Software in 30 Days: How Agile Managers Beat the Odds, Delight Their Customers, And Leave Competitors In the Dust

Book description

A radical approach to getting IT projects done faster and cheaper than anyone thinks possible

Software in 30 Days summarizes the Agile and Scrum software development method, which allows creation of game-changing software, in just 30 days. Projects that use it are three times more successful than those that don't. Software in 30 Days is for the business manager, the entrepreneur, the product development manager, or IT manager who wants to develop software better and faster than they now believe possible. Learn how this unorthodox process works, how to get started, and how to succeed. Control risk, manage projects, and have your people succeed with simple but profound shifts in the thinking.

The authors explain powerful concepts such as the art of the possible, bottom-up intelligence, and why it's good to fail early—all with no risk greater than thirty days.

  • The productivity gain vs traditional "waterfall" methods has been over 100% on many projects

  • Author Ken Schwaber is a co-founder of the Agile software movement, and co-creator, with Jeff Sutherland, of the "Scrum" technique for building software in 30 days

  • Coauthor Jeff Sutherland was cosigner of the Agile Manifesto, which marked the start of the Agile movement

Software in 30 Days is a must-read for all managers and business owners who use software in their organizations or in their products and want to stop the cycle of slow, expensive software development. Programmers will want to buy copies for their managers and their customers so they will know how to collaborate to get the best work possible.

Table of contents

  1. Cover
  2. Title Page
  3. Copyright
  4. Dedication
  5. About the Authors
  6. Acknowledgments
  7. Introduction
  8. Section I: Why Every Business in the World Can Produce Software in 30 Days
    1. Chapter 1: The Crisis in Software: The Wrong Process Produces the Wrong Results
      1. Case Study: The FBI's Sentinel Project
      2. The Wrong Approach: Predictive Processes
      3. The Wrong Results: Project Failure
      4. Case Study: Parametric Technology Corporation
      5. Summary
    2. Chapter 2: Scrum: The Right Process Produces the Right Results
      1. Empiricism in Action
      2. Does Empiricism Resolve Our Problems?
      3. People Practices Stemming from Empiricism
      4. Even When We Know Better
      5. Agility
      6. Summary
    3. Chapter 3: Try It Yourself: The Pilot
      1. Empiricism Is Used Elsewhere in the Organization
      2. An Example Pilot to Model
      3. Team Members May Work in Ways That Are New to Them
      4. Summary
    4. Chapter 4: What Can I Do?
      1. Practice the Art of the Possible
      2. Demand Transparency and Create an Environment for It to Flourish
      3. Count on Your People to Do More
      4. Help People Relax Their Desire for Certainty
      5. Summary
  9. Section II: How to Produce Software in 30 Days
    1. Chapter 5: Getting Started with Scrum
      1. Form the Scrum Team and Plan the Sprint
      2. Sprint to Value
      3. Conduct the Sprint Review
      4. Conduct the Sprint Retrospective
      5. Continue Sprinting
      6. Summary
    2. Chapter 6: Scrum at the Project Level
      1. Bottom-Up and Stealth Scrum
      2. Benefits and Discoveries
      3. Managing the Work: Burndown Charts
      4. Don't Ignore On Complexity—Always Keep Your Eyes Open
      5. Sprint Length
      6. The Next Chapter
    3. Chapter 7: Develop a Scrum Capability
      1. The Studio Is a Learning Organization
      2. The Studio Manager
      3. Training and Terms of Use
      4. Studio Facilities
      5. Change and Conundrum
      6. Managing by the Numbers
      7. Metrics Depend on Transparency
      8. A Done, Complete Increment of Functionality
      9. An Analogy
      10. Eliminating Technical Debt to Get Ready-to-Use Increments
      11. Origins of Sin
      12. Summary
    4. Chapter 8: Scrum at the Enterprise Level
      1. Profound but Transient Change
      2. Profound and Persistent Change
      3. Carbonite Transforms and Persists
      4. How Carbonite Broke the Mold
      5. Results
      6. Two Nonnegotiable Elements for Any Scrum Adoption
    5. Chapter 9: Enterprise Transformation: Profound and Persistent Change
      1. The Enterprise Transformation Project
      2. Getting Ready
      3. Start the Transformation Project
      4. Communicate the Vision and Strategy
      5. Expand throughout the Organization
      6. Achieve Impact
      7. Measure, Assess, and Consolidate Gains
      8. Embed, Expand, and Persist
      9. Summary
    6. Chapter 10: Scrumming Scrum
      1. SeaChange International Scrums Itself with Scrum
      2. How SeaChange Broke the Mold
      3. Results
      4. Iron Mountain Spreads Scrum
      5. Transformation Teams
      6. Summary
  10. Appendix 1: Terminology
  11. Appendix 2: The Scrum Guide
    1. Table of Contents
    2. Article I. Purpose of the Scrum Guide
    3. Article II. Scrum Overview
    4. Article III. Scrum Theory
    5. Article IV. Scrum
    6. Article V. The Scrum Team
    7. Article VI. Scrum Events
    8. Article VII. Scrum Artifacts
    9. Article VIII. Definition of “Done”
    10. Article IX. Conclusion
    11. Article X. Acknowledgements
  12. Appendix 3: A Playbook for Achieving Enterprise Agility
    1. Table of Contents
    2. 1.1 Introduction
    3. 1.2 Overview of Scrum and Software Agility
    4. 1.3 Preparing for Scrum
    5. 1.4 A Playbook for Adopting Scrum
    6. 1.5 Organizational Impediments to Adopting Scrum
    7. 1.6 Scaling Scrum
    8. 1.7 Summary
  13. Index

Product information

  • Title: Software in 30 Days: How Agile Managers Beat the Odds, Delight Their Customers, And Leave Competitors In the Dust
  • Author(s): Ken Schwaber, Jeff Sutherland
  • Release date: May 2012
  • Publisher(s): Wiley
  • ISBN: 9781118240908