ORGANIZING TOWARD AGILITY

A guide focuses on building a dynamic, team-based workforce for business success.

In this follow-up to The Lean Change Method (2013), consultant Anderson advocates for building companies around small teams, based on the popular Agile framework. The author begins with an overview of the business world theory behind Agile organizations, then explains how teams operate, from the most basic level—two people collaborating—to larger groups working together. The book lays out the functions of team members, how groups interact with one another, and how they work autonomously to meet the goals of the organization. Anderson examines how teams exist within a corporate ecosystem, balancing their competing needs for stability and independence as they shift to accomplish tasks and respond to changing circumstances. In the guide’s concluding section, the author discusses the challenges of scaling an organization composed of small teams, ways to include back-office functions like administrative support and human resources in the Agile concept, and the relationship between enterprise software design and a corporate structure. The book strikes a good balance between explaining the basics of Agile development to readers who have not experienced it and focusing on larger themes without getting into minutiae. Although there are some descents into management jargon (“Ecosystem members may decide to make the process of prioritization explicit by inviting stakeholders to attend a replenishment meeting held at a stable cadence”), the writing is generally clear and coherent. The manual’s many graphics also do an excellent job of making complex ideas understandable. Stories from clients of Anderson’s consulting company also provide concrete examples of abstract concepts. The author, who has a background in software, explicitly addresses his fellow knowledge workers: “Modern work is not factory work. We (mostly) aren’t processing physical goods.” Still, many readers in industries that the book elides may find its concepts applicable. The guide skillfully challenges traditional models of an organizational configuration and makes a solid case for reframing basic elements of a corporate structure.

A convincing argument for shifting to a team-based workplace.