6 Best Books on Agile
Agile has rapidly become one of the most popular approaches to product management. It is known for allowing project managers to quickly produce viable products while also allowing the project to adapt appropriately to unexpected changes along the way. It wouldn’t surprise us if agile very quickly became the only project management approach utilized in certain industries (e.g., software development).
If you are interested in project management but don’t know about agile or agile practices, then you need to learn this stuff. Thankfully, there are tons of resources and courses that you can tap into.
On this page, we want to talk to you about one of the learning methods; books. Yep. The most traditional of learning methods, but it works. We have researched and identified the 6 best books on agile.
Can You Really Learn Agile From a Book?
6 Best Books on Agile
Yes. Well, sort of.
You can pick up the concept of agile project management from a book. It is relatively easy to do, and there are some fantastic resources on this page. However, you will need to put that theory into practice sooner or later.
A book can give you the tools you need to thrive in an agile project management environment. It can teach you when and how to use them. However, you will need to work in an agile environment at some point. You need to utilize the knowledge that you have learned and discover precisely how those systems can influence your project management.
So, yes. You can learn agile from a book. Books will be one of the best starting points for agile and a reference that you can look back at repeatedly. However, you will only learn the theory behind agile project management. That isn’t enough. You need to ‘do’ it to fill in the knowledge gaps and further develop your skills.
How We Chose The 6 Best Books on Agile
6 Best Books on Agile
We have included the 6 best books on agile on this page. These books have been carefully selected from the wealth of agile project management books out there.
We used a variety of criteria to select the best books. We paid special attention to the following:
- The information included in the books. We opted for more complete guides.
- The ease with which the books can be understood. Plain language is always better for us. Agile can get pretty technical. We didn’t want that.
- Whether the book is going to be good as a future reference. A good book about agile can be used for years to come.
As you will probably see from the very first book that we have included on this list, we have ensured that there is a book for everybody. No matter what stage you are at with your agile education, there will surely be a book to suit you. You should pick up a couple of them.
Agile Project Management For Dummies
https://www.amazon.com/Agile-Project-Management-Dummies-3rd/dp/1119676991/
We know that some people turn their noses up at the For Dummies series of books. We get it. They go for all this hip and cool language. They don’t expand on points, either. However, these books are fantastic as a quick intro guide to the subject matter. In this case, agile project management.
We will not say that Agile Project Management for Dummies will include everything you need to know. It doesn’t. You will have a foundation of knowledge that you can build upon. You won’t be an expert by the end of the book, but you will have more of an idea about how the agile process works.
Agile Project Management for Dummies contains a ton of information. All of it is in an easy-to-digest manner. This includes:
- How agile works
- Planning your project with agile
- Executing your plan with agile
- Adapting to changes along the way
- Ensuring success with your project management.
This book focuses on all agile project management styles. There are additional books in the series for those who want to expand their knowledge with specific agile methodologies. However, you should be able to pick up enough information from this book to move on to something a bit more advanced (i.e., one of the following 5 books).
Essential Scrum: A Practical Guide To The Most Popular Agile Process
https://www.amazon.com/Essential-Scrum-Practical-Addison-Wesley-Signature/dp/0137043295/
As the name suggests, this book focuses purely on Scrum. In fact, around half of the books on our list of the top 6 agile books will concentrate purely on Scrum. This is because it is the most popular agile process and, thus, the one that you are going to be the most familiar with.
Essential Scrum has been written as a reference tool. It is for everybody involved in an agile system. Project managers can use it. Team members can use it. It can be used by the head honchos of a business who may need help understanding how project management works. The goal of this book is to bring everybody onto the same page. This means ensuring that everybody understands the vocab related to Scrum.
This book covers everything that you need to know about Scrum. You learn the basics, and then you build upon those concepts. Each part of Scrum is separated into its own section, so it is easy to refer back to. People love this. We know that some people who have passed their PMI certification relied heavily on this book.
The book is tremendously well-written. Even the more complicated concepts related to Scrum are laid out clearly. Sometimes you will feel as if you are reading a meatier For Dummies book.
As well-written as this book is, the real highlight is the illustrations and the countless case studies that are included. They really help the reader to understand the final points of Scrum.
So, let’s jump in and see what our 6 best books on agile.
Agile Project Management For Dummies
6 Best Books on Agile
We know that some people turn their noses up at the For Dummies series of books. We get it. They go for all this hip and cool language. They don’t expand on points, either. However, these books are fantastic as a quick intro guide to the subject matter. In this case, agile project management.
We will not say that Agile Project Management for Dummies will include everything you need to know. It doesn’t. You will have a foundation of knowledge that you can build upon. You won’t be an expert by the end of the book, but you will have more of an idea about how the agile process works.
Agile Project Management for Dummies contains a ton of information. All of it is in an easy-to-digest manner. This includes:
- How agile works
- Planning your project with agile
- Executing your plan with agile
- Adapting to changes along the way
- Ensuring success with your project management.
This book focuses on all agile project management styles. There are additional books in the series for those who want to expand their knowledge with specific agile methodologies. However, you should be able to pick up enough information from this book to move on to something a bit more advanced (i.e., one of the following 5 books), but with that said, still a deserved entry in our list of the 6 best books on agile.
Buy the book!
To be able to move forward with project management in an agile environment this is the book you gotta have.
Buy Now on AmazonEssential Scrum: A Practical Guide To The Most Popular Agile Process
6 Best Books on Agile
Here is the next book on our list of the 6 best books on agile.
As the name suggests, this book focuses purely on Scrum. In fact, around half of the books on our list of the top 6 agile books will concentrate purely on Scrum. This is because it is the most popular agile process and, thus, the one that you are going to be the most familiar with.
Essential Scrum has been written as a reference tool. It is for everybody involved in an agile system. Project managers can use it. Team members can use it. It can be used by the head honchos of a business who may need help understanding how project management works. The goal of this book is to bring everybody onto the same page. This means ensuring that everybody understands the vocab related to Scrum.
Related: Interview and Book Review: Essential Scrum
This book covers everything that you need to know about Scrum. You learn the basics, and then you build upon those concepts. Each part of Scrum is separated into its own section, so it is easy to refer back to. People love this. We know that some people who have passed their PMI certification relied heavily on this book.
The book is tremendously well-written. Even the more complicated concepts related to Scrum are laid out clearly. Sometimes you will feel as if you are reading a meatier For Dummies book.
As well-written as this book is, the real highlight is the illustrations and the countless case studies that are included. They really help the reader to understand the final points of Scrum.
Buy the book!
Agile and Scrum go hand in hand, and to be able to get a broad view and enhance your expertise of the scrum side of the equation, this book is a dream.
Buy Now on AmazonScrum: The Art of Doing Twice the Work in Half the Time
6 Best Books on Agile
Next up, here is book no. 3 on our list of our 6 best books on agile.
Do you know who is going to write a good book on Scrum? Yep. Luckily for you, Jeff Sutherland has done just that. One of the co-creators of the methodology.
This book is more than just a guide to Scrum processes. It provides complete coverage of Scrum. You learn the history behind the methodology. You learn the philosophy behind why Scrum is such a tremendous agile methodology. You get real-world examples of how Jeff Sutherland’s technique has been used to help some of the largest businesses in the world with their project management. This is information that you would only ever be able to get from one of the creators of the methodology.
We must admit that the title of this book isn’t the greatest in the world. It almost makes it seem like some awful self-help book. It isn’t. This is a book that genuinely does what it says on the tin. If you follow the processes outlined in this book, then your teams will perform much better. Your projects will cost a lot less to put into action.
You need to get some of what you need to know about Scrum in this book. The basics are outlined alongside real practical examples. However, the information on implementing Scrum is relegated to 5 or 6 pages in the appendix. However, don’t let that deter you. This is an essential book in anybody’s agile project management library. There is nothing else quite like it. It’s an enjoyable read. It feels like a biography. You don’t get that with any other agile book.
Buy the book!
Arguably the best book on Scrum you can get. It covers both beginners up to an advanced level, ensuring you understand key Scrum technique and ways of working.
Buy Now on AmazonFixing Your Scrum
6 Best Books on Agile
Alright, everyone, it’s that time already, time for no. 4 on our list of the 6 best books on agile.
Fixing Your Scrum assumes that you are already managing a project that follows the Scrum methodology. It will also assume that something has gone wrong down the line. Or, at least, you want to prevent things from going wrong. This book helps you to fix those issues.
In Fixing Your Scrum, you will get detailed information about the most common reasons Scrum project management needs to be revised. This could be the fault of unmotivated employees, poor coordination between teams, lack of progress, or general boredom with the project management process.
Once you have identified the problem (and Fixing Your Scrum will help you to identify the issue), you will get accurate, practical information to fix the problem.
Related: Fixing Your Scrum: Practical Solutions to Common Scrum Problems
The book assumes that you know how Scrum works, but you have tripped up somewhere along the way. You are going to need to learn the basics here. In fact, you aren’t going to be learning much about the Scrum framework. Instead, you have solutions to problems that you are actively dealing with.
Obviously, nobody wants to be dealing with issues on a significant project. They want those problems fixed quickly. That is why we loved this book. It is about practical solutions. Nobody is talking down at you. The book says, “yeah, some things go wrong. It happens with the biggest companies, too,” and it gave us a bit of reassurance. It made us realize that we could get even the most derailed project back on track with a bit of effort.
This is a book that anybody who fills the role of a Scrum master needs to have in their library. Keep a copy in the office. Keep a copy at home. Constantly refer to it.
Buy the book!
This is a great piece of literature demonstrating how Scrum can go very sideways in organizations, and also it provides real-world examples how to fix the issues to ensure Scrum is implemented effectively.
Buy Now on AmazonAgile Essentials You Always Wanted To Know
6 Best Books on Agile
Number 5 out of the 6 best books on agile, let’s learn more about it, it’s a good one you know.
Only some people are fans of reading. We have to be honest. Most people want to avoid reading through paragraphs and paragraphs of detailed information. We got enough of that in our school years. The problem with that, however, is that agile is a complicated process. Any book you get on agile will be very information heavy. Any book will have to initially explain some rather complex processes you may need help understanding. This is why we have spent a lot of time trying to find books that explain everything properly and clearly. It is trickier than you may think. However, we have succeeded with Agile Essentials.
This is a book that breaks everything down into bite-size chunks. It keeps the paragraphs nice and short too. This makes the information incredibly scannable. There is a ton of information in this book, but you always feel energized by how the information has been put on the page.
This book is loaded with word definitions, graphics, and case examples. You get a bit of the background behind agile and information about why you should use it.
This book does mention all of the leading agile methodologies. However, the only one that gets a chapter dedicated to it is Scrum…and it is a fantastic chapter. On top of this, you also get information on:
- Agile planning
- Agile execution
- Agile tracking and reporting
- Agile project management
This solid book will allow the reader to brush up on the essentials. The contents page is incredibly clear, making it easy to jump to the relevant section of the book.
Buy the book!
A great book showing key concepts around agile project management. It is broken down into Agile Overview, Scrum, Agile Planning, Agile Execution, Agile Tracking and Reporting, and Agile Project Management. If you want to level up your agile PM skills, buy this book right now, don't even think about it.
Buy Now on AmazonLearning Agile: Understanding Scrum, XP, Lean, and Kanban
6 Best Books on Agile
Finally, we’ve reached the very end of our 6 best books on agile list, we made it everyone.
O’Reilly is one of the top publishers in the world. They produce some excellent guides to software development, programming, and a whole host of other tech-related subjects. You would never be able to tell with their front covers, though. They are bland. But it probably works for them. We aren’t here to review the front cover anyway. We are here to tell you what you will find in Learning Agile.
Learning Agile is written in the typical O’Reilly style. This means that you get something close to For Dummies books but in a much more information-complete way. This book is loaded with bite-size chunks of information you can breeze through while still feeling like you are picking up actual, practical knowledge.
For visual learners, there are even some comic panels throughout the book. They sum up something rather complicated in a quick, easy-to-read manner.
As the name suggests, this book covers the main types of agile methodology. However, a good chunk of time is dedicated to both Scrum and Kanban (more so the latter). Although it doesn’t matter which agile methodology you plan on using, this book will provide a fantastic guide to the basics and the more advanced stuff.
One thing we love about Learning Agile (and there is a lot to love about this book) is repeated concepts. This isn’t a book designed to be a reference tool, although you can use it as that. It is a book designed to teach. This means that you work your way through the book in order. Concepts are regularly repeated to drum the most essential elements at home. It works. It is the exact same style of learning that you would get if you attended a class.
We also enjoy the fact that almost everything in the book has a simplified explanation followed by a much more complex one. This is because the authors have the philosophy that you must learn the basic simple stuff before learning the more advanced definition. Again, it works. You will pick up a ton of information like this.
If you are new to agile, it may be worth checking out.
Buy the book!
If you work in an agile team, you should definitely be looking at this book. The great thing about it is it separates the concepts into 4 areas; Scrum, XP, Lean, and Kanban.
If you want to level your expertise in Agile, buy this book, and take control of your career in agile.
Buy Now on AmazonConclusion
So, there you have it. Our 6 best books on agile. All of them are good in their own right. Pick one or two of them up (or all, if you want) and start diving into the world of project management. It is much more exciting than you may think. Trust us.
Hey, I’m Kris Taylor. I’m a Learning and Development professional currently in the healthcare field, with over 8 years of experience in the area of corporate education. I have created numerous instructional content for various corporate projects including eLearning, in-person facilitation, and virtual training across a wide variety of learning interventions and sectors. On Taughtup, I discuss topics ranging from how to succeed through K-12 to college all the way to instructional design tips for L&D designers.
