2022 Re-read Saturday Recap

Over the years we have explored a wide range of books on Saturdays. Sometimes our re-reads reflect the real world outside software development. For example, in 2018 we re-read Bad Blood, Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup by John Carreyrou, the story of Theranos and Elizabeth Anne Holmes. This year Ms. Holmes went to prison. While I don’t expect prison sentences for the subjects in the books we read in 2022, I expect the knowledge in the books we tackled to have a broader impact on the world. In the past year, we have re-read 3.4 books – 40% is the progress on the current book according to Kindle.

This year’s roster of books began with Agile Conversations by Douglas Squirrel and Jeffrey Fredrick. The book reinforces that people are the core of knowledge work. Knowing how to have the right conversations is more than just a good idea, it is a path to delivering value.

https://amzn.to/3VgQvfu

Week 1: Logistics and Introduction – https://bit.ly/3EZspxT

Week 2: Escaping The Software Factory – https://bit.ly/3HIlivg

Week 3: Improving Your Conversations – https://bit.ly/3ty0nYe

Week 4: The Trust Conversation – https://bit.ly/3ApUrSk

Week 5 The Fear Conversation (Part 1) – https://bit.ly/3gahSpt

Week 6 The Fear Conversation (Part 2) – https://bit.ly/34lLON4

Week 7 The Why Conversation (Part 1) – https://bit.ly/3Jg6KE2

Week 8 The Why Conversation (Part 2) – https://bit.ly/34YAsPc

Week 9 The Commitment Conversation – https://bit.ly/3pmaooj

Week 10 The Accountability Conversation – https://bit.ly/3KCJXD1

Week 11 Conclusion and More – https://bit.ly/3wlGSn8

The second book of 2022 that we re-read was one of my all-time favorites, Why Limit WIP: We Are Drowning In Work by Jim Benson. Over my career in helping, teams and organizations change it has become clear to me that the control of work entry is a huge determinant of whether anything other than change at a glacial to takes root (note, change at a glacial pace works well in geology but rarely is effective in the workplace). Work entry and WIP are intertwined. I am on a crusade to fix work entry; Why Limit WIP provides ammunition for that battle.

The entries in the re-read are:

Week 1: Preface, Foreword, Introduction, and Logistics – https://bit.ly/3iDezbp

Week 2: Processing and Memory – https://bit.ly/3qYR4yg

Week 3: Completion – https://bit.ly/3usMiLm

Week 4: Multitasking – https://bit.ly/37hUh5z

Week 5: Context Switching – https://bit.ly/3K8KADF

Week 6: Creating An Economy – https://bit.ly/3F1XKkZ

Week 7: Healthy Constraints – https://bit.ly/3kM8xqh

Week 8: Focus – https://bit.ly/3PkE0hg

Week 9: Awareness – https://bit.ly/3LBZfIl

Week 10: Communication – https://bit.ly/39Tji7Q

Week 11: Learning – https://bit.ly/38HQNtJ

Week 12: Epilogue and Final Notes – https://bit.ly/3y3LH4M

The third book began our coaching arc with the classic Coaching Agile Teams. The book is a tale of two themes. The first is a book of philosophy and the second is a how-to book full of techniques. The full value of this book requires two readings. The first time I read the book, I took the how-to path. This time the philosophies of agile coaching were more important to me than any individual technique. If you are or are ever going to be a coach this should be the first book you read.

The entries in the re-read are:

Week 1: Logistics and Introduction – https://bit.ly/3A1aNTe

Week 2: Will I Be A Good Coach – https://bit.ly/3nzDAHg

Week 3: Expect High Performance – https://bit.ly/3Rl4fFf

Week 4: Master Yourself – https://bit.ly/3zL8t2n

Week 5: Let Your Style Change – https://bit.ly/3Q8zHWa

Week 6: Coach as Coach-Mentor – https://bit.ly/3QLcSIi

Week 7: Coach as Facilitator – https://bit.ly/3AaP5KY

Week 8: Coach As Teacher – https://bit.ly/3AURGdL

Week 9: Coach As Problem Solver – https://bit.ly/3C06Gr7

Week 10: Coach As Conflict Navigator – https://bit.ly/3R6tmuc

Week 11: Coach As Collaboration Conductor – https://bit.ly/3fXoHOs

Week 12: Agile Coach Failure, Recovery, and Success Modes – https://bit.ly/3T0FluQ

Week 13: When Will I Get There? and It’s Your Journey – https://bit.ly/3MAe00v

Week 14: Final Thoughts – https://bit.ly/3z6zJaA

We close 2022 in the middle of re-reading Extraordinarily Badass Agile Coaching: The Journey from Beginner to Mastery and Beyond (Amazon Associate Link – buy a copy or two and give them to friends). Bob Galen and his co-authors have crafted a book that is destined to be a classic in the agile coaching profession. The book establishes a model defining not only what an agile coach is but a path for growth.