Jeff Sutherland co-created Scrum, a team-oriented method of software development, back in 1993 after working in a variety of tech companies. He recognized the way so many companies work is deeply broken. Scrum is now used by the vast majority of software companies and countless companies working in other product development fields. In his new book, Scrum: The Art of Doing Twice the Work in Half the Time, Sutherland aims to take Scrum to the masses. The “masses” in this case being, well, everyone: non-profits, governments, educational systems, start-ups, and men checking items off their weekend “honey-do lists.”
Sutherland writes in an engaging, straightforward manner. He loves stories and hates technical jargon, and the book is fun to read even when though I didn’t find every principle directly applicable to my situation. Speaking of application, no matter who you are, if you are in any kind of team leadership role—and I mean any kind—you will find value in this book. I highlighted pages like crazy, dreaming of ways I could implement the ideas.
The real value of Scrum is how quickly you could put Sutherland’s ideas into practice, and how quickly you would see real results. Also, the research and stories Sutherland provides to support his ideas are fascinating. Fascinating, but in many ways superfluous as the principles of Scrum are so common sense it’s ridiculous. Yeah, why don’t we work like this, I found myself thinking. Can an idea be so common sense and yet as counter-intuitive as Scrum seems to be? A frustrating, but intriguing paradox.
As I stated above, if you lead a team, in any capacity, that is trying to accomplish a goal in as little time as possible, Scrum can help you. It’s worth a read.
Please Note: This book was gifted as a part of the Blogging for Books Reviewers Program in exchange for my unbiased review of this work. This has in no way influenced my opinion or review of this work.