Scrum: The Art of Doing Twice the Work in Half the Time

Scrum: The Art of Doing Twice the Work in Half the Time is one of the most impactful books I’ve read on productivity and organizational change. Jeff Sutherland doesn’t just explain Scrum—he shows how it transforms the way teams think, plan, and deliver. The book is packed with real-world stories, and one of the most striking is the chapter on the FBI. Given everything the Bureau has gone through in recent years, it’s remarkable to read how Agile practices helped modernize their systems, speed up delivery, and ultimately rebuild processes that were struggling. Seeing a massive government agency adopt Scrum successfully shows that this isn’t just a tech fad—it’s a powerful framework that can change the direction of entire institutions. As someone who has worked in Agile environments, I found the book both familiar and refreshing. It explains the why behind the practices: eliminating waste, focusing on value, fostering transparency, and empowering teams instead of burning them out. Even if you already know Scrum, this book deepens your understanding and reminds you what the framework was designed to accomplish. Whether you’re in software, leadership, government, healthcare, or simply trying to improve the way you work, this book is timely, practical, and energizing. It challenges the old assumption that longer hours mean better results—and shows how smart, iterative collaboration leads to outcomes that are faster and better.

Jeff Sutherland co-created Scrum, a team-oriented method of software development, back in 1993 after working in a variety of tech companies. He recognized the way so many companies work is deeply broken. Scrum is now used by the vast majority of software companies and countless companies working in other product development fields. In his new book, Scrum: The Art of Doing Twice the Work in Half the Time, Sutherland aims to take Scrum to the masses. The “masses” in this case being, well, everyone: non-profits, governments, educational systems, start-ups, and men checking items off their weekend “honey-do lists.” Sutherland writes in an engaging, straightforward manner. He loves stories and hates technical jargon, and the book is fun to read even when though I didn’t find every principle directly applicable to my situation. Speaking of application, no matter who you are, if you are in any kind of team leadership role—and I mean any kind—you will find value in this book. I highlighted pages like crazy, dreaming of ways I could implement the ideas. The real value of Scrum is how quickly you could put Sutherland’s ideas into practice, and how quickly you would see real results. Also, the research and stories Sutherland provides to support his ideas are fascinating. Fascinating, but in many ways superfluous as the principles of Scrum are so common sense it’s ridiculous. Yeah, why don’t we work like this, I found myself thinking. Can an idea be so common sense and yet as counter-intuitive as Scrum seems to be? A frustrating, but intriguing paradox. As I stated above, if you lead a team, in any capacity, that is trying to accomplish a goal in as little time as possible, Scrum can help you. It’s worth a read. Please Note: This book was gifted as a part of the Blogging for Books Reviewers Program in exchange for my unbiased review of this work. This has in no way influenced my opinion or review of this work.

This book isn't your typical scrum developer's resource. It casts a much broader vision for scrum than just software. This book provides a refreshing look at scrum and the impact it can have for companies, teams, and individuals. I'd consider it a leadership resource! The stories, and there are many, make it enjoyable to read, and perhaps an even better book to listen too. I have the ebook, a gifted hard copy, and the audio version: all three. The format that I recommend to start with is the audible version. Jeff's son JJ does a terrific job and brings the book and stories to life with his narration. Just be prepared to stop the tape a bunch to jot down the thought you just heard. Then again, if you like highlighting like me, you can't wrong with one of the print versions. The ebook is well formatted.. It looks better in color (iPad) than monochrome (kindle) due to the graphics. Of course there's something unique and special about having a good book in hard back. Not to many scrum books are in hard back. This one you'll find the graphics are in gray scale. If it was in color, this would be a new brainer. But which ever format you choose, I think you'll be glad to have this for your library.

This is a great overview of Scrum and its power and simplicity when applied in the real world; not just in software teams but in charity work, government and education contexts. I've been a Scrum Master, developer, trainer, and coach for 10 years and I found it compelling. After reading some of the other Amazon reviews, I'd like to set some expectations for anyone thinking of reading it. What it isn't: * A detailed Scrum manual for software teams. There's a short overview in the appendix, but this material is covered in plenty of other places, such as the Scrum Guide at (...), or the excellent Essential Scrum by Ken Rubin and the series of related Addison-Wesley books. * A guide to troubleshooting Scrum or resolving common pitfalls in Scrum software teams. There's nothing here about handling unruly Product Owners, or whether SAFe is an appropriate extension for your company. What it is: * A fantastic, story-driven overview of how Scrum came to be, real-world situations where it has turned projects around, and why you should consider adopting it. If you are a C-level executive or other leader who wants to be "sold" on all this Scrum/agile/lean stuff you've heard about, read this. Note the endorsement by Eric Ries, author of The Lean Startup. The two books are good companions and written for a similar audience. * For current Scrum practitioners, a fun read and refresher on why we're doing this thing called Scrum. It's easy to get lost in the day-to-day of backlog refinement, shipping increments and handling team impediments and forget about the spirit of the whole thing. Scrum is about getting out of the way of teams and letting them deliver above and beyond what's possible in command-and-control organizations. Bottom line: This is a great companion book to others that explain Scrum in more detail, but it's more about the ideas behind it and the exciting possibilities it offers for people working on projects anywhere.

I LOVED THIS BOOK! Once again, I did the audio / kindle split. However, this time, I utilized Overdrive, the free online public library app - it is AMAZING. I signed up for 3 local libraries online; got my library cards and was off to the races. If you have not tried Overdrive, check it out. There were so many take aways in this book that I absolutely loved. I should probably go back through the book before writing this, but historically, if I do not write now, it won’t get done. By far, my favorite chapter was chapter 3 Teaming. On so many levels, this chapter hit so many points that I really believe. Overall, in reading this book, it made me reflect on the organizations where I have worked - at our best, we had similar “business practices” - transparency, KNOWN priorities, a cadence to re-address work that needed to be done, etc. This book provides a framework to systemized this, or not leave it to chance. I do intend to go back through the book and draft my notes to operationalize the concepts. I believe this book could be a GAME-CHANGER for any organizations. **Almost forgot, I really loved chapter 9 and the stories of how teachers in Denmark are using Scrum as a teach tool - or said differently, a co-creative / collaborative teaching environment where EVERYONE is involved in the Teaching. Whoever is doing the most talking, is also doing the most learning. I recommend this book to leaders and practitioners at EVERY level. Enjoy - Share - Learn TEAMS!

Scrum has become the defacto standard management style in many industries. But in my experience, not many companies do a good job getting Scrum off the ground. They don't put sufficient effort indoctrinating employees on why the company is adopting Scrum and how it will benefit employees and the company. As a result, there isn't true buy-in, and the usual chaos and disfunctional practices continue. I know this is true, because I've experienced it first-hand serveral times. I've been a software developer and consultant for over 25 years. In the last 10 years or so, several of the teams I've been on were forced to work with Scrum. We'd get a meeting or two with management and maybe a week of training on Scrum basics. But I never understood why we're adopting it and how it would help me. I didn't like scrum and don't think my team members did either. I believe we resented all the transparency, daily scrum, sprint deadlines seemed threatening, .... No one liked Scrum, and no-one bought into it. Reading this book changed all these negative perceptions for me. Jeff explains the "why" in such a way that provides the underlying motivations and understanding. I could now see what's in it for me, which is exciting. I was able to finally understand that Scrum is a fundamental shift the top down management style I've known to a bottom up approach. Bottom up means the I (and the team) now have a voice in guiding product direction, what will be worked on, and improvements I and the team will make. If I was putting a team together today and adopting Scrum, the first thing I'd do is buy a copy this book for every member of the team, and make if required reading.

If you would believe all that Jeff Sutherland claims in his book, then you'd believe he won the Vietnam war singlehandedly, cured cancer, prevented the US economy from collapsing, and invented the ATM. Though his will and magnificence alone, he buried General MacArthur, shouting, "There can be only one!" His son fixed NPR, taking it from a middling lemonade-stand outfit to the national, public, and radio organ it is today. His son fixed it using Scrum (the only child Jeff truly cares for) and according to the transitive property of progeny accomplishment, Jeff actually fixed it. Jeff actually revamped how the New York Times, Washington Post, and Tiger Beat produce their content, and without him, we'd be getting all of our news from Twitter and Facebook posts oh wait- When Jeff thinks about how great he is, a single tear wells in his eye. Much like the phoenix's, Jeff's tears are known for their curative and life-restoring abilities. He has stared into the face of God and said, "had you used Scrum to design these animals, we wouldn't have mosquitos. None of the stakeholders want them. Change or die." Jeff is also partnered with OpenView Venture Partners. I know this because he mentions it as often as possible. Did you get that? "OpenView Venture Partners", where Imagination Meets Life (tm). Is this book basically an advertisement for OpenView Venture Partners? Whoa, did someone say OpenView Venture Partners? Long story short, if you can look past the auto-fellatio, this book offers a good introduction to the Agile framework, its history, and many interesting examples of its use across industries. But I honestly feel like I need to go read Donald Trump and Kanye's autobiographies to remember what (relative) humility sounds like.

Working in Scrum for several years already, I am now so accustomed to programming in iterations that I tend to believe it is now a common sense. My knowledge was basing on trainings, tutorials and everyday interactions with scrum masters. Only recently I have bought Jeff Sutherland’s book, with main intention of verifying whether my mental model of Scrum, shaped during all these years, is in line with the vision of its inventors. The book let me fill a few cracks in my understanding, mainly on historical background of how it came to be and how it is used outside of software projects. It is a holistic view on what motivations shaped Scrum, what it intends to achieve, and why it succeeds. Well written, sensible, convincing and firm - I am sure that anyone will find it useful, regardless of her experience with Scrum. What struck me the most, was a realization that my positive traits - as a software engineer - have surely been boosted by Scrum. Pursuit of mastery, knowledge sharing, open communication, alignment to goals - these are the indicators of successful teams, and Scrum goes a long way to help people move it such direction. The claims Jeff is making about the influence of Scrum on teams and organisations seem bold (just look at the title :), but in my opinion they are attainable. Jeff, Ken - I owe you one.

Libro de lectura absolutamente recomendable. Fácil de leer y temática plenamente actual. Compré la version de tapa blanda por su precio económico y porque al tratarse de un libro recomendado, desconocía si me sería de utilidad y si encajaría con mis peferencias. Tras la experiencia, escogería la versión tapa dura ya que es un libro que vale la pena releer y por ser de mayor formato. La versión de tapa blanda no la recomendaría para quien tenga vista cansada ya que su letra, en condiciones de poca luz especialmente articicial, se hace difícil de leer. Aún así, le doy 5* por el contenido y por su excelente precio.

Väl berättad. Intressant.

A terrific insight in to how scrum works in different industries and even in educational situations!

Just finished reading this book. I am working full time on a busy project and most of the time long hours but managed to finish it in slightly over a week. The book is well structured and in my opinion is a must read for any one looking for a background understanding of the framework. The book starts by describing "The way the world is broken" using a number of real life stories but the most striking one is the FBI story. The book covers all aspects of life from software, politics, education and poverty and links all these to Scrum and how it helped and still helping to get things done differently. I stopped a number of times every chapter and looked back in how I did and I still do things and how to change it. The need for reading this book and some other books in Scrum before jumping into certification is the fact that Scrum is light weight, simple to understand and difficult to master. In my opinion it is important to read some of the references he has highlighted throughout the book: The Machine that changed the world The new new product development game and the the servant as leader. It is one of the very few books you can call a life changing book

From 2005 onwards a new procedural way of building and deploying software was invented and introduced. This is Scrum an Agile framework. While not limited to software development its being used in various industries/ scenarios. This book is a must read for any body in the IT Industry, part of scrum team and more importantly this book is for anybody(project managers) who wants to streamline processes, get more valuable work and reduce waste, risk. This book gives the why behind the Scrum Framework, The how can be read in the "Official Scrum Guide". The Author who is the founder of Scrum shares his own experience and journey on how he found issues in typical processes of companies and what could be made better both on a procedural level and also the emotional and psychological level of employees. All the learnings in his career led him to device Scrum and promote it. This books sums it up! A good read to cement the Scrum concepts and take it to long term memory: 1. Accountabilities- Scrum Master, Product Owner, Developers) 2. Artefacts-Product Backlog, Sprint Backlog, Increment 3. Commitments- Product Goal, Sprint Goal, Definition of Done 4. Events-Sprint, Sprint Planning, Daily Scrum, Sprint Review, Sprint Retrospective 5. 3 Pillars of Empiricism- Transparency, Adaption and Inspection. 6. Scrum Values- CCFOR- Courage, Commitment, Focus, Openness and Respect