More Effective Agile
More Effective Agile: A Roadmap for Software Leaders is available now! Here, you’ll find resources, courses, and keynotes based on Steve McConnell’s newest book. Read what reviewers are saying.
The Book
This new book from Steve McConnell, award-winning author of Code Complete and Software Estimation, distills real-world experience with hundreds of companies into an easy-to-read guide to the modern Agile practices that work best.
More Effective Agile Resources
Download the resources listed in the book and stay up to date on new resources added.
More Effective Agile Courses
Learn how to take the concepts from More Effective Agile and apply them. Let our depth of experience illuminate your team’s path.
More Effective Agile Consulting
Learn about how we can help with Agile Transformations, Agile Metrics, Agile Tune-Ups, and Agile Reviews.
More Effective Agile Keynotes
Schedule an in-person or virtual keynote with Steve McConnell.
Praise For More Effective Agile
“Whether you are a manager or an executive, and whether you are just starting your transformation to Agile or looking to improve it, you will find practical advice rooted in good research and wide experience.”
—Shaheeda Nizar, Engineering Leader, Google
“Makes the core concepts of cutting-edge Agile development accessible and relevant to leaders, while providing a business/value-centric view.”
—John Reynders, Vice President, R&D Strategy, Program Management and Data Sciences, Alexion Pharmaceuticals
“This book makes clear that Agile is a set of practices determined by outcomes that are important to your business, not merely a prescriptive set of rituals to be performed.”
—Glenn Goodrich, VP, Product Development Practice, Skookum
“Its 28 key principles are an excellent ‘cheat sheet’ of arguably the most valuable lessons learned in software product development over the last four decades. The book brings these principles into sharp focus by weaving together theory and practice and using lucid language and visuals.”
—Xander Botha, Technical Director, Demonware
“Makes clear that Agile can (with the right approach) be surprisingly effective in contexts that have historically assumed sequential development, such as when predictability is critical or in a regulatory context.”
—Charles Davies, CTO, TomTom
“Uniquely easy to read for technical and non-technical audiences, bridging the gap to a common understanding of Agile.”
—Sunil Kripalani, Chief Digital Officer, OptumRx
“Even Agile experts will find food for thought in this book that will reinvigorate their use of Agile methodologies.”
—Stefan Landvogt, Principal Software Engineer, Microsoft
“Many idealistic Agile approaches tend to fail in complex real-life situations. This book is a good guiding light through the maze of Agile adoption, describing what to look for (Inspect) and what to do about what you find (Adapt).”
—Ilhan Dilber, Director of Quality and Testing, CareFirst
“Refreshingly, this book avoids Agile dogma and explains how to use Agile practices suited to the needs of your business.”
—Brian Donaldson, President, Quadrus
“Predictability is often (mistakenly) seen as a trade-off to Agile instead of something Agile itself provides. The techniques outlined here are excellent suggestions that debunk that myth.”
—Lisa Forsyth, Senior Director, Smashing Ideas
“Succinct, practical, and tightly focused on delivering what the title promises, this book is especially valuable for software leaders who want to make their Agile processes more effective. It will also be very useful to leaders just starting or considering moving to Agile.”
—David Wight, Consultant, Calaveras Group
“A holistic overview of how to effectively implement agile and improve over time so that agile moves beyond just the adoption phase. Many books focus on how to get started, but few share the knowledge and specific tools to keep going.”
—Eric Upchurch, Principal Software Architect, Synaptech
“Brings together all aspects of creating modern software-intensive systems—technical, managerial, organizational, cultural, and human—into an easy-to-understand, coherent, and actionable whole based on real experience.”
—Giovanni Asproni, Principal Consultant, Zuhlke Engineering Ltd
“Great advice on how to tackle the larger organizational aspects required to make Agile work, such as the Agile boundary, change management models, portfolio management, and predictability vs. control.”
—Hiranya Samarasekera, VP of Engineering-Sysco LABS
“Concise and impactful presentation that offers something of value to every individual and company—primarily where software is a key component of what they do—and many of the concepts apply in a general sense for just about any business.”
—Barbara Talley, Director, Business Systems Analysts, Epsilon
“An authoritative source of information, best practices, challenges, actions, and further sources of knowledge. This book is a go-to resource for myself and my team. I sometimes struggle to explain Agile practices and how to make them effective; this book does so brilliantly.”
—Graham Haythornthwaite, VP of Technology, Impero Software
“More Effective Agile teaches you how to look at Agile as a set of tools to selectively bring to bear when the situation calls for it, rather than as an all-or-nothing proposition.”
—Timo Kissel, SVP Engineering, Circle Media
“This is an excellent book that finally answers the question ‘Why use Agile?’”
—Don Shafer, Chief Safety, Security, Health and Environment Officer, Athens Group
“For those getting started with Agile, go straight to the ‘More Effective Agile Adoptions’ section. I have seen far too many organizations go ‘all Agile’ without putting in the proper foundation to make it succeed.”
—Kevin Taylor, Sr. Cloud Architect, Amazon
“This is a tremendous book, filled with extremely useful information that even seasoned practitioners can learn from. This is the missing handbook for applying Agile practices pragmatically.”
—Manny Gatlin, VP of Professional Services, Bad Rabbit
“Cuts through the hype to tell me what works and what others have found useful, including soft issues around culture, people, and teams, as well as process and architecture. The depth of coverage is surprising given the size of the book!”
—Mike Blackstock, CTO, Sense Tecnic Systems
“An honest look at this 20-year-old methodology, and probably the first book that directly addresses managers and tells them what to do.”
—Sumant Kumar, Development Director (Engineering), Innovative Business Solutions Organization, SAP
“I appreciated the discussions on what motivates individuals and teams along with leadership traits that help in any environment. We often take for granted the human element and focus only on the procedural.”
—Dennis Rubsam, Senior Director, Seagate
“Leaders coming from a traditional project management culture often struggle to grasp Agile concepts. For them, More Effective Agile will be revealing.”
—Paul van Hagen, Platform Architect and Software Excellence Manager, Shell Global Solutions International B.V.
“Provides key insights not only into how to build an effective Agile team but also into how an organization’s leadership should relate to its development teams to ensure success.”
—Tom Spitzer, VP Engineering, EC Wise
“A much-needed update in the fast-changing world of software development, where across disparate industries there is an increasing urgency to deliver more, faster.”
—Kenneth Liu, Senior Director, Program Management, Symantec
“Provides valuable insights and lessons for all types of software development practitioners—Business Leaders, Product Owners, Analysts, Software Engineers, and Testers.”
—Melvin Brandman, Chief Technology Advisor–Human Capital and Benefits, Willis Towers Watson
“For leaders of existing Agile projects who want to improve or leaders who are adopting Agile, this book provides a comprehensive reference covering all aspects of Agile leadership.”
—Brad Moore, Vice President Engineering, Quartet Health
“A very valuable digest of principles that are proven to level up Agile teams. A lot of valuable experience—not just information—is packed into this single resource.”
—Dewey Hou, VP Product Development, TechSmith Corporation
“More Effective Agile is a great mirror for Agile implementation—hold your processes up to it to see both positives and negatives.”
—Matt Schouten, Senior Director of Product Development, Herzog Technologies
“I wish I had this book five years ago when I was rolling out the Agile adoption at our company. It clarifies (and predicts) many of the problems we experienced.”
—Mark Apgar, Manager Product Design, Tsunami Tsolutions
“Most companies probably think they have an ‘Agile’ development process, but they may be missing a lot of key pieces that could make their process better. McConnell draws from research on software development and his own experience at Construx and distills that knowledge into one concise resource.”
—Steve Perrin, Senior Development Manager, Zillow
“Addresses many of the issues we have struggled through over the years—would have been most helpful if it was available when we started our journey. The Suggested Leadership Actions are wonderful.”
—Barry Saylor, VP, Software Development, Micro Encoder Inc.
“More Effective Agile represents the culmination of 20 years’ experience with agile adoptions. Just as Code Complete became the definitive handbook for software developers in the 1990s, More Effective Agile will become the definitive handbook for agile leaders in the upcoming decade.”
—Tom Kerr, Embedded Software Development Manager, ZOLL Medical