Carefully researched over ten years and eagerly anticipated by the agile community, Crystal Clear: A Human-Powered Methodology for Small Teams is a lucid and practical introduction to running a successful agile project in your organization. Each chapter illuminates a different important aspect of orchestrating agile projects.
Highlights include
Attention to the essential human and communication aspects of successful projects
Case studies, examples, principles, strategies, techniques, and guiding properties
Samples of work products from real-world projects instead of blank templates and toy problems
Top strategies used by software teams that excel in delivering quality code in a timely fashion
Detailed introduction to emerging best-practice techniques, such as Blitz Planning, Project 360º, and the essential Reflection Workshop
Question-and-answer with the author about how he arrived at these recommendations, including where they fit with CMMI, ISO, RUP, XP, and other methodologies
A detailed case study, including an ISO auditor's analysis of the project
Perhaps the most important contribution this book offers is the Seven Properties of Successful Projects. The author has studied successful agile projects and identified common traits they share. These properties lead your project to success; conversely, their absence endangers your project.
User review
Extremely Insightful
A very good book, but it was a stretch to get it to 300 pages. The first chapter threw me for a loop the way it was structured and the last chapter, a case study, was a dud. While the team size for Crystal should be 8 or less, a case study with 1.5 developers doesn't sound like a very good case study. However, the chapters in between were excellent. Cockburn admittedly structured each chapter differently attempting to cater to different readers. It gave me some insights into how a successful team should interact and was very complementary to the other Agile documentation that I've seen. I definitely liked his guidance on Walking Skeleton and Incremental Re-architecture. It helped me reinforce the concept of an Architectural Slice that I've been conveying to the folks on the large Java project that I'm currently working on.
User review
A practical wise guide for high-productivity software development with small teams
Alistair Cockburn is a scholar of software methods, especially agile methods. These focus on behaviors that produce software successfully in light of environmental pressures such as resource limitations or uncertain requirements. This book describes an approach to achieving high productivity with teams of under a dozen people, especially those where risks associated with failure are minor. He breaks the world into different levels of risk (from minor discomfort to loss of life) and size of development team (from under a dozen to hundreds). Crystal Clear focuses on the set of small and minor risks, but it's broadly applicable. He identifies 3 most important qualities the method achieves: safety, productivity, and habitability. To address these he identifies 7 method features, 3 of which are critical: frequent delivery, reflective improvement, and osmotic communication. The other 4 are desirable but not always essential. The book is a delight to read, very practical, and full of wisdom.
User review
Yet another tool in the Agile toolbox!
The `Agile` umbrella includes multiple approaches/lenses from which to view, practice and evolve software and teams. Alistair's material offers an additional lens. So when reading this material, I don't believe it was ever his intent for people to pick up Crystal and say `This is it`. Rather, this material offers an alternative framework of thought that would nicely meld/synthesize with other characteristics/practices/behaviors under the Agile umbrella of software evolution. I've not personally applied the material yet ,, but could see it's inter-relationship to those things I do currently practice today under the Agile space.
User review
Great book
I love this book. Recommended read for anyone who has to obtain requirements form customers. The book also has many team building elements and a great Agile roadmap.
User review
Excellent Writing
Cockburn's writing style is fluid, the agile development topic is interesting, and his experience is very valuable.
