Lynda Girvan - Agile From First Principles

BCS Learning and Development Ltd 2022

The right of Lynda Girvan and Simon Girvan to be identified as authors of this work has been asserted by them in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

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Published by BCS Learning and Development Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT, 3 Newbridge Square, Swindon, SN1 1BY, UK.
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Paperback ISBN: 978-1-78017-5799
PDF ISBN: 978-1-78017-5805
ePUB ISBN: 978-1-78017-5812

British Cataloguing in Publication Data.
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available at the British Library.

Disclaimer:

The views expressed in this book are of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Institute or BCS Learning and Development Ltd except where explicitly stated as such. Although every care has been taken by the authors and BCS Learning and Development Ltd in the preparation of the publication, no warranty is given by the authors or BCS Learning and Development Ltd as publisher as to the accuracy or completeness of the information contained within it and neither the authors nor BCS Learning and Development Ltd shall be responsible or liable for any loss or damage whatsoever arising by virtue of such information or any instructions or advice contained within this publication or by any of the aforementioned.

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Publishers acknowledgements

Reviewers: Andy Smith, Alistair Corrie, Margaret Morgan

Publisher: Ian Borthwick

Commissioning editor: Rebecca You

Production manager: Florence Leroy

Project manager: Sunrise Setting Ltd

Copy-editor: The Business Blend Ltd

Proofreader: Barbara Eastman

Indexer: Matthew Gale

Cover design: Alex Wright

Cover image: iStock/iagodina

Typeset by Lapiz Digital Services, Chennai, India

Agile exists as both a collection of practices and the principles that underlie those practices. Teams need both. But practices change over timetodays state of the art is pass tomorrow. And while Agile practices may change, the principles never do. Thats what makes this book so valuable. Lynda and Simon provide plenty of time-proven practical advicespecific things you can begin doing immediately. But practices are always presented with a helpful dose of principles. Youll finish this book knowing what to do today and how to adapt those practices in the future.

Mike Cohn , Mountain Goat Software, Co-Founder of the Agile Alliance and the Scrum Alliance

First principles are regularly overlooked when people start with Agile, and also seemingly forgotten by many who profess to be experienced with Agile. This book delivers both a fantastic introduction and very insightful reminders as to why these first principles are essential to being Agile, all supported with real experience and insightful research. Essential reading.

Julian Holmes , Principal Transformation Consultant, Thoughtworks

Agile from First Principles is an essential compendium for delivery professionals, intuitively weaving together concepts from Agile, Lean and product development disciplines. It provides accessible expertise for teams starting their journey, insights into the daily challenges of working in rapidly changing environments, the spectrum of practices available to experienced Scrum Masters, and a library of nuanced learnings, grounded in the fundamentals of modern product delivery that will resonate with leaders. A highly recommended addition to an Agile coachs toolkit.

Tom Hoyland (Expert Coach), Principal Agile and DevOps Consultant, That Agile

This book is essential reading for anyone practising in an Agile context. The authors share their vast experience and knowledge in a compelling and accessible way starting at first principles. Along the way they summarise key concepts, techniques and antipatterns (warning signs). The book is written in a refreshingly hands-on, practical way which cuts through the buzzwords and gets straight to the point. Highly recommended!

Adrian Reed , Business Analyst at Blackmetric Business Solutions, Author of Business Analyst (BCS)

This is a convincing commentary on successful Agile methods. Agile from First Principles gets to the heart of what being Agile really means: a focus on people and practical solutions. It explains why the Agile Manifesto and the principles behind it matter so much. An excellent orientation for beginners which will help avoid common pitfalls. For experienced hands, a fundamental study of wide application, Agile leadership and culture.

Toby Jones, founder of the Accelerated Capability Environment (the governments innovation engine)

This is an excellent book for people both starting their Agile journey and those experienced practitioners who are looking to either deepen their knowledge or in need of a little reminder of the core principles that make Agile such a powerful and effective delivery approach. The book has a great blend of background context and practical examples, demonstrating why Agile is so effective in todays information and technology-based world.

James Burton , Director Consulting Expert and UK Career Champion for Agile at CGI

Agile from First Principles is the guide for advancing your Agile journey. The book, as its name implies, goes from principles to specific techniques in a framework-agnostic manner making it a valuable resource irrespective of whether you use Scrum, Kanban, XP or any of the scaling models. This book is highly recommended for both Agile beginners and experts.

David Bulkin , Managing Director, Grow-Lean LLC

Some books cant be written until most other books on the subject already have been written. Agile from First Principles is such a book. In an easy-to-understand way, the book presents the journey Agile has taken from its first stumbling steps to where it is today, having penetrated much of industry and academia. Now this is not the end, as Churchill might have said, but we are at a point in time where an elegant summary of the mess in which Agile is will help us to successfully move forward to a better future. And the book points to this future with discussions on leadership, the challenges of scaling and a subject closer to my own heart, Essence.