Agile or SCRUM Material?

Any books or courses you all recommend for Agile or SCRUM?

I'm completely new to all of this so beginner books or videos would be great!

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DatabaseHead

Only Agile/Scrum certification taken seriously that I have seen.

https://www.scrumalliance.org/certifications/practitioners/certified-scrummaster-csm

JoJoCal19

DatabaseHead wrote: »

Only Agile/Scrum certification taken seriously that I have seen.

https://www.scrumalliance.org/certifications/practitioners/certified-scrummaster-csm

I've seen the same, and that's a shame. It's a good cert, but kind of pay to play since you have to pay a grand for a classroom training, and then are basically given the cert.

TacoRocket

Beyond the cert does anyone have recommended reading or viewing? I would love the cert but not key here at the moment. Looking for a resource to get to know Agile and come back to it as a reference.

JoJoCal19 wrote: »

I've seen the same, and that's a shame. It's a good cert, but kind of pay to play since you have to pay a grand for a classroom training, and then are basically given the cert.

DatabaseHead

JoJoCal19 wrote: »

I've seen the same, and that's a shame. It's a good cert, but kind of pay to play since you have to pay a grand for a classroom training, and then are basically given the cert.

I actually like that. Keeps the market from getting flooded by a bunch of cert addicts...... It seems like it organically manages itself.

mzx380

As somone in the market for this cert, I've done research and can tell you that its pretty much the only cert worth mentioning in agile development

JoJoCal19

DatabaseHead wrote: »

I actually like that. Keeps the market from getting flooded by a bunch of cert addicts...... It seems like it organically manages itself.

I don't like that aspect. You end up with a bunch of people with the cert but couldn't handle the duties of a SCRUM Master if their life depended on it. And I've seen that and have also heard from others. And I think it actually is worse for the cert because anyone can pay the $800-$1000 and be a CSM. The test isn't really a test of anything.

DatabaseHead

JoJoCal19 wrote: »

I don't like that aspect. You end up with a bunch of people with the cert but couldn't handle the duties of a SCRUM Master if their life depended on it. And I've seen that and have also heard from others. And I think it actually is worse for the cert because anyone can pay the $800-$1000 and be a CSM. The test isn't really a test of anything.

I highly respect you and in fact am LinkedIn to you, but...... I think for something like this it doesn't really matter. It's an awareness certification more than anything. At the end of the day it's going to end up being the individual who makes or breaks it.

For instance if you went through 2.5 days of training with your work ethic and prior skills, you would be fine. The more I get experience and work on harder technologies these paper certificates mean less and less. Sorry to come off like that but it's the reality I am faced. One of my good friends is one of the higher security officers in AT&T rank and has 0 certifications. It really comes down to the individual, and like I said earlier you are legit as they come.

I know PMP's who study their tails off and are JUNK..... I mean JUNK!

mzx380

DatabaseHead wrote: »

I highly respect you and in fact am LinkedIn to you, but...... I think for something like this it doesn't really matter. It's an awareness certification more than anything. At the end of the day it's going to end up being the individual who makes or breaks it.

For instance if you went through 2.5 days of training with your work ethic and prior skills, you would be fine. The more I get experience and work on harder technologies these paper certificates mean less and less. Sorry to come off like that but it's the reality I am faced. One of my good friends is one of the higher security officers in AT&T rank and has 0 certifications. It really comes down to the individual, and like I said earlier you are legit as they come.

I know PMP's who study their tails off and are JUNK..... I mean JUNK!

As a PM, I agree. I know several cert holders in PMP that suck. Still won't stop me from getting one tho

JoJoCal19

DatabaseHead wrote: »

I highly respect you and in fact am LinkedIn to you, but...... I think for something like this it doesn't really matter. It's an awareness certification more than anything. At the end of the day it's going to end up being the individual who makes or breaks it.

For instance if you went through 2.5 days of training with your work ethic and prior skills, you would be fine. The more I get experience and work on harder technologies these paper certificates mean less and less. Sorry to come off like that but it's the reality I am faced. One of my good friends is one of the higher security officers in AT&T rank and has 0 certifications. It really comes down to the individual, and like I said earlier you are legit as they come.

I know PMP's who study their tails off and are JUNK..... I mean JUNK!

I actually agree with everything you state here

The point I didn't agree with was that the setup of the CSM keeps the market from cert addicts. I think the pay to play setup invites people who just want a piece of paper to pad their resume. I agree with your point about paper certs and that's why after this PMP exam I'm done with certs where you just have to read and do rote memorization and be tested on what random facts you can remember. I wasn't pointing this just at the CSM cert, although it's a glaring example. There are plenty of CISSPs, PMPs, etc that aren't up to the tasks. At least with those certs there are fairly challenging exams. With the CSM you basically pay to take the class and are almost given the cert. I know people who took the class and "achieved" the CSM but couldn't really tell you the first thing about how to handle a SCRUM project.

TacoRocket

Guys I love the discussion but need book or video recommendations. I picked up the book Learning Agile.

Hopefully it helps!

JoJoCal19

Hey Taco, I don't have physical books for it, but I have the Kindle versions of these:

https://www.amazon.com/Agile-Project-Management-QuickStart-Development-ebook/dp/B00NF8H2FK/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1503948555&sr=1-2&keywords=agile+project+management

https://www.amazon.com/Scrum-Breathtakingly-Brief-Agile-Introduction-ebook/dp/B007P5N8D4/ref=sr_1_5?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1503948555&sr=1-5&keywords=agile+project+management

DatabaseHead

Let me save you some time.

Learn these items and you'll be fine.

Backlog
Scrum
Sprint
Kanban Board
Impediments
Product Owner
Product

The beauty of SCRUM is it's REAL WORLD. Unlike the goofy a$$ PMP, no offense.

Scrum is literally take requirements, review and start execution once their priority comes up. Unlike the PMP which focuses on the majority of the work effort in a planning cycle (Most of the processes are in this group). If you try that real world your a$$ is grass.

Real world project management, Intiation planning Execution.

JoJoCal19

Tried to rep you DB but I have to spread it around, blah. Totally agree. I mean waterfall works, it's just wholly inefficient. If a project can be done in an agile manner, it absolutely should be. Just my opinion.

DatabaseHead

mzx380 wrote: »

As a PM, I agree. I know several cert holders in PMP that suck. Still won't stop me from getting one tho

Then find a deal on the SCRUM Master certification. If you book in advance you can get a course session for ~750 USD. 2.5 days of studying and training you are good to go. No need to worry about studying for 4 months and paying 500 for an exam that has a high fail rate. That sounds like a bad investment too me.

mzx380

DatabaseHead wrote: »

Then find a deal on the SCRUM Master certification. If you book in advance you can get a course session for ~750 USD. 2.5 days of studying and training you are good to go. No need to worry about studying for 4 months and paying 500 for an exam that has a high fail rate. That sounds like a bad investment too me.

Great advice
Unfortunately, I still plan on taking the PMP first followed immediately by CSM. That way, I can apply the PDUs towards the cert at least.

DatabaseHead

mzx380 wrote: »

Great advice
Unfortunately, I still plan on taking the PMP first followed immediately by CSM. That way, I can apply the PDUs towards the cert at least.

Good luck on your adventure. Just because I think the certification is a joke, I will never discredit someone who obtains it. It most certainly does take dedication and it does have value for CERTAIN PM jobs. My experience with it has been somewhat negative. I've seen hiring managers scoff at it and speak poor about it. This may not be the sentiment of the masses, but it's been my experience.

I'd rather pay the 750, do the 2.5 days get my cert and say see ya. With 3 kids and a really good job I don't really care about paper......

dizzy_kitty

I'm currently taking an Agile (PMI Cert) course for my graduate studies. We use two books. My professor seems to really emphasize this one (recommends it to everyone):

Broza, Gil, The Agile Mind-Set, First Edition; ISBN 978-1514769331, Publisher: 3P Vantage Media, 2015.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B014CA3YKG/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1

DatabaseHead

For the course mentioned above I would go with this.

https://www.amazon.com/PMI-ACP-Exam-Prep-Second-Practitioner/dp/1932735984/ref=sr_1_cc_2?s=aps&ie=UTF8&qid=1504140750&sr=1-2-catcorr&keywords=ACP+AGILE+study+guide

https://www.amazon.com/PMI-ACP-Exam-Prep-Premier-Practitioner/dp/1932735585

Mike Griffith was one of the original members on the steering committed.

danarzu

Don't worry, scrum exam is not too difficult