Leadership Resources & References

This resource is new and under continual improvement. Please let us know if you experience any bugs or issues.

Scrum Master Resources
Scrum Product Owner Resources
Scrum Developer Resources
Leadership Resources

Budgeting and Accounting [TOP]

Accounting for Internal Use Software https://www.leadingagile.com/2018/01/accounting-for-internal-use-software/
Beyond Budgeting Case Study – Favi http://www.slideshare.net/beyondbudgetingnet/en-beyond-budgeting-case-study-favi-france
Lean Accounting: Does IT Need a Time Out on Time Tracking? https://leankit.com/blog/2017/01/lean-accounting-time-tracking/
Your Agile Project Needs a Budget, Not an Estimate https://hbr.org/2014/12/your-agile-project-needs-a-budget-not-an-estimate

CSM [TOP]

Bell Curves and Measuring Badly https://agilepainrelief.com/notesfromatooluser/2016/03/bell-curves-and-measuring-badly.html

Career Paths [TOP]

An Agile Talent Development and Adaptive Career Framework https://www.infoq.com/articles/agile-career-framework

Community of Practice [TOP]

Communities of Practice: The Missing Piece of Your Agile Organisation https://www.infoq.com/articles/communities-of-practice-agile-organisation

Culture [TOP]

“Spotify Model” – 10 lessons in transplantology https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/spotify-model-10-lessons-transplantology-kate-terlecka/
5 Questions to Ask About Corporate Culture to Get Beyond the Usual Meaningless Blather https://hbr.org/2017/06/5-questions-to-ask-about-corporate-culture-to-get-beyond-the-usual-meaningless-blather
Don’t Copy the Spotify Model https://www.infoq.com/news/2016/10/no-spotify-model
Driven away by hypocrisy: when endorsing a caring workplace backfires for leaders http://bps-occupational-digest.blogspot.ca/2012/11/driven-away-by-hypocrisy-when-endorsing.html
HBR How Employee Engagement Hits the Bottom Line http://blogs.hbr.org/schwartz/2012/11/creating-sustainable-employee.html
How Damaging Is a Bad Boss, Exactly? – Jack Zenger and Joseph Folkman http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2012/07/how_damaging_is_a_bad_boss_exa.html
Strategies for Learning from Failure – Amy C. Edmondson http://hbr.org/2011/04/strategies-for-learning-from-failure/ar/pr

Failure Modes [TOP]

12 Failure Modes in Agile Transformation https://www.ca.com/content/dam/ca/us/files/ebook/recognizing-the-twelve-failure-modes-in-agile-transformation.pdf [PDF warning!]
Rolling Out Agile in a Large Enterprise https://www.computer.org/csdl/proceedings-article/2008/hicss/12OmNy3iFtz/12OmNxuXcwb
Seven Pitfalls to Avoid During Organizational Transformation https://www.thoughtworks.com/insights/blog/seven-pitfalls-avoid-during-organizational-transformation
Six Common Mistakes That Salesforce.com Didn’t Make http://www.forbes.com/sites/stevedenning/2011/04/18/six-common-mistakes-that-salesforce-com-didnt-make/
State of Agile Report http://stateofagile.versionone.com/

Finance [TOP]

We Spent $3.3M Buying Out Investors: Why and How We Did It https://open.buffer.com/buying-out-investors/amp/
Why Should Agilists Care About Capitalization? http://www.infoq.com/articles/agile-capitalization

General Leadership [TOP]

Agile Talent Management http://leadinganswers.typepad.com/leading_answers/2015/10/agile-talent-management.html
An operating model for company-wide agile development http://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/business-technology/our-insights/an-operating-model-for-company-wide-agile-development
Executives and Safety – “Get it done” Individuals https://theitriskmanager.wordpress.com/2017/04/01/executives-and-safety/
Good Leaders Are Good Learners https://hbr.org/2017/08/good-leaders-are-good-learners
How do you motivate employees? – Summary of Herzberg theory http://maaw.info/ArticleSummaries/ArtSumHerzberg6803.htm
Leadership and The Art of Effective Listening http://qaspire.com/2016/07/18/leadership-and-the-art-of-effective-listening/
What is an Agile Leader? http://blog.crisp.se/2015/11/10/henrikkniberg/what-is-an-agile-leader
General Leadership Books

Hiring [TOP]

Interview Humiliation http://deliberate-software.com/on-defeat/
The Problem with Using Personality Tests for Hiring https://hbr.org/2014/08/the-problem-with-using-personality-tests-for-hiring

Managers in Scrum [TOP]

Functional Managers in Agile http://www.agileforall.com/2012/11/functional-managers-in-agile/
Leading vs. Managing in a Scrum Environment http://www.scruminc.com/leading-versus-managing-in-scrum-2/
Linking Agile to HR http://leadinganswers.typepad.com/leading_answers/2012/10/linking-agile-to-hr-theory.html
Reinventing Management – Steve Denning http://stevedenning.typepad.com/
Role of Manager https://less.works/less/management/role-of-manager.html
Scaling The Happiness Index https://7oas7er.wordpress.com/2014/01/16/scaling-the-happiness-index/
The Role of The Manager in Scrum http://www.infoq.com/articles/scrum-management-deemer
What do Middle Managers Do in Agile http://www.estherderby.com/2012/04/what-do-middle-managers-do.html
What Makes Joy,Inc Work? Disciplined Project Management https://www.infoq.com/articles/joyinc-project-management
Where Does a Project Manager Fit in Scrum – Part 1 http://www.agilecoachjournal.com/index.php/2011-02-06/scrum/where-does-a-project-manager-fit-in-scrum-part-2/
Where Does a Project Manager Fit in Scrum – Part 1 – includes an exercise you can play with your team http://www.agilecoachjournal.com/index.php/2011-01-30/scrum/where-does-a-project-manager-fit-in-scrum-part-1/
Managers in Scrum Books

Metrics and Measurement [TOP]

30+ Metrics for Agile Software Development Teams https://www.frontrowagile.com/blog/posts/69-30-metrics-for-agile-software-development-teams
Addressing Problems Caused by AMMs http://www.keystepstosuccess.com/2017/10/addressing-problems-caused-by-amms/
Agile Metrics http://dhondtsayitsagile.blogspot.ca/2012/10/agile-metrics.html
Agile Metrics: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly https://dzone.com/articles/agile-metricsthe-good-the-bad-and-the-ugly
Agile Teams: Don’t use happiness metrics, measure Team Morale http://blog.agilistic.nl/agile-teams-dont-use-happiness-metrics-measure-team-morale/
An Appropriate Use of Metrics http://martinfowler.com/articles/useOfMetrics.html
Be careful how often you measure http://thinkpurpose.com/2014/05/21/why-scorecards-are-as-dangerous-as-michael-jacksons-personal-doctor/
Bell Curves and Measuring Badly https://agilepainrelief.com/notesfromatooluser/2016/03/bell-curves-and-measuring-badly.html
Beyond the Happy Bubble https://sites.google.com/a/scrumplop.org/published-patterns/product-organization-pattern-language/pop-the-happy-bubble
Cycle Time and Lead Time https://agilecomplexificationinverter.blogspot.ca/2016/12/cycle-time-and-lead-time.html
Data driven coaching – Agile 2016 http://www.slideshare.net/FocusedObjective/data-driven-coaching-agile-2016-troy-magennis
Data driven coaching – Agile 2016 slideshare https://www.slideshare.net/FocusedObjective/data-driven-coaching-agile-2016-troy-magennis
Entangled – Solving the Hairy Problem of Team Dependencies https://github.com/FocusedObjective/FocusedObjective.Resources/blob/master/Presentations/Agile%202015%20-%20Entangled%20-%20Solving%20the%20Hairy%20Problem%20of%20Team%20Dependencies%20(Troy%20Magennis).pdf [PDF warning!]
Excel Spreadsheet for Hyperproductive Scrum Teams http://www.scruminc.com/update-excel-spreadsheet-for/
Happiness Metric – The Wave of the Future https://www.scruminc.com/happiness-metric-wave-of-future-2/
How Accountants Kill Innovation http://timkastelle.org/blog/2010/03/how-accountants-kill-innovation
I’m Sorry, But Those Are Vanity Metrics http://firstround.com/review/im-sorry-but-those-are-vanity-metrics/
If You Can’t Measure It, You’d Better Manage It http://www.mintzberg.org/blog/measure-it-manage-it
Linear Thinking in a Nonlinear World https://hbr.org/2017/05/linear-thinking-in-a-nonlinear-world
Making sense of organization impediments https://www.slideshare.net/kenpower/what-prevents-work-from-flowing-smoothly-making-sense-of-organization-impediments
Measurement for Scrum – What are Appropriate Measures? https://agilepainrelief.com/notesfromatooluser/2016/09/measurement-for-scrum-what-are-appropriate-measures.html
Measuring and evaluating Scrum in complex environments https://en.innova1st.com/2017/05/05/midiendo-y-evaluando-scrum-en-entornos-complejos-incluye-archivos-de-ejemplo-y-para-que-utilices/
Measuring Happiness on the Team: What is Crisp? http://blog.crisp.se/2010/05/08/henrikkniberg/what-is-crisp
Measuring Team Performance http://www.innolution.com/blog/team-performance-measures
Metrics don’t have to be evil http://focusedobjective.com/metrics-dont-evil/
Metrics don’t have to be evil – 5 traps and tips http://focusedobjective.com/metrics-dont-evil/
Metrics for Agile http://www.estherderby.com/2011/10/metrics-for-agile.html
Metrics for Understanding Flow https://www.researchgate.net/publication/326347254_Metrics_for_Understanding_Flow
Monte Python Simulation: Misunderstanding Monte Carlo https://dannorth.net/2018/09/04/monte-python-simulation/
Patrick Kau – on the Appropriate Use of Metrics http://martinfowler.com/articles/useOfMetrics.html
Red, Yellow, Green or RYG/RAG Reports: How They Hide the Truth https://agilepainrelief.com/notesfromatooluser/2015/10/red-yellow-green-or-rygrag-reports-how-they-hide-the-truth.html
Scrumming the Scrum (the use of happiness as a Metric in Retrospectives) https://sites.google.com/a/scrumplop.org/published-patterns/retrospective-pattern-language/scrumming-the-scrum
Simplicity https://agilepainrelief.com/notesfromatooluser/2016/03/simplicity.html
Team Metrics – Case Study https://agilecomplexificationinverter.blogspot.ca/2016/06/team-metrics-case-study.html
The Agile Acid Test http://testobsessed.com/2010/12/the-agile-acid-test/
The Happiness metric and a few others http://blog.crisp.se/2011/10/19/anderslaestadius/the-happiness-metric-and-a-few-others
The One Formula for Metrics https://ideas.riverglide.com/the-one-formula-for-metrics-f413566eaa23
Vanity Metrics vs. Actionable Metrics http://fourhourworkweek.com/2009/05/19/vanity-metrics-vs-actionable-metrics/
Why Vanity Metrics are Dangerous: Holding a Mirror Up to Your Measures of Success http://leankit.com/blog/2016/03/why-vanity-metrics-are-dangerous-holding-a-mirror-up-to-your-measures-of-success/
Forecasting Tools
Focused Objective – Collection of Forecasting Tools https://github.com/FocusedObjective/FocusedObjective.Resources/tree/master/Spreadsheets
Forecasting Using Data – Common Questions Answered https://github.com/FocusedObjective/FocusedObjective.Resources/blob/master/Common%20Questions%20Anwered.pdf [PDF warning!]

Ongoing Organizational Improvement [TOP]

The Gravity of $70K: What Actually Happened at Gravity Payments https://gravitypayments.com/thegravityof70k/#infographic-1
Improvement Stories
Improve Measurably with Improvement Stories https://www.innovel.net/improve-measurably-with-improvement-stories/
The Gravity of $70K: What Actually Happened at Gravity Payments https://gravitypayments.com/thegravityof70k/#infographic-1

Open Offices [TOP]

6 Psych Tips For Creating The Ideal Workspace http://www.spring.org.uk/2013/09/6-psych-tips-for-creating-the-ideal-workspace.php
Google got it wrong. The open-office trend is destroying the workplace. https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2014/12/30/google-got-it-wrong-the-open-office-trend-is-destroying-the-workplace/
Privacy and Communication in an Open-Plan Office A Case Study https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full/10.1098/rstb.2017.0239
The impact of the ‘open’ workspace on human collaboration https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full/10.1098/rstb.2017.0239
The Open-Office Trap http://www.newyorker.com/business/currency/the-open-office-trap
The supposed benefits of open-plan offices do not outweigh the costs http://bps-research-digest.blogspot.ca/2013/08/the-supposed-benefits-of-open-plan.html
Why The Open Office Makes You Distracted, Exhausted, And Insecure http://www.businessinsider.com/why-the-open-office-makes-you-distracted-exhausted-and-insecure-2014-4
Workspace satisfaction: The privacy-communication trade-off in open-plan offices http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0272494413000340

Pay for Performance [TOP]

Bogus Bonuses and C.E.O. Salaries – Dan Ariely http://danariely.com/2012/10/06/3668/
Observations From a Tipless Restaurant, Part 3: How Tipping Promotes Bad Service https://content.jayporter.com/dispatches/2013/08/05/observations-from-a-tipless-restaurant-part-3/
Prosocial Bonuses
Prosocial Bonuses Increase Employee Satisfaction and Team Performance http://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=44800
The Best Bonus Is One You Can’t Spend on Yourself http://www.bloomberg.com/bw/articles/2013-05-15/the-best-bonus-is-one-you-cant-spend-on-yourself

Performance Management [TOP]

A Performance Question http://randsinrepose.com/archives/a-performance-question/
A Quick Rundown on Performance Reviews http://agileotter.blogspot.ca/2015/07/a-quick-rundown-on-performance.html
Accenture will get rid of annual performance reviews and rankings http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/on-leadership/wp/2015/07/21/in-big-move-accenture-will-get-rid-of-annual-performance-reviews-and-rankings/
An Alternative to Performance Reviews http://blog.protegra.com/2013/01/04/a-systems-thinking-alternative-to-performance-reviews/
Case Study: What Really Happens When Companies Remove Ratings https://neuroleadership.com/portfolio-items/pm-report-removing-ratings/
It’s Time to Kill the Performance Review https://www.thecut.com/2015/06/time-to-revamp-the-performance-review.html
Microsoft Drops Stack Ranking http://microsoft-news.com/microsoft-abolishes-stack-ranking-system-employee-evaluation-process/
Personal development at Spotify https://labs.spotify.com/2013/11/21/personal-development-at-spotify/
Quotes from “Get Rid of the Performance Review!” http://www.keystepstosuccess.com/2016/02/quotes-from-get-rid-of-the-performance-review-how-companies-can-stop-intimidating-start-managing-and-focus-on-what-really-matters-by-culbert-samuel-a-laurence-rout/
Stack Ranking and the damage done at Microsoft http://www.vanityfair.com/news/2012/07/microsoft-downfall-emails-steve-ballmer
The corporate kabuki of performance reviews http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/on-leadership/the-corporate-kabuki-of-performance-reviews/2013/02/14/59b60e86-7624-11e2-aa12-e6cf1d31106b_story.html
The Truth about Performance Reviews and Other Corporate Bullsh*t https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/truth-performance-reviews-other-corporate-bullsht-liz-ryan
Theory of Constraints (TOC) http://www.tocinstitute.org/theory-of-constraints.html
What Really Happens When Companies Remove Ratings (Case Study) https://neuroleadership.com/portfolio-items/pm-report-removing-ratings/
Why GE had to kill its annual performance reviews after more than three decades https://qz.com/428813/ge-performance-review-strategy-shift/
Why More and More Companies Are Ditching Performance Ratings https://hbr.org/2015/09/why-more-and-more-companies-are-ditching-performance-ratings
Performance Management Books

Reporting [TOP]

AgileEVM – Earned Value Management in Scrum Projects https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/1667558/
AgileEVM: Measuring Cost Efficiency Across the Product Lifecycle https://www.infoq.com/articles/agile-evm

Tours of Agile Companies [TOP]

Marc P Summers visit to the Infusionsoft Headquarters 2013 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OuheSYveeX4

Transformation and Transitions [TOP]

A culture that attracts quality candidates http://radianttiger.com/2015/04/20/a-culture-that-attracts-quality-candidates/
Agile Transformation at KPN iTV https://www.infoq.com/news/2018/02/agile-transformation-kpn-itv
How Google changed a Development Culture from avoiding Test in Development to embracing it and test automation https://mike-bland.com/2012/07/10/test-mercenaries.html
Small engineering team as a competitive advantage https://gorgias.io/blog/small-engineering-team-as-a-competitive-advantage
The Attraction of Classic Hierarchies https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/attraction-classic-hierarchies-kurt-nielsen/
The Defense Innovation Board wants to help the military recognize ‘agile BS’ https://www.fedscoop.com/defense-innovation-board-wants-help-military-recognize-agile-bs/
Three Organisational Transformation Modes https://salfreudenberg.wordpress.com/2014/03/21/three-organisational-transformation-modes/
Transformation from the top? How about engagement on the ground? http://www.mintzberg.org/blog/transformation-from-the-top-how-about-engagement-on-the-ground
What Managers Can Do To Support Agile Transformations http://www.infoq.com/articles/managers-support-agile-transformation
Why We Hate Change http://www.liquidplanner.com/blog/why-we-hate-to-change/
Transformation and Transitions Books
Show