Best Books on TDD, Agile, and SCRUM by Woody Zuill

My friend, Woody Zuill, is a developer and manager that I respect an awful lot. Recently he was asked to recommend great books on agile software development. Since Woody is always reading, he seemed like a great guy to ask. His response was thoughtful and interesting, so I thought I'd post it below:

"The books I've found useful all have holes in them. You have to get a fair amount of bad to get a small amount of good.

- For me, the Lean books by the Poppendiecks were probably the most good with the least bad.

- Kent Beck's XP book - both editions. I think you need both to get it all. These books have been very useful to me. A lot more real stuff and real thinking than most of the "How To Agile" books.

- Kent Beck's TDD book

- The second edition of Alistair Cockburn's book - Agile Software Development: The Cooperative Game. I think the first edition missed the boat in a lot of things. I think he must have learned a lot by the time the second edition came out. I don't know how experienced he actually is, but I like the nature of his book. Note: His book on How to Survive an OOP project was one of the worst books I have seen.

- Of course, Michael Feather's Legacy Code book is great. I recommend that for all developers.

- And Bob Martin's Clean Code and Agile Software Development books are must reads. The Bob Martin Agile book is overall probably the most useful book I've read (on software development) - but it is a hard read in some ways, and very difficult to sort through.

- I found Diana Larsen and Esther Derby's Agile Retrospectives book very useful to adjust my thinking about making teams work well.

I used to like Mike Cohn's books on estimating and so on - but only barely. Not so much anymore. Same with Ken Schwaber's Scrum books, in some ways I wish they were never written.

I'ver read about 20 or 30 books on the topic, and flipped through a lot of others. Most are misleading at best. Knowing what I know about things in general, I suspect a lot of this garbage is written by people who don't really know what they are talking about and aren't able to admit it to themselves. I want to believe that - otherwise the authors are being purposely misleading or deceptive and I am not ready to accept that.

There is one book that I really loved, and felt the guy was actually right on - but I searched all over the Internet tonight looking for it and couldn't find it. When I get home I'll look around and see if I can find it. [ I found it: "Sustainable Software Development: An Agile Perspective" by Kevin Tate. I must have "loaned" it to someone because I couldn't find it anywhere at home. I remember it as being very good and humble - but I read it about 5 years ago and haven't seen it since so a re-read is in order, and I reserve the right to change my mind about its usefulness. ]

Well... there have been a lot of good in a lot of those (and other) books. And for me, the main use was to help me think through things. There is a lot of garbage to sift through, though."

Great stuff, huh? Below are links to all the books he references in the email:

Kent Beck's Books

Agile Software Development: The Cooperative Game

Working Effectively with Legacy Code

Bob Martin's Books

Clean Code

Esther Derby's Agile Retrospectives

Mike Cohn's Books

And the gem:

Sustainable Software Development

Programmers Are Like Boy Scouts On A Hike

I was reading "The Goal", by Eliyahu Goldratt, when I came across an analogy that was familiar. I'm a scout leader, and so get plenty of opportunities to watch boy scouts hike on trails. I've noticed that when each one walks at their own pace, some boys will get to the end of the trail far faster than the slowest boy. If it's a two hour hike, one boy will finish in 90 minutes, while the slowest boy will finish in 2 1/2 hours.

If this were a software development department, that would mean that some developers would finish far ahead of others. The entire project would be delivered according the pace of the slowest developer.

When Boy Scouts march as a troop, the most amazing thing happens. They work together as a team. Two hour hikes are often completed between 1 3/4 hours and 2 hours. That means that the team environment compensates for the slowest guy far more than it slows down the fastest guy.

For a software development department, this increase of productivity is immediate. As the team gets used to working together, they get faster and faster, often sprinting and running towards finish lines. Each software project is delivered on or before the deadline, as long as we are implementing the principles of team development.

Now if I could just get the developers to "Be Prepared", we'd be all set.

Book Review - Marketing Metrics, by Paul Farris

I have seen some very poorly run marketing departments. Because of my past experience, I’ve been skeptical every time I deal with marketing. This book made me reevaluate those feelings and grow to respect the new found science of marketing. Marketing can be effective when metrics are measured and qualified. While reading this book, I met Ron Hendricks, CMO for Northcentral University. He runs his department like a lab, and he is very, very effective. Thanks to this book and Ron, I admire a well-run marketing department and look forward to dealing with more of them.

The metrics in this book are well thought-out, with clear formulas, good examples, and thoughtful insights. I think this should be on every executive’s desk. These measures will make you rethink your business. Hopefully, you’ll have new ideas on how it can grow.

Also, our business intelligence practice will be better equipped to interact with marketing executives, salesmen, and creatives.

Here's the Amazon link:

Marketing Metrics

Book Review - The McGraw-Hill 36-Hour Course In Finance for Non-Financial Managers, by Robert Cooke

This book is perfect if you are not an accountant and one of the following things are true.

-You need to read financial reports
-You interact with executives
-Deal with CFOs or Controllers
-Prepare budgets
-Invest in companies

As a technology consultant, I’m often asked to help with difficult business problems, and more often than not, those issues deal with accounting principles. I’ve tried reading Accounting 101 books, but I don’t need to know how to keep a "T" account. I needed a summary book for Accounting 400, and this book fit the bill.

There is also an online test that will grant you a certificate of completion. I didn't do that, but you might like to.

Here's the Amazon link:

The McGraw-Hill 36-Hour Course In Finance for Non-Financial Managers

Book Review, Hiring Smart by Pierre Mornell

Before reading this book, I thought my philosophy of hiring fast and firing fast was a sound management principle. I was wrong. After reading the horror stories in this book, I am recommitted to interviewing thoroughly, completely a full background check, checking all references, and then proceeding cautiously. I still believe that we should terminate employees very soon after discovering that they weren’t who we thought they were.

I also have a habit of being captivated and intrigued by everyone I meet. I need time to let that fade away. I need reality to set in before making an objective hiring decision.

This book is filled with 45 great tips on hiring good people, but all of them don't need to be applied all at once. In fact, I think that would be impossible. Instead, I intend to continuously evolve the hiring process by selectively applying these tips. I’ll just keep experimenting until the perfect team is assembled.

I liked the idea of putting prospects on projects immediately. For instance, I could show a prospect a user interface design and tell them to improve it. I could show them a database and ask them to write a query.

Mornell mentions that we should walk the prospect to his or her car. He says you can tell a lot about a person by how they organize their car. Mornell is a psychiatrist, and brings a unique insight to the hiring process.

Mornell mentions a 49er's Football scout that would not recommend a player until he observed 200 plays of the player. He did this so he could feel comfortable with how they react in different situations. It's impossible to observer 200 plays when hiring people, but we should watch the person in a variety of situations before making a hiring decision.

This book was very easy to read, had very big type, lots of pretty pictures, and can be completed in about 2 hours.

Software development is increasingly becoming a team sport. This book reinforced my belief that the team needs to be part of the entire hiring process.

Here's the Amazon link:

Hiring Smart

Book Review - Lean Thinking, by Womack & Jones

Lean Principles are a hot topic in today's economy. It isn't just about cost reduction; it's about observing every aspect of our lives and our businesses and making them more efficient.

I learned:

1) Muda, the Japanese word for waste, is everywhere and should be shunned and eliminated in every circumstance.

2) Eliminating muda will make workers happier, reduce costs, and will simplify complicated processes.

3) My new hero is Taiichi Ohno, who was the original anti-muda engineer.

4) This book is full of examples of real world companies who applied these principles and did great things with them.

5) After reading this book, I now observe waste wherever I am. I see it in the airport security line, at the DMV, when filing my taxes, at the hospital waiting room, and at the butcher counter.

Software Developers see waste every day, but often do nothing about it. They are too worried about breaking code that is working. Proper testing methods would give them the confidence they need to eliminate wasteful code. I would remind them of their responsibility to remove code that does nothing, simplify complicated code, and to never repeat themselves.

Here's the Amazon link:

Lean Thinking

Book Review - The Copywriter's Handbook, by Bob Bly

Before reading this book, I wasn’t clear on what a copywriter actually did. A copywriter creates print and web content for marketing purposes. They are wordsmiths who choose their words to capture their audience’s attention.

Here’s what I learned:

1) We see the same words repeated in a variety of ads because those words are proven to sell, time and time again.

2) Copywriter's sell things with their words, so every copywriter should look at the end product and ask, “is this going to sell something?” Everything else is irrelevant.

3) Copy (the text that copywriters produce) should tell a compelling story that keeps people reading.

Here's Bob Bly's website:

Bob Bly

Here’s the Amazon link:

The Copywriter's Handbook

Book Review - Getting Things Done, by David Allen

Getting Things Done
This book is a very quick read and worth the couple of hours it will take to get through it.

Here’s what I learned:

1) Manage your TODOs using an electronic medium. Set a start date, a complete date, and a priority. Don’t use your email as your to-do list. A clear to-do list will clear your mind and lift a burden. I tried this and it worked.

2) A good day means that we've completed 3 important things that day. At the beginning of the day, choose which 3 things you will complete.

3) If your organizational system is simple, you are more likely to follow through with it and complete it.

Here's the Amazon link:
Getting Things Done

Book Review - The Power of Full Engagement By Jim Loehr

This is a great book that taught me a lot about energy management. I learned that mental energy should be conserved and used much like physical energy. Here are my takeaways:

1) Manage your energy, instead of managing time. This is contrary to the mountain of books written on time management. This is the first book I've read on energy management. When you workout, you have intervals of high energy, followed by a rest interval. The work day should follow the same pattern. Now I'm trying to work in 90 minute sprints, followed by a 5 - 15 minute break. I'm also devising a way to apply this when managing software developers on projects.

2) Stress is not always a bad thing, but can be very good if it results in positive results. Stress also pushes us out of our comfort zone and enhances our abilities. Constant stress is a bad thing.

3) Working out, eating well, and getting sleep will provide more energy to accomplish your goals and should not be ignored. Bad eating and low activity creates negative stress and a loss of concentration.

Here is the Amazon link:
The Power of Full Engagement

The Power of Less

Overall, I enjoyed the book I learned the following things:

1) Get to the essentials in everything in life and ignore the rest. Eliminate things that do not add value towards a primary goal.

2) Only work on one primary goal at a time. Either lose weight or finish the degree or write the great American novel. Avoid spreading yourself too thin.

3) Focus on a single task until that task is accomplished. Trying to complete a project while keeping the cell phone on and watching for new email notifications is not very efficient. It also leads to a hectic and harried life. Turn off all outside extractions and immerse into a project. Time will go by faster and happiness will follow.

This book should have been 50 pages, rather than a 160. It is a tad repetitive and is easily skimmed. You can also learn everything you need to know by looking at this guy’s blog:

Zen Habits

Here's the Amazon link:

The Power of Less

Book Review - 10 Days to Faster Reading

I loved this book, and I think all software developers and business stakeholders should read it. We all have a lot to read, and getting through some of it quickly will give us back the gift of time.

Here is what I learned:

1) In general, authors are repetitive, so once you get the point, and you don't need to see the supporting evidence used to reinforce it, just skip the rest and find the next point.

2) Read with an index card covering the line and you'll stay focused and read faster. I don't find that particularly enjoyable. I only do this when there's a book I have to read for work, like a standards specification, or something really boring.

3) If I read 150 words per minute or 400 words per minute, my comprehension stays the same, around 80%. So if my comprehension is the same, I might as well read fast.

If you want to buy this book, here's the Amazon link:

10 Days to Faster Reading

Book Review: Getting Started with Consulting

I just finished reading "Getting Started with Consulting" and I loved it. I've been a consultant for nine years. This book did three things for me:

1) It confirmed the things I was doing right, but felt like I was the only one doing them.
2) It told me to stop doing things that weren't working, but I kept trying anyway. I suppose I did this because I felt like everyone else was doing them, so why shouldn't I?
3) It gave me important insight into consulting as a business. It taught me how to market, how to arrive at good pricing, and how to network more efficiently.

In this job market that many of you are looking for new positions. If you are considering a consulting practice, this book will be an excellent beginning.

Amazon Link