14 Agile Books for Inspiration
I’ve been reading a lot more than usual lately. Not sure if it’s just because there’s so many great books out there now (and many that have accumulated in my “to read” list over the years) or in part because I rediscovered Audible for my long commute. But mostly, I suspect it’s because some of my friends at work are voracious readers and they inspired me. Together, we have shared our favorites, read each other’s books and learned from each other, building a really great list of books that define the current state of agile, software delivery management, organizations at scale, product management, agile coaching and communication. My Goodreads account is no longer just sci-fi and fantasy like Lord of the Rings, Dune, Foundation, Ready Player One and Harry Potter!
And what I’ve found, is that not only are there a lot of great books on agile, but the world of Agile is evolving and blending more holistically with the world of business, as it should. So, I’ve created a list of great books that align with my own point of view, and I hope that will be helpful to others. If you want to keep up with our rapidly evolving world, I highly recommend you pick up some of these books. I’ve organized them into broad categories to help you decide where to dive in:
Innovation/Change/Organization:
- Accelerate (XLR8): Building Strategic Agility for a Faster Moving World — John Kotter
- Lean Enterprise: How High Performance Organizations Innovate at Scale — Jez Humble, Joanne Molesky and Barry O’Reilly
- The Advantage: Why Organizational Health Trumps Everything Else in Business — Patrick Lencioni
Software Process/Delivery/Mindset
- Age of Agile: How Smart Companies Are Transforming the Way Work Gets Done — Stephen Denning
- The Agile Mindset: Making Agile Processes Work — Gil Broza
Product Management/Customer Focus
- Inspired — How to Create Tech Products Customers Love — Marty Cagan
- User Story Mapping: Discover the Whole Story, Build the Right Product — Jeff Patton
Collaboration/Scaling
- Team of Teams: New Rules of Engagement for a Complex World — General Stanley McChrystal
- Scaling Up Excellence: Getting to More Without Settling for Less — Robert Sutton and Huggy Rao
Coaching/Leadership
- The Coaching Habit: Say Less, Ask More & Change the Way You Lead Forever — Michael Bungay Stanier
- Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action — Simon Sinek
- Coaching Agile Teams: A Companion for ScrumMasters, Agile Coaches, and Project Managers in Transition — Lyssa Adkins
Communication
About the Author: Brian Link is the author of AgileMisconceptions.com (also available on Amazon) and the owner of Practical Agilist, LLC. Brian provides leadership and coaching services as an Agile Coach at LeanDog. Follow Brian on Twitter @blinkdaddy or LinkedIn, and subscribe to his newsletter.
