One of the joys of working as a coach for EMC Consulting are the regular opportunities to have deep conversations on various topics with my colleagues when we are in the office together. For example, earlier this week myself and Simon Bennett began to discuss way of talking to our clients about process such that we can guide them towards the most appropriate choice. However much we may have our preferred approaches, they may not always be the best solution in any context. In the course of the conversation we compared various styles including waterfall, scrum and kanban, and looked at them on various scales, including risk, reward and control. None of these seemed satisfying as a language to use, until Simon suggested safety.

Read more here.

The purpose of this book is to clear up the fog, so you can figure out how Kanban and Scrum might be useful in your environment.

The book includes:

• Foreword by Mary Poppendieck
• Foreword by David Anderson
• Updated version of original “Kanban vs Scrum” article by Henrik Kniberg
• In-the-trenches case study by Mattias Skarin

You can read it online for free (InfoQ registration required though) or buy the printed version.

Translators: If you are interested in translating this book to your language, please get in touch with my editor Diana Plesa (diana AT c4media.com).

Merry X-mas!

This collection of links will help you understand all that buzz around Lean/Kanban and decide whether it is worth trying. I’ve read all the articles and posts below, so this list is a truly selected thing . Check the top lean/kanban blog posts, articles, presentations, people and tools.