So geht Agilität

„Worth a special journey.”

Yet another book on Agile? I began reading „So geht Agilität“ by Susanne Nickel and Gunhard Keil w/ a bit of skepticism. But also w/ hope. The first thing I liked was the co-authorship: in Heart of Agile, Alistair Cockburn compresses „Individuals and Interactions“ into „Collaborate“, and that‘s what Susanne and Gunhard do. And then, it get better. It‘s European, and it is suitably written for mature middle-sized companies or larger. There one cannot go w/ the same Agile one usually takes to the half-a-dozen people startup. Or—there one cannot bring Agile the same way. The way the book is written reminded me positively of the words of King Mongkut in Anna and the King: „The manner in which people might understand such new possibilities is also process of evolution.“ And while we are at quoting, what I like most about the book is its spirit, which is felt, in most concentrated way, in the Antoine de Saint-Exupéry quote the authors have chosen: “Quand tu veux construire un bateau, ne commence pas par rassembler du bois, couper des planches et distribuer du travail, mais reveille au sein des hommes le desir de la mer grande et large.“ I‘d say, if you are in the right segment of the target audience, the book is „worth a special journey”.