"Great books give you advice you can follow, and Scrum Shortcuts without Cutting Corners most definitely does. Written to suit newcomers or experienced practitioners who have a healthy interest in Scrum, the knowledge contained in this book can be game changing. Ilan Goldstein shares his extensive global experience to produce a well written and valuable insight into practicing and sustaining effective agile practices."
-Kevin Austin, Agile coach and transition lead, Fortune 50 investment bank
"A software team succeeds because it has the right people who are allowed to do their best work. Understanding the patterns and anti-patterns (my favorite anti-pattern-'test sprint') in this guidebook will help you know who the right people are and how to help them work well. These shortcuts focus on people, and that's why they work. Get your team (and the rest of your company) reading and discussing this today."
-Lisa Crispin, coauthor with Janet Gregory, of Agile Testing: A Practical Guide for Testers and Agile Teams
"Ilan Goldstein has earned a loyal following in the Agile community for his no nonsense advice and practical solutions that deliver real results for teams. I'm thrilled that he's been able to distill this expertise into a book that's rich with insights and also very readable. I can't wait to use all his best ideas in my own practice!"
-Pete Deemer, CEO of Stormglass and author of The Scrum Primer
"This book is an outstanding reference for anyone using Scrum to build software. Whether you are an experienced practitioner or a beginner just starting out, you'll find something worthy in here that you can learn and apply right away. Ilan's casual and engaging writing style describes perfectly the real-world challenges that you may face when using Scrum, and gives you practical guidance for working through them."
-Ryan Dorrell, CTO, AgileThought
"I especially like the essay style. It invites me to skip around to find topics of interest, and makes it easy to find what Ilan thinks about things. Ilan takes us over ground we've covered before, but he gives us a fresh look at things. Very valuable!"
-Ron Jeffries, coauthor of The Agile Manifesto and founder of xprogramming.com
"Scrum is not a solution. Your solution will only become clear through a journey of inspection and adaptation. The journey is not straightforward, and you will make some mistakes as you try to customize Scrum to your organization. Ilan's work for me is a Hitch Hiker's Guide to Scrum, giving you insights, tools, approaches, and belief to support you. I really appreciate the openness in Ilan's stories and how he shares his experiences. I don't have to agree with every technique or idea, as Ilan is not trying to instruct. He is asking you to think; to challenge your assumptions and help you on your way."
-Martin Kearns, Scrum trainer and national Agile and innovation lead at SMS Management & Technology
"Most books about Scrum are on theory and speak from a distant third-person perspective. They are hard to read. Ilan has created the opposite. He has created a book that feels like a conversation. I kept nodding in recognition at all the real-world problems he identi