Driving Value with Sprint Goals: Humble Plans, Exceptional Results (Addison-Wesley Signature Series (Cohn))

I’ve just finished reading Maarten Dalmijn’s book, Driving Value with Sprint Goals – what a revelation!I was privileged to have attended one of Maarten’s talks some months ago and within five minutes of Maarten speaking, I came to the realisation of all of the mistakes and misgivings I had from what was my understanding of Software development project management – this was a moment of epiphany!Up to this point, my project plans were so crammed of risk recognition, contingency and assumption and were that huge, they would make a Tolstoy work look like a short novel. The more time I spent in elaborate planning and detail before the project, the more dysfunctional plans became as projects began and progressed.So, what was my reaction, I simply crammed in more early mornings and late evenings furiously over-analysing why my plans were de-railing. I couldn’t understand it, after all, I had literally read every book I could get hold of on Agile and studied the manifesto, but something always steered my plans off track.In desperation, I visited the feature factories to find the answer, but as expected, all I found were recycled Agile models and frameworks tweaked slightly and re-labelled with a new acronym by the alphabet guys.Maarten’s book makes so much sense and highlights exactly where/why my plans often fell short. I was planning for things way out of my control and things I had yet to fully understand, or may not even happen, in other words, eating up valuable time ‘speculating’ beforehand instead of understanding and learning. This all hazed my vision.I won’t give too much away other than to say, anyone involved in Project Management and planning of any sort will find this book to be pure gold. I love Maarten’s fluid and direct style of writing using practical examples taking from life’s learning with some historical battle planning mistakes. The flow from recognising friction and surprise through to the Cynefin model and its various domains, and, the explanation of what should sit in each domain and why – is pure brilliance! As software requirements and games audiences become more demanding, the more complex our work becomes – I can’t tell you the value this book has brought to my work!

I really like this book, it looks at Scrum from a different angle and covers a lot of ground both succinctly and with a variety of anecdotes and examples. The textual style is highly readable and the diagrams explain concepts really well making them immediately applicable. I particularly like the 'hummingbird V Anaconda sprints... it describes so well actual practices that you go ... oh yea... of course. The book is full of hidden gems and insights into practice that has clearly been the subject of a lot of thought. The fact that quite slippery concepts are made tangible through accessible prose is a real achievement. I find myself dipping into the text at certain points... thinking... I wonder what Maarten says about this? I would say it's a must read for anyone interested in agility from those just starting out to the more experienced and expert.

Sprint Goals are one of the skeleton keys to implementing great products that customers love. Yet I feel that they have been under-appreciated and haven’t got a lot of air-time until now…I've recently read Maarten Dalmijn's "Driving Value with Sprint Goals", and cannot recommend it enough for all those who are applying Scrum to deliver value.When it comes to Sprint Goals many teams I’ve come across, don't give them the love they deserve as they haven’t grasped their purpose. And when they’re missing, over ambitious, or a bit wishy-washy, it's like a giant neon sign pointing to deeper problems. If we’re being real, unclear goals scream, "Hey! We’ve got issues here, we need to come together as a team to work through them!"This book offers clear insights, not only making the purpose of Sprint goals easier to grasp but gives you tools to craft them as a team, so they are meaningful and move you towards your Product Goals.And the real-world experiences shared from fellow Agilists within our community - they are GOLD. They ground the concepts in reality, which I always appreciate.For those who know Maarten and follow his articles and posts, his distinct voice and style of writing comes through, which is always a delightful reading experience. You get that sense of continuity, and it's like having a conversation with him through his words.This isn't just another book about Scrum, it’s a way to inspire your teams to work together towards achieving your product ambitions and delighting your customers.Whether you’re an Agile coach, Scrum Master, Product Owner or have an exec chair, you’ll come away with some great learnings to strengthen your practice and amp up team performance.#productowner #scrum #agile #productmanagement #scrummaster #agilecoach #agileleadership

The book is well written using stories and facts. It’s sometimes nice to read a book that we agree with the contents but this provided a bit of everything…confirming what I already knew, challenged some existing thoughts; whilst teaching something new, all wrapped up in an easy read.

I loved this book, I binge-read it in record time and felt like I was making notes on every page.One standout feature that sets this book apart is the author's adept use of metaphors to elucidate key concepts. Take, for instance, the brilliant comparison of two Scrum approaches – Hummingbird Scrum versus Anaconda Scrum. In the world of agile methodologies, where the benefits of limiting work in progress, embracing small batch sizes, minimizing risk, and honing in on a single goal can be elusive, the author manages to bring clarity through these vivid metaphors. The distinction between the two approaches not only resonated deeply but also became a powerful tool for facilitating understanding within the teams I worked with.The book is full of inspiration and aha moments. I highly recommend it.

This book gave voice to many inklings I had about how most teams apply agile - as far ad I have witnessed. Made me rethink everything I thought I knew about scrum.Truly a great deep dive into the heart of agile methodologies and incredibly practical. I am recommending it to others all the time!

Having found the training world bored with the subject of scrum, it is refreshing to find a writer who brings real experience to the topic and is interested in helping the reader gain real insight. Maarten uses fresh real world examples of how mighty leaders in the past have acted in other facets of life to produce results by reaching the heart and how powerful goals are in empowering people. Not only does Maarten walk you through the logic of how to inspire teams through goals, he also richly intersperses other gems related to scrum, helping every participant in a scrum team (product owner, scrum master and developer) become a better practitioner. I gained a richer understanding of how to make scrum work for engineers (and not the other way around!).

Great book to not only see scrum as an effective, but also logical way of working. Examples of why sprint goals are effective go beyond business and provide an ideal background to understand the essence.

Maarten offers a deep dive into the importance of sprint goals and how this can empower teams to achieve their best, giving them space to learn and adapt.A journey to the essence of agile that uncovers how even in the face of known paths, there’s room for rediscovery and adaptation. The book brilliantly underscores how embracing uncertainty and the continuous cycle of learning, even on familiar terrain, is the bedrock of true agile practice.Practical advice, coupled with real world examples. Highly recommended for teams seeking to elevate their sprint efficiency focusing on customer value, and also for leaders and stakeholders who deal with the challenges of predictability.

I don’t want to write a whole book here (pardon the dad joke), but I have a lot to say about Mr. Dalmijn’s “Driving Value with Sprint Goals”.I think the book was written with product owners in mind, but do not let scrum masters be deterred from reading this. As a scrum master myself, I learned a lot by seeing projects through a product owner’s lens, and I found my professional curiosity tickled. Much of what is written is role-agnostic and can be adopted on the team level.There is a lot of information to be gained reading this book, but do not be discouraged: the author uses examples, anecdotes, and humour to drive his points and concepts home. It is easy to understand and follow, but I often caught myself putting the book down after reading a passage, relating what new insights I had gained to my professional experiences. As a result, it took me much longer to read this than a novel twice as long, but that is a good thing.As I read on and saw the pages to my right get thinner, while the pages to my left grew thicker, I felt both satisfaction and sadness. I was satisfied I was learning so many new ideas, and new ways of thinking, but I felt sad there was less and less to come, and my thirst for knowledge only grew as the pages dwindled on.Overall, this is a great book to learn about agility, and the importance of Sprint goals. After reading this, I went on the author’s website and subscribed to his news letters, so enamoured by this book I was. Highly recommended!