For those interested in Kanban and still reading those actual things you hold in your hands and spend several hours on, David Anderson’s new Kanban book is out there…
As David provided Agilesparks with the draft manuscript to help us prepare for a Kanban Coaching Workshop we had with him back in February, I was able to read it early and provide the first review :
David provides a comprehensive guide to implementing Kanban in a software development/maintenance environment.
Covering the mechanics, dynamics, principles and rationale behind why Kanban is a so promising framework for managing the work of a variety of teams and groups and being an evolutionary-based change management driver.
Kanban is the practical approach to implement Lean Software Development, and this book is the practical guide for how to start using Kanban, and how to adapt the system for advanced needs.
The book is clear and flowing, even though it covers some quite technical material. I would recommend it to Development managers, Project/Program managers, Agile Coaches/Consultants. It addresses concerns/needs of Novice as well as those already familiar with Kanban and looking for advanced answers.
Even if you don’t intend to implement a kanban system, there are a lot of techniques and ideas that are easily applicable to any product development/maintenance environment, agile or not.
Bottom line, highly recommended.
Beyond that, I believe the champion of any Kanban initiative in the software world (and probably in services as well) should read this book, an am taking the steps to make that happen at least in Kanban initiatives I’m involved in ;-)
David asked me some time ago whether it makes sense to think of translating the book to Hebrew and I told him that those in the Israeli IT world that find the time/energy to read, are quite proficient doing it in English, and that probably the market is not large enough to warrant it.
It might be worth though to translate a basic explanation of Kanban to hebrew… maybe something from kanban101.com…
Anyhow – recommended book, go ahead and order a copy, you won’t regret it.