The Age of Agile

Book description

More value from less work.

An unstoppable business revolution is under way — and it is Agile. Companies that embrace Agile Management learn to connect everyone and everything . . . all the time. They can deliver instant, intimate, frictionless value on a large scale.

Agile began emerging many decades ago, but truly took off in the software development industry. Sparking dramatic improvements in quality, innovation, and speed-to-market, the Agile movement is now spreading quickly throughout all kinds of companies. It enables a team, a unit, or an enterprise to nimbly adapt and upgrade products and services to meet rapidly changing technology and customer needs. And the process is applicable anywhere — companies don’t need to be born Agile, like Spotify. Even centuries-old Barclays is making the transition and reaping rewards.

Filled with examples from every sector, The Age of Agile helps readers:

  • Master the three laws of Agile Management (team, customer, network)
  • Embrace the new mindset
  • Overcome constraints
  • Employ meaningful metrics
  • Make the entire organization Agile
  • And more

With this breakthrough approach, even global giants can learn to act entrepreneurially. Their future depends on it.

Table of contents

  1. Cover
  2. Title
  3. Dedication
  4. Contents
  5. Foreword by Gary Hamel
  6. Introduction
  7. Part One: Agile Management
    1. 1 More Value from Less Work
      1. Box 1-1: Manifesto for Agile Software Development
      2. Box 1-2: Glossary: Definitions of Agile, Scrum, DevOps, Kanban, Lean
    2. 2 The Law of the Small Team
    3. 3 The Law of the Customer
      1. Box 3-1: Paradigm Shifts in Science
      2. Box 3-2: Ultimate Customers, Internal Customers, and End-Users
      3. Box 3-3: Practices of the Law of the Customer
      4. Box 3-4: Aligning People Management with Agile Management at Cerner
    4. 4 The Law of the Network
      1. Box 4-1: Agility Through Market-Based Approaches
      2. Box 4-2: Achieving Large-Scale Operations Through Platforms
      3. Box 4-3: “Big Bang” Change: Six Mistakes Salesforce Didn’t Make
    5. 5 Implementing Agile at Scale: Microsoft
      1. Get the Right Balance of Alignment and Autonomy
      2. Master the Role of the Agile Manager
      3. Handle Dependencies at the Team Level
      4. Ensure Continuous Integration
      5. Keep on Top of Technical Debt
      6. Embrace DevOps and Continuous Delivery
      7. Continuously Monitor Progress
      8. Listen to Customer Wants, but Meet Their Needs
      9. Deal with Directions from Above
      10. Use Self-Forming Teams to Encourage Team Ownership
      11. Recognize the Team Is the Product
      12. Build Quality from the Beginning
      13. Use Coaching Carefully
      14. Ensure Top-Level Support
      15. Box 5-1: Flattening the Hierarchy Isn’t the Answer
    6. 6 From Operational to Strategic Agility
      1. The Principles of Strategic Agility
      2. Four Components of a Market-Creating Value Proposition
      3. Box 6-1: The Collapse of Sector Boundaries
      4. Box 6-2: The Path from Operational Agility to Strategic Agility
    7. 7 Changing the Organizational Culture
      1. Box 7-1: SRI’s “NABC Value Proposition” for Siri
  8. Part Two: Management Traps
    1. 8 The Trap of Shareholder Value
      1. Box 8-1: The Unsound Legal Case for Shareholder Value
      2. Box 8-2: What Is True Shareholder Value?
      3. Box 8-3: Adam Smith and the Philosophical Origins of Shareholder Value Thinking
      4. Box 8-4: The Unanticipated Risks of Shareholder Value
    2. 9 The Trap of Share Buybacks
      1. The Challenge for Public Policymakers
      2. The Challenge for Agile Leaders in Dealing with the Stock Market
      3. The Challenge for Agile Managers Within the Corporation
      4. Box 9-1: Defending Share Buybacks
    3. 10 The Cost-Oriented Economics Trap
      1. The Case of Dell Inc.
      2. The Urge to Offshore
      3. A Permanent Loss of Expertise
      4. Explaining Agile Management to a CFO
      5. Throughput Accounting
      6. Box 10-1: Technical Debt, Regulatory Debt, and Brand Debt
      7. Box 10-2: U.S. vs. German Manufacturing
    4. 11 The Trap of Backward-Looking Strategy
      1. Box 11-1: The Strategy of “Doing More of the Same”
      2. Box 11-2: Options Reasoning and the Portfolio Approach
  9. Epilogue
    1. 12 Nuclear Winters and Golden Ages
      1. Box 12-1: The History of Golden Ages and Nuclear Winters
      2. Box 12-2: How the Change Might Happen: An Agenda for Action
  10. Acknowledgments
  11. About Steve Denning
  12. Notes
  13. Index
  14. Free Sample from Shift Ahead by Allen Adamson and Joel Steckel
  15. About AMACOM Books
  16. Copyright

Product information

  • Title: The Age of Agile
  • Author(s): Stephen Denning, Gary Hamel
  • Release date: February 2018
  • Publisher(s): AMACOM
  • ISBN: 9780814439104