The rules & practices for Scrum a simple process for managing complex projects are few straightforward & easy to learn. But Scrum s simplicity itself its lack of prescription can be disarming & new practitioners often find themselves reverting to old project management habits & tools & yielding lesser results. In this illuminating series of case studies Scrum co-creator & evangelist Ken Schwaber identifies the real-world lessons the successes & failures culled from his years of experience coaching companies in agile project management. Through them you ll understand how to use Scrum to solve complex problems & drive better results delivering more valuable software faster. Gain the foundation in Scrum theory & practice you need to: Rein in even the most complex unwieldy projects Effectively manage unknown or changing product requirements Simplify the chain of command with self-managing development teams Receive clearer specifications & feedback from customers Greatly reduce project planning time & required tools Build & release products in 30-day cycles so clients get deliverables earlier Avoid missteps by regularly inspecting reporting on & fine-tuning projects Support multiple teams working on a large-scale project from many geographic locations Maximize return on investment! ...

Project retrospectives help teams examine what went right & what went wrong on a project. But traditionally retrospectives (also known as post-mortems") are only help at the end of the project
- too late to help. You need agile retrospectives that are iterative & incremental. You need to accurately find & fix problems to help the team today. Now Esther & Diana show you the tools tricks & tips you need to fix the problems you face on a software development project on an on-going basis. You'll see how to architect retrospectives in general how to design them specifically for your team & organization how to run them effectively how to make the needed changes & how to scale these techniques up. You'll learn how to deal with problems & implement solutions effectively throughout the project
- not just at the end. With regular tune-ups your team will hum like a precise world-class orchestra."

...

Agile Software Development is a highly stimulating & rich book. The author has a deep background & gives us a tour de force of the emerging agile methods." -Tom Gilb The agile model of software development has taken the world by storm. Now in Agile Software Development Second Edition one of agile's leading pioneers updates his Jolt Productivity award-winning book to reflect all that's been learned about agile development since its original introduction. Alistair Cockburn begins by updating his powerful model of software development as a "cooperative game of invention & communication." Among the new ideas he introduces: harnessing competition without damaging collaboration; learning lessons from lean manufacturing; & balancing strategies for communication. Cockburn also explains how the cooperative game is played in business & on engineering projects not just software development Next he systematically illuminates the agile model shows how it has evolved & answers the questions developers & project managers ask most often including * Where does agile development fit in our organization? * How do we blend agile ideas with other ideas? * How do we extend agile ideas more broadly? Cockburn takes on crucial misconceptions that cause agile projects to fail. For example you'll learn why encoding project management strategies into fixed processes can lead to ineffective strategy decisions & costly mistakes. You'll also find a thoughtful discussion of the controversial relationship between agile methods & user experience design. Cockburn turns to the practical challenges of constructing agile methodologies for your own teams. You'll learn how to tune & continuously reinvent your methodologies & how to manage incomplete communication. This edition contains important new contributions on these & other topics: * Agile & CMMI * Introducing agile from the top down * Revisiting "custom contracts" * Creating change with "stickers" In addition Cockburn updates his discussion of the Crystal methodologies which utilize his "cooperative game" as their central metaphor. If you're new to agile development this book will help you succeed the first time out. If you've used agile methods before Cockburn's techniques will make you even more effective." ...

Agincourt took place on 25 October 1415 & was a turning-point not only in the Hundred Years War between England & France but also in the history of weaponry. Azincourt (as it is now) is in the Pas-de-Calais & the French were famously defeated by an army led by Henry V. Henry Vs stunning victory revived Englands military prestige & greatly strengthened his territorial claims in France. The exhausted English army of about 9 000 men was engaged by 20 000 Frenchmen but the limited space of battle favoured the more compact English forces. The undisciplined charges of the French combined with the exceptional skill of the English archers contributed to a pivotal moment in European warfare. Not more than 1 600 English soldiers died; the French probably lost more than 6 000 men. Juliet Barkers shimmeringly brilliant narrative commemorates & analyses a canonical battle in British history. ...

Agnes Grey is a trenchant expose of the frequently isolated intellectually stagnant & emotionally starved conditions under which many governesses worked in the mid-nineteenth century. This is a deeply personal novel written from the author's own experience & as such Agnes Grey has a power & poignancy which mark it out as a landmark work of literature dealing with the social & moral evolution of English society during the last century. ...

When her family becomes impoverished after a disastrous financial speculation Agnes Grey determines to find work as a governess. This is a personal perspective on the desperate position of unmarried educated women in Victorian society. Agnes Grey" is undoubtedtedly a deeply personal novel in which Anne Bronte views on the contemporary issue of the treatment of governesses as well as her passionate religious sympathies find very deliberate expression; but she also touches on issues of moral behaviour moral responsibility & individual integrity & its survival." ...

Harper Collins is proud to present its range of best-loved essential classics. ' It is foolish to wish for beauty. Sensible people never either desire it for themselves or care about it in others. If the mind be but well cultivated & the heart well disposed no one ever cares for the exterior.' Anne Bronte's debut novel tells the story of Agnes Grey a young woman who is determined to seek work as a governess after her family becomes impoverished. Drawing upon her own experiences as a governess Anne describes the isolation insensitivity & occasional harsh treatment bestowed on women in her position by their employers & through Agnes demonstrates the resilience integrity & survival of one woman in the face of upper class snobbery & changing social values. ...

The Twentieth Edition takes The Agricultural Notebook into its third century; it has been thoroughly revised & updated to reflect the considerable changes in agricultural & rural practices & policies which have taken place since publication of the previous edition. The book is divided into four parts: Crops Management Animal Production & Farm Equipment. New sections added to this edition include: 1) A Marketing Perspective on Diversification 2) Organic Farming & 3) Farming & Wildlife. Since the first edition was compiled by Primrose Mc Connell in 1883 The Agricultural Notebook has become established as the standard work of reference for all those in the farming industry. With each edition it has evolved & changed in such a way as to provide agricultural scientists students of agriculture & related subjects farmers farm managers & land agents with an abundance of current information on all aspects of the business of farming. Many comments received from lecturers & students who have used previous editions of the book have been taken into account in producing the twentieth edition. The thirty contributing authors have fully updated chapters a new clearer layout has been adopted & much new information is included in easy--to--use tables & figures. The Agricultural Notebook is an essential purchase for all students of agriculture countryside & rural studies. Professionals such as farmers land agents agricultural scientists advisers suppliers to the agriculture industry & all those with a connection & interest in the agricultural community will find a huge wealth of information within the books covers. All libraries within universities colleges & research establishments where agricultural & rural sciences are studied & taught should have multiple copies of this important new edition on their shelves. ...

' She always had high hopes for him. Did he manage to graduate after his resits?' ' Him?! He's thick. Would be as useless as a lifeguard in a carwash.' This is a classic collection of the best humour that Scotland has to offer
- off-the-cuff & straight from the street. Packed full of wit & verbal gags you won't even believe most of them. Bestselling author Allan Morrison has spent months surreptitiously eavesdropping & collating over 500 of the best one-liners to produce this incredible collection an ideal stocking filler to help you chuckle Christmas away. ' When's the next bus then dearie?' ' Oh not for an hour.' ' Ach it'll not take me long to wait for that.'
...

More & more people are realising that as with all areas of life your results in sport depend crucially on your ability to use your mind effectively. Certainly many elite sports performers say that the mental aspects of the sport make the difference between being a champion or not. The way you use your mind determines the level of success & fulfilment you gain from sport whether at professional or recreational level. Ahead of the Game is written for sports coaches athletes & players of all levels who want to learn some leading edge yet tried & tested techniques & approaches to using your mind more effectively & helping others to do the same. It draws on many of the techniques from Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP) proven methods to achieve success. Ahead of the Game takes you through the techniques & approaches step by step & is full of practical exercises & examples of how these techniques have been used with athletes so that you can adapt the techniques to suit you. ...