Praise

“I think of this highly practical and immediately applicable book as the lost instruction manual to the most powerful and effective Agile tool we don’t even realize we have: Conversations. If you want to be successful with Agile, RTFM: Read This Fabulous Manual.”

—Alberto Savoia, Google’s first Director of Engineering and Author of The Right It

“Agile Conversations provides much needed guidance on how to have the key discussions that form the foundation for strong and resilient working relationships, as well as a toolbox full of techniques for troubleshooting when conversations go awry. Full of practical, real-world examples, this book is a must read for anyone who has ever been frustrated or puzzled by interactions at work.”

—Elisabeth Hendrickson, Technology Executive and Author of Explore It!

“Many books have been written about improving process and product in companies. I’m so glad this book finally addresses the people aspect: Learn to ask the hard questions, leave your bias at the door, and improve your own communication with this practical guide. If it’s hard, do it more often!”

—Patrick Debois, Founder of DevOpsDays and Co-Author of The DevOps Handbook

“This book provides an engineer’s approach to monitoring, troubleshooting, and debugging conversations .... Heuristics such as the Question Fraction are amazing—at the same time simple and memorable and incredibly insightful. Read this book to turn your communication skills into superpowers.”

—Gojko Adžić, Author, and Partner at Neuri Consulting

“Vital reading for anyone in a leadership role or interested in improving their work culture in general.”

—Andy Skipper, Chief Coach at CTO Craft

“If you’re looking for a practical framework and techniques that will help fix broken team communication and dysfunctional culture, then you should read Agile Conversations. Going beyond simple diagnosis, this handbook walks you through the Five Conversations you need to embrace in order to transform a broken culture into one that’s healthy and high-performing.”

—Paul Joyce, Founder and CEO, Geckoboard

“Squirrel and Jeffrey’s keen writing and battle-tested techniques make this book a must-read for modern engineering leaders looking to thrive amid the explosion of complexity that we all face.”

—Chris Clearfield, Co-Author of Meltdown: What Plane Crashes, Oil Spills, and Dumb Business Decisions Can Teach Us About How to Succeed at Work and at Home

“This is a very wise and yet readable book. The authors have hit the nail on the head by focusing on better conversations as the way to translate theory into organizational improvement.”

—Rich Koppel, Co-Founder and CEO of TIM Group

“It’s one of the industry’s dirty little secrets that most of our ‘technology’ problems are actually people problems. In Agile Conversations, Jeffrey and Squirrel assert that solving these problems is made possible by having better conversations, presenting their advice in a manner which fellow technologists will find reassuringly structured and categorized.”

—Jon Topper, Founder & CEO, The Scale Factory

“It takes conviction and skill to change company culture. Agile Conversations provides the road map to summon your courage and avoid the hazards on your path to success! A masterpiece for any CEO wanting to build a collaborative, cooperative organization!”

—Brent Delehey, Turnaround Specialist, CEO

“This book is an extremely helpful and practical guide on how to read between your own lines, and make it safe for others to reveal the fears between theirs.”

—Rebecca Williams, Software Engineer at QA Chef