Implementing Lean Software Development is a follow-up to the Poppendiecks' award-winning 2003 book Lean Software Development: An Agile Toolkit for Software Development Managers. It doesn't disappoint. Their first book focused on explaining the principles and concepts of Lean and how those apply to software development. This second book focuses on the history and practice of lean software development and what you can do today to implement lean software development in your own workplace.
Filled with clear, compelling explanations and real-life examples from today's business world, Implementing Lean Software Development "walks the talk" by showing how lean theory is transformed into business reality at companies like Toyota, Google, Dell Computer, Southwest Airlines, PatientKeeper, and others.
The book starts with a thorough history of Lean and describes the seven Lean principles. It spends the next hundred pages focusing on value, waste, speed, and people. The last hundred or so pages discuss the lean management of knowledge, quality, partnering, and contracts, and finishes off with a recap and retrospective that includes mention of Six Sigma, the Theory of Constraints,
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and measurement.
Throughout the book lean concepts and tools are presented, such as value-stream mapping, elements of queuing theory, responsibility-based planning/control and self-directing work, Just-in-Time, Kaizen events, Poka-Yoke (mistake-proofing), Set-based design, and the Five S's. Also covered is the application of the lean concepts in software practices like test-driven development, continuous integration, architecture, iteration and release planning, and continuous improvement.
What I like most about the book is how every insight is reinforced with many practical references and stories! Each chapter begins with a story of how one real-world organization faced and resolved the challenges addressed in the chapter, and concludes with a set of questions and exercises to help the reader explore the subject more mindfully. (And don't forget all the copious references and citations for those who like to follow-up on them.) The Poppendiecks' earlier book won a Jolt-award but was criticized by some as heavy on concepts and light on specific application to software development regarding how to implement the corresponding practices. This book fills that void, and shows how development organization can focus relentlessly on the rapid operational deliver of value across the entire system.
About the Reviewer
Brad Appleton is an enterprise SCM/ALM solution architect for a Fortune 100 technology company. Currently he helps projects and teams adopt and apply agile development & SCM practices. Brad also author's the Agile CM Environments blog, and is co-author of Software Configuration Management Patterns: Effective Teamwork, Practical Integration, the "Agile SCM" column in CM rossroads.com's CM Journal, and is a former section editor for The C++ Report. Since 1987, Brad has extensive experience using, developing, and supporting SCM environments for teams of all shapes and sizes. He holds an M.S. in Software Engineering and a B.S. in Computer Science and Mathematics.
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by Mary & Tom Poppendieck
