Extraordinarily Badass Agile Coaching: The Journey from Beginner to Mastery and Beyond

by Robert Galen, Jennifer Fields, Rhiannon Galen-Personick

Do you aspire to become a truly Badass Agile Coach? A coach with a mission of professionalism, craft, passion, accountability, and expertise that you need to bring to bear in service of your clients? Then Extraordinary Badass Agile Coaching will be your trusted guide to meet (and exceed) that mission.

Genres: Nonfiction

367 pages, Paperback

Published January 27, 2022

Reviews

[Gary Cohen]

This is a well-thought out book that issues a challenge to those of us involved in working with agile teams and organizations, especially in a coaching role. If you've met or heard Bob Galen before, his voice comes through throughout this book. He also was able to have co-authors write several of the chapters which allows us to benefit from multiple perspectives.

I think this is a pretty comprehensive look at agile coaching, although different people with different experience levels may want to focus on different areas discussed in the book so that they work on things that are developmentally appropriate for them at this time.

For me, the parts that resonated with me the most were the concept of a coaching dojo to practice and improve skills, the belief that each coach should have a mentor and be coached as appropriate, and that coaches should leverage multiple stances and switch between them as necessary.

Other areas that gave me a great deal to think about and act upon were the sections discussing having an ethics statement, understanding diversity and our role in helping to support all of those entrusted to our service, and the concept of coaching arcs.

The authors also include links to many references to dig deeper into critical concepts and techniques should you choose. There were also many references to ORSC MetaSkills, which I've been hearing more about recently but have not had formal training in. The concept of MetaSkills, having a common vocabulary of these skills, and intentionally deciding which skills are most likely to be useful in a given situation/conversation seems to be something worth mastering.

In summary, Bob Galen is setting the bar for how agile coaches should prepare, continuous grow, and serve their clients which I believe will push us to continually improve the value that we, as agile coaches, provide to our clients.

[Ricardo]

great read for Agile practitioners anywhere

Great read for Agile practitioners anywhere. Ranging from novice to “expert” all can take away more of one valuable thing to apply on your agile transformation journey.

[Jeff Bubolz]

Loaded with Self-Care Ideas

This is a great book for all Scrum Masters and Agile Coaches. It is loaded with tons of content to help sharpen you agile coaching saw. There are tons of reflective moments in the book that help you find ways to put the content into action.

The agile community is a better place as a result of this book.

[Randall]

This was a great book for leveling up as an Agile Coach. Some of the Continuous Improvement and Community Building in this book is great. However, the author takes a rather elitist position at times, and does not support it. It can be offputting.

[Jan Mikkelsen]

If you are serious about changing organization, teams, individuals and yourself, this is a must-read. There are so many tips and tricks to keep you well busy practicing and improving for a life-time. Well-written and easy to understand.

[Christoph Dibbern]

A book with a WOW effect! I have never seen so many helpful practical scenarios, canvases, and explanations about the WHY of Coaching. I will use the book for my daily work and strongly recommend reading it.

[Toni SCRUMptious]

Includes some useful info on C-level coaching.

[Joe]

Great read of scenarios and situations that you can learn from to help you grow as a Scrum Master, and help you think of different ways to help others solve problems.

[Jens Hirschmann]

Very good. Valuable insights and practical tips to start and progress learning.

[Αλέξανδρος]

Best book for coaching with practical examples in the beginning of an Agile transformation

[zoagli]

It took me more than three months to get through this book, so full is it with valuable information and inspiration.