Scrum Master Reading List – My Top 5

There is a mountain of agile books out there, all waiting to be read. On the one hand that’s exciting and something to look forward to. On the other hand that can be overwhelming and discouraging.

The following is a demonstration of utmost self-restraint on my part: The 5 or less books that I recommend to you, if you’re new to Scrum and were cast into the role of Scrum master:

  • Kanban and Scrum – How to make the most of both” by Henrik Kniberg
    A very practical and concise guide to Scrum that will also teach you that Scrum is not the only agile process out there
  • The Goal” by Eliyahu M. Goldratt
    To “get” systems thinking, theory of constraints and the value of ongoing improvement and small shippable increments
  • Crucial Conversations” by Kerry Patterson et al
    You’ll need all the talking skills you can get!
    (Okay, I’ll admit it: Here I cheat with the 5-limit. I hope you’ll read the 2 subsequent books by the same authors, once you read this one.)
  • Facilitator’s Guide to Participatory Decision-Making” by Sam Kaner et al
    Learn how to facilitate effective meetings (and what an effective meeting is)
  • Agile Retrospectives” by Esther Derby and Diana Larsen
    For me retrospectives are the coolest aspect of Scrum; the one tool that I will try to implement everywhere I’ll go, agile or not, because it’s the key to working better

Have fun reading!

PS: If books take too long, try @scrumology‘s Scrum Addendum newsletter, to receive answers to frequent Scrum questions over a period of 3 months.

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