What if you could easily get 80% of the benefits of Agile, without changing how you build software?
Bob Billington has a problem: he's about to lose his job because the economy has taken a sudden nose-dive taking the big project he is working on with it. Bob, a natural-born problem-solver, starts asking questions - the first being "What does it take for a project to be commercially viable in a recession?".
Bob's questions surprise his bosses and his customers ... why does a programmer need to know about business? The answers surprise everyone ...
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Rocks Into Gold is a business parable. As short and snappy as a baby crocodile (about 15-30 minutes worth of reading), it explains the essence of Agile Software Development without using any Agile words or jargon.
You might think of it as "Who Moved my Waterfall?" or "The One Minute Software Engineer saves his company"
Since it was published, in 2009, 90,000 people have already read it (for free) on slideshare.
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"I found it very thought provoking - it made me think about how my firm creates and presents an offering to a client."
Mark Woeppel, Author "Projects in Less Time:: A Synopsis of Critical Chain" and "Manufacturer's Guide to Implementing the Theory of Constraints", pinnacle-strategies.com
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"Clarke - You've got real skill at *saying* the simplest thing that could possibly work to get people's thinking shifted over to more fundamental ideas that can't help but inspire action. Thanks so much - I will recommend this little book!"
Nancy Van Schooenderwoert, Agile coach specializing in embedded systems, leanagilepartners.com
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"Clarke is a good story-teller ... I particularly like the lessons he offers from theory of constraints and lean perspectives. Many people will miss it. That's ok. It's a story not a lecture. They won't miss that there is a way they can bring more value to their clients while increasing the cash flow for their firm. Nice job Clarke.
Hal Macomber, Project Reformer (and well-known Lean blogger), reformingprojectmanagement.com
