Scrum
A review of

Scrum

The Art of Doing Twice the Work in Half the Time

Jeff Sutherland and J.J. Sutherland • Crown • 2014

Scrum Is Transformational

This rare manual offers techniques that can effectively, positively influence how you work and live...not to mention how you manage projects.

Jeff Sutherland started thinking systematically as a Vietnam fighter pilot. Ever since, he has looked for ways to do things better in software development, and across all fields. His co-author and son, J.J. Sutherland, is a war correspondent and writer, so it's no surprise that they draw heavily on military metaphors throughout their lively manual on the agile project management method Scrum. This entertaining, engaging how-to guidebook uses vibrant examples and eye-popping statistics to provide compelling reasons for adopting Scrum. With clearly worded instructions, the authors explain Scrum as used across industries, professions and geographies.

Scrum involves quick “Sprints” of project development, followed by customer reviews and subsequent revisions. The Sutherlands explain that it avoids the kind of extensive up-front planning that can lead either to cost and time overruns or to complete failure. Scrum aligns how people and teams work. It assumes that things seldom go according to plan. By avoiding start-to-finish plans, Scrum allows for inspiration and creativity.

Comment on this review

  • Avatar
    Sign in to share your opinion
  • Avatar
    J. M. 12 months ago
    Good
  • Avatar
    R. T. 4 years ago
    There is little doubt that “Scrum” is transformational if applied within a setting that doesn't distort it. And this summary is a nice description of their book – highlighting some of the key elements of the method at a very high level. If you want to give it a try, this book and The Scrum Guide are both good starting points to find out more.
  • Avatar
    K. S. 5 years ago
    if somebody talking about scrum - ask if he read this book, already. if not, stop listening to this guy.