practices. I would have loved to see a more solid editing process here.

[Jeff Himmelright · Rating 3 out of 5]

Packed full of great advice and anecdotes based on years of experience. It could have used a more thorough editor. It contains several grammar errors and typos.

[Kathleen Murtha · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kudos to the authors for making it very clear up front that this is not a book for beginners. I am very much a beginner, but it was recommended to me by someone in the industry who knows my capabilities. It wasn't the material nor the writing style that made this book difficult to read. The downfall here is in the editing. Commas were hardly used at all. Sometimes, abbreviations were used and at other times, the terms were spelled out (I&A and Inspect & Adapt being used at various times toward the end of the book). There were sentences that either went nowhere or doubled back on themselves. It was as if a notation was made in a draft and the notation was included along with the original disjointed sentence. This isn't a train wreck, but it is a bumpy ride.

[Brett Fitzgerald · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic examples and implemention points on how to REALLY coach a transformation to SAFe. Like other people said, it really could have benefited from another round of editing to catch some typos, but that didn't detract from the content. I'd recommend this for any SPC or Agile Coach after they have launched a train or two.

[Sam Motes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Campbell-Pretty and Wilson are well recognized contributors to the SAFe community and it is clear in this book why. They build upon the standard SAFe training to give real life examples of how to execute and what pitfalls to avoid combed from years of hard earned lessons learned standing up release trains and keeping the trains running on time. Must read for anyone in the RTE role let alone any other role in SAFe.

[Charlie Meneses · Rating 4 out of 5]

Is good, If English is not your first language, you’ll struggle a little bit, there is a lot of slang! Not too hard though, just prepare yourself.
There are good advices, and some good reminders, I like it.

[Ruben Hekkens · Rating 2 out of 5]

Good tips but incredibly boring to read. It's better to read individual chapters at a time while you're going through the Agile Transformation process.

[zoagli · Rating 5 out of 5]

Extremely inspiring overview for SAFe practitioners. For newbies, the book will only be useful in combination with the SAFe website, not on its own.

The printed book could have used better editing. Too many errors for my taste. Also, why do the footnotes start again at #150 for every chapter?

Finally, this may seem like a minor point, but it’s important enough for me to be bothered by it: the book is typeset in an ugly font, especially the italics look skewed. And it’s printed in gray, or rather fake gray: all the characters are in black with white polka dots. Why?

But at the risk of repeating myself, I’m very glad that I discovered and read this book. Lots of new ideas for me to try!