The most recent book in the Tales of Agility trilogy deals with the most important agile value, People and Interactions over Processes and Tools. This primacy is the first agile value as stated in the Manifesto for Agile Software Development almost twenty years ago. The author notes that unfortunately many organizations now, to the contrary, equate the more recently-developed scrum process with agility. People need to be the primary focus to enable agility, and leadership is the key to unlocking people's potential. To paraphrase the value's formulation, the author believes that leadership for agility is more valuable than scrum, although scrum is valuable as well.
The book presents the leadership for agility model. This model emphasizes the need for rigor, alignment, and efficiency through the use of frameworks. Leadership, the author explains, is for everyone involved in agile projects, including each team member, formal team leadership positions, and organizational managers. The special obligations of organizational managers are specifically called out.
As in the earlier books in the trilogy (which are not prerequisites to reading this book), the model is developed and then demonstrated in engaging and illustrative stories. Leadership behavior at all levels is shown in key development activities including technology and business process architecture, project planning, team structure, scrum and governance meetings, and retrospectives. The author provides stories from both his extensive direct experience and through a complex agile development program at the fictional Pacifica Bank.
Pacifica is being pummelled by nimble fintechs and other competitors. In response it has gone all in on agile to build a critical new product. The team is stuck on the transition to development because the standard scrum methods don't quite fit their situation. One of the stars from earlier books in the trilogy, Mary O'connell, comes to the rescue. Mary helps the team build their own leadership muscle as she guides them in innovative approaches to rigor, alignment, and efficiency through frameworks.
People over Process leaves the reader with superb examples of engagement mechanisms, tools, and a superior elaboration on the responsibilities of organizational management that can be immediately useful to readers, and which readers will come back to repeatedly for years.
Review
"Michael Levine is one of the prime voices championing the Agile Movement in computing and software development. His latest book on the subject People Over Process: Leadership for Agility is a dense and layered work reflecting on those working the front lines of software development and how business and organizational leadership can foster creativity." Jason Hillenburg, Goodreads.
"The final word on the Agile Movement..in the area of software technology. However, not a book for tech wonks alone. You could divorce any mention of technology and it would still stand as an authoritative account about maximizing your leadership potential." "One of the most notable entries you'll encounter on the subject and an entertaining reading experience as well." Clay Burton, Independent Music and Arts.
"Levine harnesses a deep tool kit to construct a vision for effective leadership under agile principles and the internal consistency of his structure reflects the analytical yet intensely human heart of his personal methodology. Levine marries a rigorous intellectual approach with people-first ethos throughout the book and maintains an impressive balance between the two. It is no small accomplishment." Nicole Killian, MobYorkCity.
"Its fusion of creative writing, objectivity, innate understanding of human character, and command over complex concepts overlapping assorted disciplines sets it apart from many non-fiction texts." "Painted readers a vibrant and fully visualized portrait of what ideal leadership under the auspices of agility looks like in 2019, and presents it in such a way that this text will stand as a definitive word on the subject for many years to come." Anne Hollister, Indie Source.
About the Author
Michael K. Levine brings together compelling insights on lean and agile software development, creative writing and teaching, and decades of practical successful application as a senior manager in leading financial and software companies.
Michael’s career has primarily focused on how to profit through the application of information technology. He was educated at Carleton College and Princeton University. His early career was not directly in technology – first he did international trade negotiation at the US Commerce Department and then joined First Bank System as a corporate banker. In both positions he drifted towards software and in 1990 he joined Norwest Bank and began his full-time technology career. Michael progressed through strategy, project management, CTO, and divisional CIO roles, adopting agile techniques before they were so named. He fully embraced lean and agile concepts as they were popularized – helping build and transform teams, and delivering value time after time.
Michael’s engagement with modern lean and agile development began at Wells Fargo, where after succeeding in one area with agile concepts he became responsible for a major portion of an enormous and challenged project that did not use these techniques. He then led technology and process engineering throughout the mortgage crisis, rapidly building teams and frantically deploying technology to help struggling borrowers, investors, and the bank. In 2011 Michael joined US Bank where he initially led a program to deploy a new branch banking system (bringing lean and agile to a highly structured waterfall environment) before returning to the mortgage industry as the technology lead for US Bank Home Mortgage in 2013, and now leading all consumer lending and business banking technology.
Michael shared his insights in two well-received books on lean and agile software development from Productivity Press. The first is Tale of Two Systems: Lean and Agile Software Development for Business Leaders , emerging from his frustration with unnecessary and expensive project failures and his desire to help avoid such failures in the future. His second book is Tale of Two Transformations: Bringing Lean and Agile Software Development to Life, which focuses on how to change an organization to use the approaches he illuminated in his first. Michael’s trilogy is now completed with People over Process: Leadership for Agility , which guides readers in honoring the first Agile principle to create and sustain agility.
Michael lives in St. Paul, Minnesota, with his lovely wife Holly Lindsay, who has been patient as Michael spent hours in the basement writing.
Description:
The most recent book in the Tales of Agility trilogy deals with the most important agile value, People and Interactions over Processes and Tools. This primacy is the first agile value as stated in the Manifesto for Agile Software Development almost twenty years ago. The author notes that unfortunately many organizations now, to the contrary, equate the more recently-developed scrum process with agility. People need to be the primary focus to enable agility, and leadership is the key to unlocking people's potential. To paraphrase the value's formulation, the author believes that leadership for agility is more valuable than scrum, although scrum is valuable as well.
The book presents the leadership for agility model. This model emphasizes the need for rigor, alignment, and efficiency through the use of frameworks. Leadership, the author explains, is for everyone involved in agile projects, including each team member, formal team leadership positions, and organizational managers. The special obligations of organizational managers are specifically called out.
As in the earlier books in the trilogy (which are not prerequisites to reading this book), the model is developed and then demonstrated in engaging and illustrative stories. Leadership behavior at all levels is shown in key development activities including technology and business process architecture, project planning, team structure, scrum and governance meetings, and retrospectives. The author provides stories from both his extensive direct experience and through a complex agile development program at the fictional Pacifica Bank.
Pacifica is being pummelled by nimble fintechs and other competitors. In response it has gone all in on agile to build a critical new product. The team is stuck on the transition to development because the standard scrum methods don't quite fit their situation. One of the stars from earlier books in the trilogy, Mary O'connell, comes to the rescue. Mary helps the team build their own leadership muscle as she guides them in innovative approaches to rigor, alignment, and efficiency through frameworks.
People over Process leaves the reader with superb examples of engagement mechanisms, tools, and a superior elaboration on the responsibilities of organizational management that can be immediately useful to readers, and which readers will come back to repeatedly for years.
Review
"Michael Levine is one of the prime voices championing the Agile Movement in computing and software development. His latest book on the subject People Over Process: Leadership for Agility is a dense and layered work reflecting on those working the front lines of software development and how business and organizational leadership can foster creativity." Jason Hillenburg, Goodreads.
"The final word on the Agile Movement..in the area of software technology. However, not a book for tech wonks alone. You could divorce any mention of technology and it would still stand as an authoritative account about maximizing your leadership potential." "One of the most notable entries you'll encounter on the subject and an entertaining reading experience as well." Clay Burton, Independent Music and Arts.
"Levine harnesses a deep tool kit to construct a vision for effective leadership under agile principles and the internal consistency of his structure reflects the analytical yet intensely human heart of his personal methodology. Levine marries a rigorous intellectual approach with people-first ethos throughout the book and maintains an impressive balance between the two. It is no small accomplishment." Nicole Killian, MobYorkCity.
"Its fusion of creative writing, objectivity, innate understanding of human character, and command over complex concepts overlapping assorted disciplines sets it apart from many non-fiction texts." "Painted readers a vibrant and fully visualized portrait of what ideal leadership under the auspices of agility looks like in 2019, and presents it in such a way that this text will stand as a definitive word on the subject for many years to come." Anne Hollister, Indie Source.
About the Author
Michael K. Levine brings together compelling insights on lean and agile software development, creative writing and teaching, and decades of practical successful application as a senior manager in leading financial and software companies.
Michael’s career has primarily focused on how to profit through the application of information technology. He was educated at Carleton College and Princeton University. His early career was not directly in technology – first he did international trade negotiation at the US Commerce Department and then joined First Bank System as a corporate banker. In both positions he drifted towards software and in 1990 he joined Norwest Bank and began his full-time technology career. Michael progressed through strategy, project management, CTO, and divisional CIO roles, adopting agile techniques before they were so named. He fully embraced lean and agile concepts as they were popularized – helping build and transform teams, and delivering value time after time.
Michael’s engagement with modern lean and agile development began at Wells Fargo, where after succeeding in one area with agile concepts he became responsible for a major portion of an enormous and challenged project that did not use these techniques. He then led technology and process engineering throughout the mortgage crisis, rapidly building teams and frantically deploying technology to help struggling borrowers, investors, and the bank. In 2011 Michael joined US Bank where he initially led a program to deploy a new branch banking system (bringing lean and agile to a highly structured waterfall environment) before returning to the mortgage industry as the technology lead for US Bank Home Mortgage in 2013, and now leading all consumer lending and business banking technology.
Michael shared his insights in two well-received books on lean and agile software development from Productivity Press. The first is Tale of Two Systems: Lean and Agile Software Development for Business Leaders , emerging from his frustration with unnecessary and expensive project failures and his desire to help avoid such failures in the future. His second book is Tale of Two Transformations: Bringing Lean and Agile Software Development to Life, which focuses on how to change an organization to use the approaches he illuminated in his first. Michael’s trilogy is now completed with People over Process: Leadership for Agility , which guides readers in honoring the first Agile principle to create and sustain agility.
Michael lives in St. Paul, Minnesota, with his lovely wife Holly Lindsay, who has been patient as Michael spent hours in the basement writing.
Website: TheTalesofAgility.com