BOOK REVIEW
Book Title: The Age of Agile: How Smart Companies Are Transforming the Way Work Gets Done
Author: Stephen Denning
Publisher: AMACOM
List Price: $28.00
Format: 336 Pages, Hardback
Publication Date: 2018
ISBN: 978-0-8144-3909-8-52800
Reviewer: Amitha Mosapeta, MBA, MS, PMP
Review Date: July 2020
Introduction
The Age of Agile: How Smart Companies Are Transforming the Way Work Gets Done by Stephen Denning is for corporations that must radically reinvent how they are organized and led and embrace a new management paradigm. The book also mentions the experiences over decades of tens of thousands of organizations around the world.
In organizations that have embraced Agile management, self-organizing teams are continuously providing new value for customers. Because the work is done in an iterative fashion with continuous interaction with users, sometimes in real time. Agile management permits an organization to flourish in a marketplace that is increasingly volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous – the so-called VUCA world.
Overview of Book’s Structure
The first part of the book dealt with the positive principles of Agile Management and second part is dedicated to understanding why such cyclical setbacks occur and what can be done to prevent them.
- Chapter 1 – More Value from Less Work
- Chapter 2 – The Law of the Small Team
- Chapter 3 – The Law of the Customer
- Chapter 4 – The Law of the Network
- Chapter 5 – Implementing Agile at Scale: Microsoft
- Chapter 6 – From Operational to Strategic Agility
- Chapter 7 – Changing the Organizational Culture
- Chapter 8 – The Trap of Shareholder Value
- Chapter 9 – The Trap of Share Buybacks
- Chapter 10 – The Cost-Oriented Economics Trap
- Chapter 11- The Trap of Backward-Looking Strategy
Highlights
Chapter 2 through Chapter 4 talks about the laws of Agile Management (Law of the Small Team, Law of the Customer, and Law of the Network). Chapter 5 talks about how Agile is implemented in Microsoft. Chapter 6 and chapter 7 talks about Operational to Strategic Agility and changing the Organizational Culture. Chapter 8 through Chapter 11 talks about management traps (Trap of Shareholder value, Trap of Share Buybacks, Cost-Oriented Economics Trap and the Trap of Backward-Looking Strategy).
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About the Reviewer
Amitha Mosapeta, MBA, MS, PMP
Dallas, Texas, USA
Miss Amitha Mosapeta is a Business System Analyst (BSA) with extensive experience in business analysis, project management, implementation, customization, and integration for companies in the financial services, manufacturing, and service industries. Amitha has a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Master’s degree in Business Administration with specialization in Marketing, Master’s in Computer Science and has obtained the Project Management Professional (PMP) certification in 2014.
Email address: amitha.mosapeta@gmail.com
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