Foreword

As an agile practitioner since 2000, I have read hundreds of books on Agile and Lean: books that talk about benefits of Agile and Lean; books that describe one or more Agile frameworks or Lean practices. What I always found to be lacking was a single book that presents the entire landscape of Agile and Lean methods. This book, Scaling Scrum Across Modern Enterprises, is the answer!

Cecil "Gary" Rupp is the author of two other recently released books, SDLC Foundations and Tools and Templates, which are part of his Building Our Digital World Series. Gary has done it again! Gary has years of experience of using Agile and Lean methods in information technology consulting, professional services, and executive management roles. Scaling Scrum Across Modern Enterprises does an amazing job of presenting the history of Agile methodologies, Lean development, and systems thinking.

As an Enterprise Agility Coach, I have helped customers improve their organizational agility. I have led the evolution of organizations from individuals seeking better ways to deliver products, to small cross-functional teams, to teams of teams with the same purpose in mind.

I have seen first-hand how individuals, team members, and executives struggle with understanding the various Lean frameworks. Further, leaders are looking for answers and a path toward scaling agility. This book provides a comprehensive introduction to and comparison of modern Scrum and Lean-Agile scaling strategies. It demonstrates that modern Scrum and Lean-Agile practices are not just about improving agility in software development, but also about achieving enterprise-wide business agility.

This book provides guidance on how modern scaled Scrum and Lean-Agile approaches help improve business agility across the most challenging organizational structures, product teams, portfolios, and programs. Gary articulates the most important aspects of Agile and Lean that are often overlooked by organizations. This is definitely a must-read for leaders in organizations that are serious about their commitment to scaling agility.

Manjit Singh

President and CEO

Agilious LLC

People.Powered.Agility.

Co-author of the book The Lean Playbook: Build a Lean Organization Yourself