Read this Review before buying the book Scrum The Art of Doing Twice the Work in Half the Time by Jeff Sutherland

Dejan Majkic, MA in CS & IT
7 min readJan 1, 2023

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Read this review before buying the book Scrum: The Art of Doing Twice the Work in Half the Time

In this post, I’ll give you my honest review of the book Scrum: The Art of Doing Twice the Work in Half the Time, by Jeff Sedrnlend, which tells it like it is — the good, the bad, and everything in between, and how to fill the gaps obviously every book has”, but not only that, I will provide you with INSIDER’S PERSPECTIVE ON SCRUM from the co-founder of the Scrum Jeff Sunderland.

CLICK HERE If you prefer the video version

But first, let’s start with a BRIEF OVERVIEW OF THE BOOK.

“Scrum: The Art of Doing Twice the Work in Half the Time” is a book that provides an in-depth look at the Scrum framework for software development. The author, Jeff Sutherland explains the principles and practices of Scrum and offers guidance on how to use the framework to deliver high-quality products quickly and efficiently.

The book covers a range of topics, including the role of the product owner, the importance of cross-functional teams, and the benefits of using iterative development cycles. It also discusses the role of ScrumMaster in facilitating the process and removing obstacles, and it provides case studies and examples of organizations that have successfully implemented Scrum.

Now, I will show you what people are commenting about this book on Amazon.

This book has 3,272 global ratings, and Customer reviews — 4.6 out of 5 stars.

Now, and want to show you 1–5 star comments and 1–1 star comment

Let’s start with 5 stars:

5-star review

And now 1 start commenting:

1-star rating

I will cover all these gaps later in this post, but now, let me just share what I believe this course is all about:

The book is organized into three main sections: “The Problem”, “The Solution”, and “The Future”.

In the first section: The Problem”, Jeff discusses the challenges that traditional software development approaches often face:

  • Traditional software development approaches often rely on long, upfront planning phases, in which all the requirements are gathered and a detailed schedule is created. However, this approach is prone to several problems, including unrealistic schedules, scope creep, and poor quality.
  • Traditional approaches cannot easily adapt to change. In the fast-paced world of software development, it is necessary to respond to changing customer needs, market conditions, and technological developments.
  • Traditional approaches are often inefficient and result in low productivity. Teams may spend a lot of time on unnecessary tasks, such as creating detailed documentation, and may not be able to deliver working software on time.
  • Traditional approaches can also suffer from cultural and psychological problems. Teams may be siloed and lack collaboration, and there may be a lack of trust and transparency. This can lead to poor communication, low morale, and high turnover.

The second section is The Solution:

Jeff introduces Scrum as a framework for software development that aims to address the problems described in the first section.

Scrum is an agile software development framework that is based on the principles of transparency, inspection, and adaptation. It emphasizes the importance of collaboration and self-management, and it is designed to be flexible and responsive to change.

In Scrum, work is organized into short, iterative cycles called “sprints”, during which a small, cross-functional team works together to deliver a potentially shippable product increment. The team holds daily stand-up meetings (called “ daily scrums”) to discuss progress, and at the end of each sprint, they review what they have accomplished and plan for the next sprint.

And then, Jeff introduces, Product Owner. He is one of the key roles in Scrum, who is responsible for maintaining the product backlog (a prioritized list of items that the team needs to work on) and ensuring that it reflects the priorities of the business. The product owner works closely with the team to prioritize and refine the backlog items, and they are responsible for making decisions about what should be included in each sprint.

Another important role in Scrum is the “Scrum Master”, who is responsible for facilitating the process and removing any obstacles that may be hindering the team’s progress. The ScrumMaster helps the team to adhere to the Scrum framework and ensures that the team is following the principles and practices of Scrum.

And we have developers who are responsible for creating the software or other product being developed. They are made up of cross-functional individuals who have the skills and expertise needed to complete the work. This may include software engineers, designers, testers, and other specialists. Developers in Scrum are self-organizing, which means that they have the autonomy to decide how best to complete the work. They are also responsible for estimating the effort required to complete each item in the product backlog and for determining how much work they can commit to in each sprint.

In addition to discussing the roles and responsibilities of the product owner and ScrumMaster, Jeff also provides an in-depth look at the various ceremonies and artifacts that are used in Scrum, such as the sprint planning meeting, the daily scrum, the sprint review, and the sprint retrospective.

The third section “The Future”:

In the final section of this book, Jeff looks ahead to THE FUTURE OF SCRUM and discusses how the framework is likely to evolve over time.

The authors argue that Scrum is here to stay and that it will continue to be a major player in the software development landscape. They predict that Scrum will continue to grow in popularity and that it will become increasingly adopted in a wider range of industries and organizations. And I totally agree with that.

The authors also discuss the potential challenges that Scrum may face in the future. One of the main challenges is that as Scrum becomes more widely adopted, there may be a temptation to “water down” the framework and apply it in inappropriate contexts. The authors argue that it is important to remain true to the principles and practices of Scrum and not to dilute the framework to make it tastier to certain groups.

And finally, another potential challenge for Scrum is the increasing complexity of software development. As software systems become more interconnected and integrated with other systems, it may be more difficult to apply the Scrum framework straightforwardly. The authors argue that it will be important to adapt Scrum to meet the needs of these more complex systems, while still maintaining the core principles of the framework.

Why do some people not like this book?

Some readers may find the book too dry. The authors provide a detailed explanation of the principles and practices of Scrum, and they use a lot of technical language and jargon. This may be off-putting to some readers who are looking for a more general or accessible introduction to the framework.

Some readers may disagree with the authors’ perspective on Scrum. The author is a strong advocate of Scrum and presents it as a superior approach to traditional software development methods. Some readers may disagree with this view and prefer a more balanced or neutral perspective.

Some readers may be disappointed by the lack of concrete examples or case studies, and I will help you with that in just a moment.

While the authors do include some case studies and examples of organizations that have successfully implemented Scrum, some readers may find these examples to be too brief or too general to be useful.

Conclusion

The book is focused on explaining the principles and practices of the Scrum framework but this book doesn’t guide how to use it effectively.

  • But the book does explain that Scrum is a powerful and effective framework for software development that can help teams deliver high-quality products quickly and efficiently.
  • It also explains that Scrum is based on the principles of transparency, inspection, and adaptation, and it emphasizes the importance of collaboration and self-management.
  • And Finally, it explains that Scrum is particularly well-suited to fast-paced, dynamic environments where it is necessary to respond to changing customer needs, market conditions, and technological developments.

And now, let’s fill in the gap in this book…

And now, to fill in the gap in this book, and to discover the revolutionary software development framework that helps teams deliver high-quality products faster than ever before, click here to START WITH HOW.

To be successful with Scrum, it is important to create a culture of trust, collaboration, and continuous learning, and to adopt the principles and practices of the framework consistently.

Agile and Scrum Masterclass will get you to the next level.

THIS IS YOUR HOW!!!

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Dejan Majkic, MA in CS & IT
Dejan Majkic, MA in CS & IT

Written by Dejan Majkic, MA in CS & IT

Hi. My name is Dejan Majkic. I am a Master of Computer Science and Information Technologies, Product Owner, Scrum Master, Trainer. https://www.whatisscrum.org/

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