The Scrum Master’s reading list

Books

Scrum is the most widely adopted Agile framework in the world. It is easy to understand and yet, difficult to master. This is a short list of great books on Agile, Scrum, and practices to become an effective Scrum Master.

Sprint Your Way to Scrum“, by B. Yelsangi, V. Zanini

Having trained thousands of professionals across the world and helped them implement Scrum in their organizations, the authors provide practical, succinct, and effective answers to 50 of the most common questions about Scrum. This book is for Scrum practitioners, Scrum Masters, Product Owners, and Agile Coaches who want to refine their expertise and to take Scrum to the next level.

Includes an interview with Jeff Sutherland, co-creator of Scrum.

www.sprintyourwaytoscrum.com

Sprint Your Way to Scrum book cover

Scrum and Agile foundations

Essential Scrum: A Practical Guide to the Most Popular Agile Process“, by Kenneth Rubin

Your Scrum Playbook, Fabian Schwarts, CST

Scrum: The Art of Doing Twice the Work in Half the Time“, by Jeff and JJ Sutherland

“A Scrum Book: the spirit of the game”, Jeff Sutherland, James O. Coplien

Scrum Master stories

Scrum Mastery: From Good to Great Servant-Leadership”, Geoff Watts, CST

The Scrum Master Playbook“, Sjoerd Nijland, Evelien Roos

Scrum for Hardware“, by Paolo Sammicheli

Agile coaching

“Coaching Agile Teams: A Companion for Scrum Masters, Agile Coaches, and Project Managers in Transition”, by Lyssa Adkins

Ask Powerful Questions: Create Conversations That Matter“, Will Wise, Chad Littlefield

Becoming a great Scrum Master

Agile Retrospectives: Making Good Teams Great“, by Esther Derby, Diana Larsen

Liftoff: Start and Sustain Successful Agile Teams“, by Esther Derby, Ainsley Nies

Innovation Games: Creating Breakthrough Products Through Collaborative Play“, by Luke Hohmann

Sprint Your Way to Scrum“, by B. Yelsangi, V. Zanini

Kanban and Lean

The Goal: A Process of Ongoing Improvement“, by Eliyahu M. Goldratt

The Machine That Changed the World: The Story of Lean Production“, by James Womack, Daniel Jones, Daniel Roos


Blogs and articles

Articles on Agile, Scrum, and coaching to deepen your knowledge in various areas and grow as a Scrum Master

Good Scrum Master-ship

The Scrum Master’s dark side: https://www.5dvision.com/post/the-scrum-master-dark-side/

Velocity, capacity, load: https://www.5dvision.com/post/velocity-capacity-load/

The Scrum Master’s role at Daily Scrum: https://medium.com/serious-scrum/the-scrum-masters-role-to-ensure-effective-daily-scrums-9f37352b7e08

Agile metrics – the good, the bad, and the ugly: https://age-of-product.com/agile-metrics-good-bad-ugly/

Coaching

“Coaching the uncoachable”, by Geoff Watts https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/coaching-uncoachable-geoff-watts/

Agile stories

Embracing Agile (HBR): https://hbr.org/2016/05/embracing-agile

Is Agile really worth it?(Forbes): https://www.forbes.com/sites/tracybrower/2019/10/06/is-agile-really-worth-it-evidence-says-yes-if-you-do-these-4-things/

Case studies and applications of Agile

How Agile Is Helping Unilever Go Forward Faster: https://www.forbes.com/sites/keithferrazzi/2020/06/17/how-agile-is-helping-unilever-go-forward-faster/

Scrum

Scrum Guide: https://www.scrumguides.org/

What is Scrum? (5D Vision): https://www.5dvision.com/post/what-is-scrum/

Scrum events (5D Vision): https://www.5dvision.com/post/the-scrum-events/

Scrum values: https://www.conceptsandbeyond.com/post/obey-the-principles-without-being-bound-by-them

What’s new in Scrum Guide 2020: https://www.5dvision.com/post/whats-new-in-the-scrum-guide-2020/

Scrum for Hardware: https://www.5dvision.com/post/scrum-for-hardware/

Agile failures and how to avoid

If Agile fails, blame Product Management: https://medium.com/@vzanini/if-agile-fails-blame-product-bd875d49350c

Hardening Sprints (anti-pattern): https://agilepainrelief.com/blog/antipattern-hardening-sprint.html

Large Product Backlog (anti-pattern): https://resources.scrumalliance.org/Article/scrum-anti-patterns-large-product-backlog

Support research

Systems thinking and productivity: https://less.works/less/principles/systems-thinking

Strategies for managing technical debt: http://www.designsmells.com/articles/four-strategies-for-managing-technical-debt/

Scrum Master job and career

From Project Manager to Scrum Master: https://www.mountaingoatsoftware.com/blog/from-project-manager-to-scrum-master-3-tips-for-making-the-transition


Reports

State of Agile Coaching Report

https://resources.scrumalliance.org/Article/state-agile-coaching-report

The impact of Agile quantified (2013)

http://maccherone.com/share/Impact%20of%20Agile%20Quantified%20-%202013%20edition.pdf


CSM practice exam

Are you preparing to take the Certified Scrum Master exam? We have created a CSM practice test to help you prepare.

Go to the CSM practice exam


Certified Scrum Master training

Interested in learning more about Scrum and becoming a Certified Scrum Master (CSM certification from Scrum Alliance)? Browse our CSM classes and find one that works for you.


Product Owner reading list

If you are interested in learning more about the Product Owner/Product Manager role, we have a list of books and articles for Product Managers too:

https://www.5dvision.com/post/the-product-managers-reading-list/

The Scrum Master’s reading list