Customer Reviews

Principles of Software Development Leadership: Applying Project Management Principles to Agile Software Development

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

It could be argued that the Project Management process, as defined by the PMBOK, is the antithesis of agile. However unlikely, the author does a great job of describing how a project can remain true to agile software development methods within the confines of the PM process. The book fully covers what is needed to accomplish software development from the project management perspective while incorporating agile methods throughout the process. Though it is not a step by step "how-to" guide to agile software development (there are plenty of other books and online sources that cover this), it does fully describe how managers can assure agile product development is incorporated within the PM framework. The author obviously has a great deal of experience in the field and that is reflected in the interesting research cited and the comprehensive bibliographic references at the end of each chapter. Real world examples enliven what could otherwise be somewhat dull subject matter.

Most books on development focus on techniques of developing products but few focus on organizing, motivating, planning around the teams who do the work. (one such book is Joel Spolsky's 'Smart and gets things done.') This book isn't about building better products--altho it will help do this; it's really about helping OTHERS develop better products.

Which is better? Cubicles or team pods? How does a manager provide oversight in agile without micromanaging. Should QA be on the team or external to it? Ken has the answers.

If you're looking for a book on how to be a dev lead of a small team, this is a good start but perhaps there are others. But if you need to know how to be a leader of MANY dev teams, this is the book you need.

On the whole I found this book boring and unhelpful. With little in the way of practical steps to implement its suggestions.

This book makes continious referncees to "PMBOK". The book almost assumes that you know what PMBOK is and that you are interested in learning about it.

This book might apply to those working in very large corporate structures but was of very little help to me and my team of 4. For a book that refers to Agile development it seemed needless bloaded.

This book is well aligned with the methodology expressed in the PMBOK for Project Management. I have found this to be an excellent addition to my professional reference library.

Ken Whitaker does a fine job combining PMI principles with real-world scenarios and a sense of humor. Project management concepts are dissected by introducing a scenario, stating the PMI concept, simplifying the concept (with diagrams and charts), and citing multiple reference sources. Being a product manager, I was especially interested in the chapter on how engineering departments can partner with product management. But whether your struggles in product development are resource-planning, defining schedules, communication, or collaboration, this book offers methodical guidelines and exercises to get through many software development challenges. Despite its length (450 pages), and the fact that it reads like a text book, it is an easy one-time read-through and an invaluable reference that sits on the bookshelf in my office.

If you're looking for practical guidance on how to plan and execute software development projects - look no further! This book does a superb job of untangling the otherwise complex and wordy principles of the PMBOK breaking them down into simple form. Once in simple form, Whitaker incorporates real life scenarios into the mix so you can really make sense of it all. It's at this point you finally begin to get it - and the possibilities of bringing software projects in on-time really sinks in! Having been in the software industry myself I can really appreciate the case stories highlighted in the first chapters. Its clear the author has put his time in the trenches and effectively weaves lessons learned throughout the book. If you like to learn visually you will find lots of crisp diagrams and graphs to give more perspective too. I highly recommend this book to anyone involved with projects or software; you will want to refer to this book often.

The software development market grows worldwide and projects become more complicated - which is why different leadership is needed. This blends principles outline by PMI in a prior book with software leadership best practices for managers, offering a set of practices that create successful project results. From relationships between planning and people to how to run software development in a business mode, this is a powerful survey for any library catering to project managers and software development teams.

These days there is a lot of dogma around software process - a lot of books and few unbiased truths. Agility - the ability to deliver quality quickly and retain flexibility - has long been the goal of software organizations... But simply adopting an Extreme Programming or Scrum model will not always work, nor is it even practical. Ken's book addresses the basics of these and other agile processes, but also many areas commonly overlooked: How to manage people and teams, common mistakes to avoid, a look at contracts and procurement, mapping execution to the PmBOK(where it matters), dealing with the scheduling challenges of scaling up and/or managing complexity, and dozens of other real-world, effective techniques. There are too few good books in this realm. Ken had solid content to offer years back when few books existed... his book, Managing Software Maniacs: Finding, Managing, and Rewarding a Winning Development Team, stays within easy reach. With another 15 years experience to draw on, his new book, "Principles of Software Leadership", is part of the very short list of truly useful development management books.

There are many Agile books to choose from, but this one stands out. This book adresses Agile from the viewpoint of the PMBoK. Ken carefully and methodically lays out the PMBoK and what it means in terms of Agile. This is a innovative approach since it seems that so many other books are oriented to the emotional/evangelical aspects of Agile. I am particularly impressed that Ken discusses details in a relevant manner. For example he skillfully covers "how-to" techniques for project scheduling without getting sidetracked into the broader field of project scheduling. The result is that you know what needs to be done to create a schedule without all the needless clutter.

Ken's book is ideal for people needing a structured frame of reference for Agile. For people struggling with the non-prescriptive nature of Agile, this book will walk you through it, step by step. Ken's book is also ideal for strategic IT consultants. Since it is a conprehensive reference, it can be used as a basis for the development of custom project management methodology.

Perhaps the best recommendation I can make for you to purchase this book, is that I purchased 25 of them for a class I taught.

Perfect book. For those who like creating extra and unnecessary work for themselves. Maybe for those ancient dinosaur waterfall Project Managers trying to justify their existence in the modern world of Agile development. Extremely boring.