It has been a little while since a book review so lets get one out of the way. Today we will be wandering through the library and looking at one of my favorite book series, Head First, with Head First Agile.
Don’t leave us hanging, what do you think of it.
Unlike most Head First books, I feel kind of meh about this one. Understand that it is the book, I learned about Agile, SCRUM and Kanban so it was useful. It is just that it was not really targeted to me.
Not targeted? It’s a Head First book. You were an idiot about Agile. How is Head First Agile not targeted at you?
I feel like it split the hair between a study guide and a education book. If you have 5 years of experience needed for your PMI, then you probably already know how to do the things in the book. If you don’t then you don’t really need the PMI focus of the book. I think it tries too hard to be all things to all people.
So it was a bad book?
No, it was ok. If I was a young project manager, then I would encourage myself to read it. Read it multiple times and really grok it. When you finish, you will have learned proper implementation of the methods in the book. You will also get a very good study guide for the test. With that useful study guide comes a big problem. If you need to have 5 years experience then the study guide is obsolete. If you need to study guide then the chapter educating you are probably really inefficient study guide.
I am not a project manager nor am I hunting for a PMI. So it meets my needs but it has quite a bit of fluff that does not really apply for me.
What’s good about Head First Agile?
The good thing about Head First Agile is that if you are in the target audience, then it really could be a wealth of knowledge. It’s just a bit too small of an audience that I am not apart. If you are coming out of college or transferred to the PMO, get this book. For the rest of use, it is long-winded way of getting to the destination.