I've had the opportunity to follow Scott Duncan's work for a few years now, and I enjoyed reading his new book, Understanding Agile Values 6t Principles. It is quite a feat to fit 18 valuable topics into 106 pages, while also ensuring the content is decoupled from any one agile framework. In my experience leading agile transformation, the biggest challenge has always been getting individuals and teams to focus on the values and principles that drive the mindset and behaviors that are essential for sustainable transformation. It is very common for individuals and teams (including leaders) to quickly shift the focus of transformation to methodologies and tools with the assumption that those are the silver bullets required for transformational change. As I read through the first few sections of Duncan's book, I was glad to see him take the reader all the way back to the set of intention and value statements in the Agile Manifesto - and why it still matters to understand and accurately interpret each of those intents. For example, Duncan explains how some teams seem to think documentation and agile development are at odds with one another. However, the signatories to the manifesto never expected the word 'over' that connects the left and right sections of the value statements to be interpreted as 'instead of.' This nuance is discussed very well in the book since this is fundamental to how teams apply the value statements in their work.
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