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The Incredible Story of Deft (2nd ed.)

What Nobody Told You About Business Hype (Lean, Agile, etc.)

Tired of the hype surrounding alluring narratives of success and miracle-cure frameworks such as Lean, Agile, and all that jazz in software development and product development/management in general? This satirical business novel will help you to identify and deal with the root cause of failed change and improvement initiatives. Marvel, rage, scoff, laugh (or cry) by observing the interactions of fun characters at a 2-day workshop.

I wrote the first edition of this book a few years before I exited my corporate career in Central Europe, totally disillusioned by the nonsense I saw being peddled by “Agile coaches”, “Agile practitioners”, “Agilists”, “Scrum Masters”, “Lean experts”, “Design Thinking experts”, “Six Sigma Black Belts” and people with a whole parade of certifications next to their name, with very little experience on which to apply critical thinking and a nuance approach to one of the most complicated of human endeavors: development.

For years, I cringed again and again seeing people attempting to cargo-cult Toyota, Spotify, IDEO, Motorola and many others by copying and pasting ritualistic nonsense from books and business cases written with a hidden marketing agenda on business environments, forcing people into process straitjackets that diminish motivation, destroy autonomy, and pretend to instill a sense of purpose just because some other company, in some other industry, under different conditions does stand-ups, sprints, kanban, kindergarten-like regression workshops with building blocks, all the while occupying adults with process BS like filling in Jira tickets, all so that the company can claim that “it’s agile” now or “does Agile” or “is Lean”, and so on.

Whether you have lived through all this nonsense, are currently living in it, or have had the luck to never endure the endless hype, pedantry, hollow promises, and artful manipulation of the world of “business miracle cures”, such as Lean, Agile, Six Sigma, TQM, the second edition of this book aims to inoculate you against these perils.

The 2nd edition was entirely reworked in 2023 from the ground up, after the critical acclaim of the original article that led to the 1st edition that was on sale on Amazon KDP for some months, years ago.

This book lays bare the #1 root cause behind failed initiatives for sustainable change and lasting improvement: enduring (and in the worst cases, buying into and tying your professional identity to) business hype stirred by a rampant cottage industry of consultants peddling belts, certificates, trainings and projects to help your employer “become Deft”. It will surreptitiously teach you to identify anti-patterns to avoid, while also providing you with a nuanced understanding of common pitfalls—so that you can focus on what’s important, prevent busywork, and achieve better business results in a pragmatic manner.

Marvel, rage, scoff, laugh or cry, by observing the interactions of numerous fun and very different characters attending a 2-day training workshop that progressively uncovers the perils of relying passionately on alluring narratives of success and miracle cures for all that ails a business. Finally, find out the Deft faction you and your colleagues belong to, and ponder its implications for your work.

The book is available on Leanpub as PDF and ePub.