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Swap
In SWAP: Marketing without Money, Therese Tarlinton shares ways of growing your brand and marketing your products in the most professional manner. The author, having a background in marketing, understands the vital areas to cover that will assist the reader. Therese Tarlinton gets the reader to fully comprehend the technical terms by using familiar words and phrases that the average person can identify with. This informative book caters to readers of all levels and is especially helpful to beginners in entrepreneurship and marketing.
The author starts the book by discussing partnerships in marketing. In the first chapter, Tarlinton shares her journey when she began marketing in the 1990s, how she made a successful career in marketing with huge brands, and the different marketing styles and collaborations she used. Tarlinton goes out of her way to share the most impactful experiences in her career and how she has fared over the years. When narrating, she does not leave out any essential details. Instead, she tells it all and tells it in depth. While reading about partnership marketing, you get inspiration as a small business owner as the content the author writes about is applicable.
One of the well-written topics was on the different types of partnerships. I appreciate how the author defined and gave the differences between partnerships and influencer marketing, given how popular the latter has become. The discussions on this subject display another strength in Therese Tarlinton’s writing; her knack for solutions to recurrent branding and marketing affairs. The author gives practical solutions and engages the reader through tables and symbolic questions. Her style of interacting with her readers makes SWAP: Marketing without Money an essential read.
The arrangement of information is flawless. The writing is in prose, with points given in bullet form and others in numbered lists. I like the inclusion of famous quotes from renowned entrepreneurs and moguls in some chapters, as it was refreshing for the reader to start with words of wisdom. Therese Tarlinton mentally prepares the reader for the topic to be discussed before delving deeper into the subject matter. She does this by starting off every chapter lightly, then getting into technical topics where everything is explained to the reader.
This book is the perfect read for individuals looking for light reads that cover everything to do with marketing, branding, and selling yourself and your products. By the end of the reading, you realize that everything is possible if you have the right mindset. You do not need a big budget to become a massive brand; start small with the little resources, and make use of the tips shared by the author, and your business will flourish.
Pages: 170 | ASIN : B09RGSW7V8
Enterprise Agility
Sunil Mundra’s Enterprise Agility was written for people in the technology field or executives who want to grow their business and enterprises fast. Sunil Mundra focuses on subjects that would help any enterprise that yearns to expand and swiftly adapt to change. The author’s tone is professional and gives the reader an insight into how to manage an enterprise. His style of explaining is praiseworthy as the author uses easily comprehensible terms. Sunil Mundra selected crucial topics in the book, concentrating on specific areas when expounding on a topic. Through the text, you can tell that the author is an expert in this field and understands both the basics and technical sections when talking about enterprise agility.
Any company that gets into business aims to expand after a while. In his book, Sunil Mundra lists several reasons why companies and organizations fail to grow as expected, and offers suggestions on how to improve the growth rate of a business. Chapter two of the book carries some of the heaviest thoughts in Enterprise Agility. The author writes on everything from values and principles of agile, to the characteristics of enterprises with high agility. Some of the important components of agility that are discussed in the book include responsiveness, versatility, flexibility, resilience, innovativeness, and adaptability. The author gives practical examples that readers can relate to, which I felt improved my understanding.
Besides agility, one can also read Enterprise Agility as a leadership book. The author shares the qualities of good leadership and gives examples of how leaders can create a friendly environment that involves every stakeholder in the enterprise. Enterprise Agility is a great book for chief executives and everyone in management or parties that want to get the highest seat at the table. One of the many things I learned from the book is that people with an agility-oriented mindset willingly share knowledge with others and do not treat knowledge as a source of power.
Reading this book will open your mind and enlighten you on issues that you had perhaps ignored. The author knows how to deliver his points well. After reading this book, the reader will learn how to focus on the areas to improve, adapting to changes, and how to use the best techniques to achieve the most in whatever one does. Sunil Mundra has the best words for you if you want to enhance enterprise agility. All the valuable lessons are in the book. Change begins from within and by progressing in one’s area of expertise. I recommend this book to readers that have an entrepreneurial spirit and want to build their agile mindset.
Pages: 492 | ASIN: B0788T1PSN
That Fantastic Agile Transformation Experience
Scott M. Graffius Author Interview
Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions tackles project management in an approachable way that I found to be highly enlightening. How has your experience in project management helped you write this book?
I am thankful for all of the disruptors, innovators, and visionaries who contributed to the colorful heritage of agile and Scrum. In particular, I thank Hirotaka Takeuchi and Ikujiro Nonaka. Scrum was modeled after their groundbreaking paper, “The New New Product Development Game,” published in the Harvard Business Review in 1986. My book was informed by their article and 115 additional sources—listed in the bibliography—along with my first-hand experience launching Scrum in organizations.
I’m the Founder and CEO of Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions, an Inc. Verified Business, which helps our clients achieve their business needs through world-class project leadership. I had the privilege to work with a client in a division of a global entertainment business on their successful journey for improved responsiveness to changing business needs, faster delivery speed, higher satisfaction, and continuous improvement—which made them even more competitive and fueled their growth. That fantastic agile transformation experience and result was the inspiration for my book. I thank that client.
I also helped diverse organizations achieve their business needs through project management related services prior to Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions. I’m a former vice president of a provider of diverse consumer products and services over the Internet including social networking and internet access. Before that, I worked in organizations with businesses ranging from advanced technology products and services to business services, retail, e-commerce, manufacturing, and entertainment. I have experience with consumer, business, reseller, government, and international customer markets, as well as international experience spanning 20 countries.
In addition to hands-on experience, a deep understanding of project management (project, program, portfolio, and PMO management—inclusive of agile, traditional, and hybrid frameworks), engagements with professional associations, involvement with global standards, knowledge of leading practices, and professional credentials also shaped what and how information was presented in the book. Some examples follow. I have a bachelor’s degree in Psychology with a focus in Human Factors. I hold six certifications: Certified Scrum Professional (CSP), Certified ScrumMaster (CSM), Certified Scrum Product Owner (CSPO), Project Management Professional (PMP), IT Service Management Foundation (ITIL), and Lean Six Sigma Green Belt (LSSGB). And I’m proud to be a member of the Scrum Alliance, Project Management Institute (PMI), Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), IEEE Computer Society, IEEE Consumer Electronics Society, IEEE Broadcast Technology Society, IEEE Internet of Things Community, and the IEEE Consultants Network.
I owe a tremendous debt to the technical editors: Chris Hare and Colin Giffen. Each offered insights that greatly improved Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions. I thank them for helping to make this book more clear, consistent, and valuable.
Agile Scrum is often used in technology projects, but do you think Agile Scrum can have a wider application?
Shifting customer needs are common in today’s marketplace. Businesses must be adaptive and responsive to change while delivering an exceptional customer experience to be competitive. Traditional development and delivery frameworks are often ineffective. In contrast, Scrum is a value-driven agile approach which incorporates adjustments based on regular and repeated customer and stakeholder feedback. And Scrum’s built-in rapid response to change leads to substantial benefits such as fast time-to-market, higher satisfaction, and continuous improvement—which supports innovation and drives competitive advantage.
Agile and Scrum were once the sole domain of software development. However, the benefits and results have not gone unnoticed by others. Practices are being adopted by additional departments and industries. The State of Scrum Report: 2017 Edition revealed that 21% of Scrum projects are run by departments outside of Technology such as Marketing, Finance, and Sales. And a New York Timesarticle in 2016—”The New Workplace is Agile, and Nonstop. Can You Keep Up?”—noted agile’s use in diverse industries. Examples ranged from a museum in Sydney, Australia, to an automobile dealership in Maine. Agile/Scrum is being used broadly.
What is one common misconception you find people have about the Agile Scrum methodology?
There are different frameworks supporting the development and delivery of products and services, and most methodologies fall into one of two broad categories: traditional or agile. Traditional practices (sometimes called waterfall) engage sequential development, while agile involves iterative and incremental deliverables. Organizations are increasingly embracing Scrum—the most popular agile framework—to manage projects, and best meet their business needs of rapid response to change, fast delivery speed, and more.
There’s a widely-held view that agile is new. But agile was used decades before it became well-known. A few examples follow. Software was developed in half-day iterations in 1958 for Project Mercury, the United States’ first human spaceflight program. Harlan Mills of IBM promoted in 1968 that “software development should be done incrementally, in stages with continuous user participation and replanning.” In 1980, Tom Gilb introduced the Evolutionary Delivery Model, an incremental alternative to traditional development.
While agile (which includes Scrum) is not new, many innovators and visionaries have advanced principles and practices over time. For those who would like to learn more, there’s a one-minute video—”Agile Has a Long and Colorful Heritage”—at https://vimeo.com/259429846.
What is the next book that you are working on and when will it be available?
I have two works in the pipeline. Currently, however, there is no detail on content or publication dates for future books.
Author Links: Twitter | Facebook | Website | Blog | Video Channel | Instagram | Pinterest
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Deliver Products in Short Cycles with Rapid Adaptation to Change, Fast Time-to-Market, and Continuous Improvement―Which Supports Innovation and Drives Competitive Advantage
Shifting customer needs are common in today’s marketplace. Businesses must be adaptive and responsive to change while delivering an exceptional customer experience to be competitive.
There are a variety of frameworks supporting the development of products and services, and most methodologies fall into one of two broad categories: traditional or agile. Traditional practices such as waterfall engage sequential development, while agile involves iterative and incremental deliverables. Organizations are increasingly embracing agile to manage projects, and best meet their business needs of rapid response to change, fast delivery speed, and more.
Agile Scrum is for those interested or involved in innovation, project management, product development, software development or technology management. It’s for those who have not yet used Scrum. It’s also for people already using Scrum, in roles such as Product Owners, Scrum Masters, Development Team members (business analysts, solution and system architects, designers, developers, testers, etc.), customers, end users, agile coaches, executives, managers, and other stakeholders. For those already using Scrum, this guide can serve as a reference on practices for consideration and potential adaptation.
Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions
![Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions by [Graffius, Scott M.]](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51BP2RybPKL.jpg)
Proper project management is essential in a business. The many moving parts need to be well oiled for a smooth ride. One therefore needs to be able to adapt to unpredictable changes in business. The traditional methodology of project management is sequential and focuses on predicting issues and having set ways to deal with them. The other project methodology is agile, which is a flexible, collaborative, and incremental process.
This book is about an agile framework called scrum. The idea is to focus on making the team adaptive to change. The framework appreciates requirement volatility. This is the prevalence of customer wants and preferences to change. Scrum instills an understanding that changes cannot be fully understood or foreseen. Rather than try to predict and understand the changes, this framework prepares the team to appropriately deal with such changes.
Agile scrum is more widely used in Software development but the author does a good job of generalizing it. Making it the go to framework for every project manager regardless of industry. The book highlights the versatility of scrum beautifully.
The subject matter is a bit complex. However, Scott M. Graffius breaks it down into little chewable bits before delving deep into each, taking it apart grain by grain. This method is greatly useful as it makes a daunting ideology easy to take in and implement. With this book, one can expertly introduce scrum into their business environment and confidently tackle any hurdle. It outlines all the basics in simple language and prose. The book is also greatly useful for people who are already using scrum. It makes for an excellent reference material for those that are already scrum certified or are preparing to be.
Using visual aids in addition to text greatly enhances the material. It makes for a more interactive and engaging experience. It makes the process of understanding the subject matter smoother for everyone whether beginner or veteran. Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step by Step Instructions offers a myriad of supplemental resources. Materials that one can use in addition to the book to better understand and use the scrum framework. It walks one through every step from vision to team formation to creating the product narrative up to release.
Unlike other books on the market, this one offers an informal look at scrum without losing its practicality. The tone is conversational thus does not feel like a textbook, and provides numerous examples and insight into real world implementation of scrum. I would recommended this to anyone looking to change their project management framework or work out knots in their current system. Scott M. Graffius delivers an in depth understanding of the subject matter and instills the same in the reader.
Pages: 156 | ASIN: B01FZ0JIIY
LITERARY TITAN 