Table Of ContentThe Dream Team Nightmare
Boost Team Productivity Using Agile Techniques
by Portia Tung
Version: P1.0 (December 2013)
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To Snow Dragon
For making dreams come true
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments
Preface
How to Use This Book
I. Begin the Adventure
II. Appendices
A1. Who’s Who
A2. LinkedIn: Jim Hopper
A3. Glossary
A4. Bedtime Reading
A5. Tools and Exercises Reference
Copyright © 2013, The Pragmatic Bookshelf.
What Readers Are Saying About The
Dream Team Nightmare
Engaging and fun to read, the Dream Team Nightmare is jam-packed with fresh
ideas and techniques that are easy to adopt. It’s also a great springboard for
follow-up reading on the bigger ideas, such as systems thinking. I would heartily
recommend it to everyone to share with their teams.
→Victoria Morgan-Smith, Scrum master
The Dream Team Nightmare is a breath of fresh air in comparison to other books
out there on project theory and process. It provides you with a wealth of
information to make better decisions on your project.
→James Major, project manager, Network Rail
The Dream Team Nightmare is a crash course in Agile. I strongly recommend it
to all readers involved in building software products, from technical to product
people.
→Dyan Corutiu, software developer
The Dream Team Nightmare is an innovative and entertaining read that helped
me learn some new ideas and techniques, had me thinking about how I work,
and kept me wanting to continue the adventure.
→Karl Scotland, agile coach, Rally Software
The Dream Team Nightmare is packed with tips and concrete techniques for how
to do just about everything an agile coach does. Portia’s entertaining book is
totally unlike any other agile book you’ve ever read.
→Liz Sedley, author of Agile Coaching
This is the most fun read I’ve had in a long time. I anticipate that it will have the
same dramatic effect for agile methods as The Goal did for systems thinking.
You should read it at least twice: once for enjoyment and a second time for
deeper learning.
→ Matt Gelbwaks, transformation coach, North Main LLC
The Dream Team Nightmare shows in a gentle-yet-concrete way how an Agile
coach works. A great book for anyone working to introduce agile to others.
Michael McCullough, founder of Tastycupcakes.org, executive technical
→
director at Quadrus Development
The game of life is to try, learn, and adapt through small and frequent
experiments. The palette of problems and creative solutions will surprise
experienced agile practitioners as well as new enthusiasts.
→ Staffan Nöteberg, author of Pomodoro Technique Illustrated
Acknowledgments
The colorful story of The Dream Team Nightmare has come to life thanks to all
the people and teams I’ve worked with and learned from in the past decade.
Special thanks to everyone who has encouraged me to have fun and keep
writing, including Michael McCullough, Paul Field, Staffan Nöteberg, Özlem
Yuce, Matt Gelbwaks, Liz Sedley, Lesley Rantell Seldon, Karl Scotland, Jenni
Jepsen, James Major, Carsten Ruseng Jakobsen, Ben Seldon, Carolyn Donovan,
Claire Hannon, Victoria Morgan-Smith, Graham Lee, Filippo Macchiettini, Antti
Kirjavainen, David Peterson, Dan Talpău, Monika Koscian, Steve Hollings,
Thorsten Kalnin, Alissa Fingleton, Maria Bortes, Dyan Corutiu, Tamas Jano,
Ioana Jano, Chris Hogben, Kate Newdigate, Simon Parkinson, Sandro Mancuso,
Pete Thomas, Mazda Hewitt, Vera Peeters, Pascal Van Cauwenberghe, Jenni
Jepsen, Yves Hanoulle, Steve Holyer, Derek Graham, Clarke Ching, Phil
Trelford, Markku Ahman, Kevlin Henney, Olaf Lewitz, Pat Kua, Eoin Woods,
Simon Brown, Nat Pryce, Jens Hoffmann, Benjamin Tung, Linda Yung, Bill
Tung, Annie Luk, Chantal Ellam, Sara Lewis, Sharmila Sabaratnam, Steven
Smith, and Chris Bird. Thank you also for your endless gifts of feedback.
Last, but not least, many thanks to the Pragmatic Bookshelf team for introducing
me to the art of publishing.
Copyright © 2013, The Pragmatic Bookshelf.
Preface
Welcome to The Dream Team Nightmare, an agile adventure. As an agile
adventurer, you’ll meet a whole host of characters in lots of different scenarios.
You’ll be faced with many challenges, and your success will depend on the
quality of the decisions you make.
During this agile adventure, you get to decide what to do. Once you’ve made
your choice, turn to the corresponding section to find out what happens next.
Keep reading until you have to make your next decision. Repeat these steps until
you reach the end of your adventure.
Each adventure is a test of your skills, knowledge, and experience. Unlike in the
real world, if at first you don’t succeed, you can start all over again.
They say luck is when opportunity meets preparation. Be prepared and good
luck!
Copyright © 2013, The Pragmatic Bookshelf.
How to Use This Book
Before setting off on this agile adventure...
If you’re new to agile or want to learn more about the basics of agile, I suggest
first reading one or both of the following books:
The Scrum Guide by Jeff Sutherland and Ken Schwaber (16 pages). This
can be downloaded for free from: https://www.scrum.org/Scrum-Guides
Scrum and XP from the Trenches by Henrik Kniberg (130 pages). This is
also a free download from: http://www.infoq.com/minibooks/scrum-xp-
from-the-trenches
If you’ve worked on one or more agile projects, then jump right in. As you read
the book, you may find unfamiliar terms and concepts. You’ll find definitions
for these in the glossary toward the end of the book. If you find there’s a lot of
unfamiliar terminology, I suggest you take a break to read The Scrum Guide to
make your journey more enjoyable.
Begin the adventure.
Copyright © 2013, The Pragmatic Bookshelf.
Description:This first-ever interactive Agile Adventure is the gripping tale of an experienced team struggling with agile adoption. In this unique mashup of a business novel written in the gamebook format, you'll overcome common yet daunting challenges that come from using agile methods. As Jim, the agile coach
