Recommended reading about LEAN, oriented to SW Develoment & Management
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TitleToyota Production System: Beyond Large-Scale Production
SummaryThe origins of TPS explained. This is the original source.
First half of the book describes how the scientific method was used to build the whole TPS.
Second half goes more into car manufacturing.
CommentsSmall book. Easy to read.
LevelIntermediate
AudienceAnyone who wants to understand the roots of LEAN and TPS.
What you will learnHow being constant and coherent with some basic, common-sense principles and the scientific method can make possible to anyone, to learn and adapt in a continuous improvement process, where excellence in all aspects is the horizon.
AuthorTaiichi Ohno
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TitleThis is Lean
SummaryFlow Efficiency vs. Resource Efficiency. Which one is better?
Enlightening stories revealed during visits to Toyota.
A little bias into manufacturing, but a great book on important concepts.
CommentsSmall book. Easy to read.
LevelIntermediate
AudienceYou aim to understand the importance of flow and other deep concepts in Lean.
What you will learnThe difference between flow & resource efficiency. The profound concept of "Jidoka".
AuthorNiklas Modig and Pär Âhlström
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TitleThe Machine that Changed the World
SummaryThis is a five-year study done by three scholars of the MIT, counting with an important support of the car industry, including USD 5M, in order to find out the reasons for the japanese supremacy over western companies in Europe and US.
The study compares Craft-Production as the predecesor of Mass Production and made famous the term "LEAN" Production to refer to the japanese system.
Lean, as the opposite of "FAT", is the term that represents the absence of inventories (the "fat") typical of most Mass Production systems and removed by JIT (just in time) in japanese -lean- ones.
CommentsVery interesting and big book. Historical compendium. It takes time to be read. The differences between craft, mass and lean production are perfectly described. The term "lean" became the standard name for TPS after this book (in western countries).
LevelAdvanced
AudienceAnyone who wants to understand the roots of LEAN and TPS in detail and within the historic evolution.
What you will learnHow a production system affects not only the way we work, but also how we interact, live and think. How we conceive ourselves.
Author James P. Womack, Daniel T. Jones (scientist), and Daniel Roos.
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TitleTurn the Ship Around
SummaryA Real-Life case that is very illustrative regarding the challenges, options, and consequences of leading those who know the specifics more than you.
CommentsThis is a real-life case worth reading for anyone. A nice overview can be seen through this presentation by the author: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ivwKQqf4ixA
LevelIntermediate
AudienceLeadership & Senior Managers. Anyone interested on leadership.
What you will learnHow to lead, when you are not the "know it all" person.
AuthorDavid Marquet
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TitleContinuous Delivery
SummaryFrom Continuous Integration to Continuous Delivery. Everything on how to build an agile infrastructure that makes possible to constantly and smoothly deploy SW into production. Tools, Processes and People interact and influence each other, so this book describes the basic setup in order to start building an agile environment.
CommentsThis is a Reference Book. Just the index is 12 pages. You better read the index and go into details, one topic at a time.
LevelAdvanced
AudienceSupport & Operations Engineers. Release Managers.
What you will learnBest practices and anti-patterns in SW integration, testing and deployment.
AuthorJez Humble, David Farley (foreword by Martin Fowler)
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TitleThe Phoenix Project
SummaryA must read for any IT company trying to adapt to a more dynamic world. A novel on DevOps.
LevelIntroductory
AudienceSupport & Operations Engineers. Release Managers. IT in general.
What you will learnThe importance of teamwork, breaking silos and making work results transparent. Gain alignment based on delivery.
AuthorGene Kim
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TitleThe Unicorn Project
SummaryThe sequel (or updated version) of The Phoenix Project. A novel on DevOps.
LevelIntroductory
AudienceSupport & Operations Engineers. Release Managers. IT in general. Management & Leadership.
What you will learnThe importance of teamwork, breaking silos and making work results transparent. Gain alignment based on delivery. But above all, this story is very similar in the principles to The Phoenix Project, but it is updated and highlight "The Five Ideals".
AuthorGene Kim
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TitleAgil Mente
SummaryOur brain works in many different ways. Brainwaves are different, depending if our attention is focused or relaxed. While "productivity" is often associated with the first type, "creativity" takes place more often during the second one.
CommentsThe book talks about how our mind works. It is not about "agility" in the context of software development, but it is obviously related. Must read if you are searching for innovation, implementing new ideas, etc.
LevelAll levels
AudienceAnyone who wants to understand better how our brain works and the importance of balance in life, work, etc. Specially recommended for those who believe that by working harder, you will do more. It is not always like that.
What you will learnSometimes, the challenge is not to do more but to do something different. In these cases, we need a different state of mind.
AuthorEstanislao Bachrach
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TitleSWITCH. How to change things, when change is hard.
SummaryBased on Psychological evidence, case studies and a consistent theory, this book helps us on where to focus, in order to make change happen.
CommentsExcellent. Solid. Educational. Inspiring. Easy and pleasant to read.
LevelIntermediate
AudienceAnyone who wants to introduce changes in an organization.
What you will learnYou will learn how to avoid simple (but important) mistakes when introducing changes in an organization.
How to talk to the rational and emotional beings of a person, while at the same time, facilitating the transition.
Learn the three principles: Direct the Rider, Motivate the Elephant and Shape the Path
AuthorChip Heath, Dan Heath
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TitleSapiens. A Brief History of Humankind.
SummaryEvolution ... what is the real meaning? How does it happen?
What helped us to prevail over other stronger species?
An engaging story of Evolution, including cultural, political, philosophycal and many other aspects.
CommentsEngaging. Enlightening. Brilliant.
LevelAll levels.
AudienceIf you want to understand the importance of cooperation ....
What you will learnWhat makes us Humans and how we interact with each other.
AuthorYuval Noah Harari
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TitleThe Goal. A Process of Ongoing Improvement.
SummaryInstead of working more, learn how to identify and focus on the bottlenecks in order to improve the whole and work better.
CommentsWritten in a novel style. Easy and entertaining to read.
LevelIntroductory
AudienceAnyone who wants to understand why working better is not working more.
What you will learnLocal optimizations are pointless. Being too busy is not an excuse and not a goal. Not even a good sign.
You will learn why and how, to identify bottlenecks and focus your efforts there.
AuthorEliyahu M. Goldratt
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TitleThe Power of SCRUM.
SummaryThe basics of Scrum, illustrated in an easy-reading novel style.
CommentsOne of the best introductions to Scrum. Written in a novel style, easy to read. A comprehensive overview.
LevelIntroductory
AudienceAnyone who wants to learn scrum. This is mandatory reading previous to the SCM certification.
What you will learnThe basics of Scrum: roles, artifacts, ceremonies. How simple and at the same time difficult it is.
AuthorJeff Sutherland
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TitleLean SW Development (summary, by Mary Poppendieck)
SummaryAn excellent overview of the seven principles of Lean Software Development.
CommentsWritten by Mary Poppendieck, this 6-pages summary gives you a very good overview of the first book of the series.
LevelIntroductory
AudienceAnyone interested in SW Development.
What you will learnThe principles of LEAN when applied to SW Development.
AuthorMary Poppendieck
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TitleLean SW Development -an agile toolkit-
SummaryA classic. The first book written by Tom & Mary Poppendieck in 2003, where the translation of Lean principles to SW were explained and the term "Lean SW Development" was coined.
CommentsFirst book of the series. The "bible" to understand Lean Software Development. There is 6 page summary also.
LevelIntroductory
AudienceAnyone interested in SW Development.
What you will learnThe principles of LEAN and how to apply them to SW Development, in detail.
AuthorTom & Mary Poppendieck
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TitleImplementing Lean SW Development -from concept to cash-
SummaryGoing deeper into the concepts of the first book, multiple case-studies help to fix concepts.
CommentsSecond book of the series. There is a great chapter available at InformIT that is worth and recommended reading.
LevelIntermediate
AudienceAnyone interested in SW Development.
What you will learnThe origins of LEAN principles, how to apply them to SW Development and several case-studies.
AuthorTom & Mary Poppendieck
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TitleLeading Lean SW Development -results are not the point-
SummaryHow to build and lead successful teams. The message is: results are not the point. Developing people so that they can achieve successful results is the point.
CommentsThird book of the series. We can observe a trend towards deeper concepts that are better elaborated in the 4th book: The Lean Mindset.
LevelAdvanced
AudienceAnyone interested in SW Development.
What you will learnDeeper principles and examples of LEAN SW Development.
AuthorTom & Mary Poppendieck
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TitleThe Lean Mindset -ask the right questions-
SummaryHow Lean influences our way of working and beyond. A brilliant analysis of the past, that makes us possible to imagine the coming future.
CommentsFourth book of the series. A totally different approach, more management rather then SW Development oriented. Conceptually brilliant. A different starting point to the same topic.
LevelIntroductory
AudienceAnyone interested in SW Development and/or Management.
What you will learnHow the way of thinking and the whole world is changing.
AuthorTom & Mary Poppendieck
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TitlePresentation Zen
SummaryThe best book to learn how to make consise, engaging and clear presentations.
CommentsIf you want to spread the good news about Lean, you will also need to learn how to do it. Just have a look at the foreword by Guy Kawasaki and you will understand what the book is about.
LevelIntroductory
AudienceAnyone who wants to make an outstanding presentation.
What you will learnWhy less is more. How to be concrete and have an impact.
AuthorGarr Reynolds (foreword by Guy Kawasaki)
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TitleThe Lean Startup
SummaryHow to use LEAN in order to focus and do the right thing.
After developing the solution of a start-up company, the author discovers that customers think, perceive and behave different as it was expected. Then, using LEAN techniques (lean is based on the scientific method, so it basically means to question and verify each and every assumption) they realize a lot of things and share the experience in this book.
CommentsExcellent book. It even initiated a global movement: the lean startup
LevelIntroductory
AudienceAnyone who wants to be sure of building the right thing.
This book is especially important for Product Owners.
What you will learnAs Tom & Mary Poppendieck say: "the major waste in SW Development is building the wrong feature".
So you will learn why and how to focus on a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) before building anything else (i.e. how to build the right thing).
AuthorEric Ries
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TitleThe Third Wave
SummaryOne of the oldest, among many brilliant books written about the post-industrial society.
Alvin Toffler takes us along a wonderful journey, from agricultural society, through mass-production (industrial) and finally goes into a future stage of the society, with many resemblances of today's world.
CommentsVery interesting book to be read today, in restrospective.
LevelAll levels
AudienceIf you are interest in how today's world was imagined in 1980, this is the book to read. An interesting exercise!
What you will learnIf you have any doubt on how our way of working influences our whole life ... don't miss this book.
Author Alvin Toffler
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TitleThe Mythical Man Month
SummaryAdding manpower to a late software project can make it even later.
CommentsEven though a classic in Software Engineering, if you agree with the message, you do not need to read it.
It is obvious: a 1.000 man-days project cannot be done in a single day, by hiring 1.000 people.
But this book goes beyond the obvious. Written by Fred Brooks, who managed the development of IBM's System/360, presents a solid case and has received many awards, including the U.S. National Medal of Technology in 1985 and the Turing Award in 1999, offering a solid reference on this topic.
The tendency for managers to repeat such errors in project development led Brooks to say that his book is called "The Bible of Software Engineering", because "everybody quotes it, some people read it and a few people apply it."
LevelIntermediate
AudienceAnyone who needs to understand why the bigger the team, the lower the performance.
What you will learnBe careful in adding more people to a project. Like in a football match, playing with too many players can transform it into chaos.
AuthorFred Brooks
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TitleOne More Time: How Do You Motivate Employees?
SummaryInstead of adding external motivators even negative or positive (carrots and sticks), consider intrinsic ones like responsibility, purpose, autonomy, learning.
CommentsAnother classic from Harvard Business Review. Excellent. Easy to read: 16 pages (only 12 of content).
A must read and an excellent complement of the video "What really motivates people" (read the book first).
LevelIntroductory
AudienceAnyone who wants to understand collective and individual motivation, especially in any organization.
What you will learnAUTONOMY. MASTERY. PURPOSE. These are the intrinsic motivators explained in the video from Dan Pink. This book makes the distinction between external and internal motivating factors, as well as differentiating between motivating and de-motivating factors (being money one of the latest).
To see more on Motivation, see "Motivation & Lean": http://bit.ly/lean-motivation
AuthorFrederick Herzberg
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TitleLeadership & Creation (ver en español)
SummaryA broad, detailed and enlightening approach on the difficult task of leading human groups.
The author brings together humanist and management concepts that are normally presented separately, in a singular, inspiring and comprehensive analysis.
CommentsA must read for anyone insterested in leadership and reaching the motivation of each team member.
LevelIntroductory
AudienceLeaders, people who want to improve their skills in this direction and managers who want to understand the differences between management and leadership.
What you will learnOrganizations are built by and with human beings, where mechanistic visions provide an incomplete model. Each person needs to be considered in its entirety and in this sense, the message is totally aligned with the LEAN way of thinking.
The only nuance is that the author focuses leadership in managers perspective, whilst LEAN and Scrum promote self-organized teams (multidisciplinary, of course).
This is a brilliant, singular book pointing in the right direction. A very good first-step for traditional managers.
AuthorAlvaro Luna
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TitleAgile Estimating and Planning
SummaryThe main reference for Agile Planning.
CommentsTheory and practice are described in an interesting writing. Concepts are explained and then applied to a concrete case across the whole book. Very illustrative, easy to read.
LevelIntroductory
AudienceIf you have questions about how to plan in agile projects, this is essential reading. Not all your answers (especially regarding large scale aspects) may be answered, but it is a very important first step.
What you will learnYou will learn how to organize a project and the corresponding planning. How to manage uncertainty and understand the "cone of uncertainty" applied to Agile SW Projects.
AuthorMike Cohn
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TitleLean from the trenches
SummaryA real case-study of an Agile / LEAN Project. A concrete and comprehensive SW development case.
CommentsEasy to read, concrete, illustrative. It brings all concepts together in a single case-study. Brilliant.
LevelIntermediate. We recommend to read The Power of Scrum and Mary's summary at least, in order to get the most out of this book.
AudienceAnyone who wants to see a real case in action, where all concepts are applied, beyond "Scrum-by-the-book" and applying several LEAN principles.
What you will learnA lot. How to measure. What to measure (velocity, WIP, lead/cycle time, efficiency, etc.). You will see a case, where Story Points (a central concept in Scrum) are not used at all! The overall case is what in Scrum is called a "Ri State" or a Lean Project. What is important to keep in mind, is that there are no recipes: it is not about copying anything, but understanding the underlying principles. The whole case is just a demonstration of what can be achieved and one way of doing it..
AuthorHenrik Kniberg