Broken Agile: Stories from the Trenches, Second Edition

Book description

Learn how to be successful in adopting Agile and see good and bad examples of how Agile can be adopted. Broken Agile, Second Edition contains stories from years of real world experience on Agile teams and projects. The stories in each chapter are both educational and entertaining. Each chapter focuses on specific Agile values and principles. The stories in each chapter are used to illustrate how Agile values and principles are sometimes misunderstood or misapplied on Agile teams and projects. You will read how Agile is used in the real world and the consequences of poor adaptations of the Agile software development methodology. These stories will help you in your journey to adopt Agile software development.

Table of contents

  1. Cover
  2. Title
  3. Copyright
  4. Dedication
  5. Contents
  6. About the Author
  7. Acknowledgments
  8. Chapter1 : Introduction
  9. Chapter2 : Scale Success
    1. Real-Life Stories
      1. Story 1: Learn from the Success of Others
      2. Story 2: Share Knowledge Across Teams
  10. Chapter3 : Communication
    1. Real-Life Stories
      1. Story 1: Lack of Transparency
      2. Story 2: Leadership Frustration
      3. Story 3: Bridging a Communication Gap
      4. Story 4: Communication Breakdown
      5. Story 5: Lack of Productivity
      6. Story 6: Inability to Share Knowledge
      7. Story 7: Simply Too Much Noise
      8. Story 8: A Common Language
      9. Story 9: Scrum Master Should Not Be a Part-Time Role
  11. Chapter4 : Poor Foundations
    1. Real-Life Stories
      1. Story 1: Building a Good Foundation
      2. Story 2: Rigid Rules
  12. Chapter5 : Long-Run Plan for Success
    1. Real-Life Stories
      1. Story 1: Creating a Sense of Ownership
      2. Story 2: Spreading Knowledge
      3. Story 3: Good Transition of Ownership
  13. Chapter6 : Adjusting in Time
    1. Real-Life Stories
      1. Story 1: Planning Too Far Ahead
      2. Story 2: Always Be Improving
      3. Story 3: A Lot of Wasted Planning
  14. Chapter7 : Sending the Wrong Signals
    1. Real-Life Stories
      1. Story 1: Complete Breakdown in Trust
      2. Story 2: Please Don’t Compare Scrum Teams
      3. Story 3: Dictating Velocity
      4. Story 4: Avoid Creating Team Hierarchies
  15. Chapter8 : Balancing Life and Work
    1. Real-Life Stories
      1. Story 1: Mandating Velocity
      2. Story 2: Creating a Cadence
      3. Story 3: Great Work-Life Balance
  16. Chapter9 : Fake It Until You Make It
    1. Real-Life Stories
      1. Story 1: Not Shippable
      2. Story 2: Functional Software
      3. Story 3: Who’s Training Who?
      4. Story 4: Using the “Agile” Excuse
  17. Chapter10 : Building Unity
    1. Real-Life Stories
      1. Story 1: Where Is Everyone?
      2. Story 2: Peer Pressure
      3. Story 3: Burning Out a Team
      4. Story 4: Give Time to Learn New Things
      5. Story 5: Great Teamwork
      6. Story 6: All Teams Are Not the Same
      7. Story 7: Building Team Morale
  18. Chapter11 : Keeping Engaged
    1. Real-Life Stories
      1. Story 1: Keeping It Fresh
      2. Story 2: A Lot of Free Time
      3. Story 3: Avoid Pigeonholing
  19. Chapter12 : Fundamental Misunderstandings
    1. Real-Life Stories
      1. Story 1: Artificial Limits
      2. Story 2: Merging of Roles
      3. Story 3: Agile Smells
      4. Story 4: Going Through the Motions
      5. Story 5: What Are We Building?
      6. Story 6: Things Are Not Always Interchangeable
      7. Story 7: Cliff Dives
      8. Story 8: Things Always Breaking
      9. Story 9: Diminishing Returns
      10. Story 10: Something Is Missing
      11. Story 11: Ineffective Demo Meetings
  20. Chapter13 : Challenges with Estimations
    1. Real-Life Stories
      1. Story 1: Estimation Overkill
      2. Story 2: Who Estimated This?
      3. Story 3: Excuse for Poor Estimating
      4. Story 4: Another Reason to Use Points
      5. Story 5: Right Flavor of Agile
  21. Chapter14 : Transparency
    1. Real-Life Stories
      1. Story 1: Lack of Commitment
      2. Story 2: Misleading Numbers
      3. Story 3: Caving into Pressure
  22. Chapter15 : Specifications and Testing
    1. Real-Life Stories
      1. Story 1: Missing Good Acceptance Criteria
      2. Story 2: Great Collaboration
      3. Story 3: Quality of Test Code
      4. Story 4: Too Many Sources of Truth
      5. Story 5: One Size Does Not Fit All
      6. Story 6: Worth the Investment
  23. Chapter16 : Some Process Required
    1. Real-Life Stories
      1. Story 1: Process Can Add Value
      2. Story 2: Clear Rules
      3. Story 3: Simple Definitions
  24. Chapter17 : Physical vs. Virtual
    1. Real-Life Stories
      1. Story 1: Physical Board Seems More Satisfying
      2. Story 2: Combined Team Meetings
  25. Chapter18 : Final Thoughts
    1. References
  26. Index

Product information

  • Title: Broken Agile: Stories from the Trenches, Second Edition
  • Author(s): Tim Brizard
  • Release date: November 2015
  • Publisher(s): Apress
  • ISBN: 9781484217450