Agile Focus

Recommended Books

The Art of Agile Development
James Shore, Shane Warden

Lean Software Development: An Agile Toolkit
Mary Poppendieck, Tom Poppendieck

Implementing Lean Software Development
Mary Poppendieck, Tom Poppendieck

Agile Estimating and Planning
Mike Cohn

User Stories Applied: For Agile Software Development
Mike Cohn

The Goal: A Process of Ongoing Improvement
Eliyahu M. Goldratt, Jeff Cox

The Elegant Solution
Matthew E. May

The Elegant Solution presents a set of underlying principles for lean thinking, with examples from manufacturing, services, and even police work. Matthew May has worked for several years within Toyota teaching the Toyota management style to Toyota and non-Toyota managers outside of Japan. I read this book because I heard Mary Poppendieck recommend it as a good complement to her own Lean Software Development books. -Justin

Toyota Production System
Taiichi Ohno

This is a very moving and personal account of the development and foundations of the Toyota Production System by one of its creators. It’s a short book and well worth the read, packed with insight right from the start — on the first page of the introduction the author presents the foundations of the system as “elimination of waste” paired with “respect for humanity”. This is a walk through history, relating Toyota’s development to such topics as the Japanese economy and American nationalism. -Justin

Maverick
Ricardo Semler

The Seven-Day Weekend
Ricardo Semler

Good to Great
Jim Collins