Head First Agile: A Brain-Friendly Guide to Agile Principles, Ideas, and Real-World Practices

I purchased this book to prepare for the PMI-ACP and it was great. Besides reading the content outline provided by PMI, this was my only study material. It communicates the material in a fun way and applies real world scenarios which is how the test is structured. Below is the method I used to study over a 6 week period: 1. Read through the book once and taking the exams after each chapter. 2. Did the final exam. Got 82% the first time. 3. Went back through the book for only the main topics (highlighted or bold) 4. Did the exams each time again 5. Went back but only for the bulleted points in each chapter. 6. Took the final exam again. 94% this time. In the week leading up to the test, I barely read any more material. I felt good about where I was and was ready for the test. I tested above target in every area. I also have a PMP so the test structure was familiar to me but of course the content is different. This test isn't as difficult as the PMP, especially if you have experience in agile projects but this book was definitely necessary to grasp the concepts. I didn't do a lot of the chapter exercises because I have the Kindle version of the book so a little difficult to do stuff like crossword puzzles. But I would recommend to do those as well.

I used the Head First PMP book to study for my PMP exam. I liked it so much that this was the first book I looked for when I decided to earn my PMI-ACP certification. The format was familiar, which I liked. The authors go through the various concepts in a fun, easy-to-read way. I found the practice exam to be really helpful. Some of the questions were more challenging than the actual exam. Overall, the questions were formed like the real exam and really emphasized learning the concepts and mindset rather than simply focusing on memorization. It may be because I already had agile experience, or because I already had other agile certifications, but I didn't find this book to be quite as useful as the Head First PMP book. I went back to the Joseph Phillips course to identify and explore the different domains. That being said, I found it useful enough, and recommend it to others - particularly those with less experience. The practice exam alone makes it worth it, but I like the authors' approach to learning. Make sure you do all the exercises. This makes the information really sink in. I read through the book twice and went through the Phillips course twice, and passed the exam on my first attempt above target on 6 domains, and at target on one domain. If you need to learn about Agile, or you are studying for the PMI-ACP exam, you should definitely get this book.

I rarely write reviews, as you can see by Amazon history. I'm really conflicted about this book. The Pros - I passed the PMI-ACP in about a month from purchase using only this book (read the book and took all the practice tests) and also scored "above target" in all of the 7 Agile disciplines in the test. The Cons - I'm not sure the book helped that much, the test didn't seem to match up to the material. I don't think I should list specific examples, but I was really surprised by the test content. But since I passed, I don't think I can give this book anything lower than a 4 star.

Great Book. Been using Lean-Agile for a while, and this book has the most concise coverage of all information sources I've used till date - books, training materials, blogs, podcasts, youtube, etc. And ofcourse its delivered in the Head-First brain-friendly format. Atleast in my case, a lot of what I read brought back memories of how I or someone else taught, used or practiced values, techniques, tools, etc. Got this book for a refresher/good-read on Agile, but as I read through it, decided to take the PMI-ACP as well. FYI, got certified today. My suggestion, whether or not you plan to take the certification, is to complete all exercises, even the exam ones. BTW, I've come to admire the PMI-ACP exam as I went through this exercise and know what its really worth.

I liked the tutorial treatment. I like the coverage. I disliked that there was not coverage for ALL methods Agile. Where was the Manifesto?

I used Head first to help with passing my PMP. I have just completed reading this book and was just as impressed. I have not taken my test yet as I have other prep material to finish but wholeheartedly recommend this book.

Head First style not for me. Information splattered all over the place and non-intuitively "organized". My brain probably doesn't process the "visually rich" style of these books. The index doesn't help much either. Not saying that I prefer "text-heavy", but a balance would have been nice such as that found in Rubin's book on Scrum (Essential Scrum) where the information is easier to find and the book follows a predictable structure with decent graphics. Still, I offer 3 stars since the book does offer a good deal of information, albeit haphazardly.

I was looking for something more practical/into the real world aspects of agile to help with exam prep and prepping a project team for going agile. It is nicely laid out with real world scenarios and the questions are helpful in prepping for exams.

Utile e “nuovo”

Although I bought this book a few months ago, I wanted to wait for this moment of having tasted certification success fresh today to write this review. I decided to go for this one after some initial hesitation for the same reason that people buy Android phones instead of iPhones. I had cleared my PMP 6 years ago and PMI-ACP was on my mind for quite a while since then. A few pages into the book and I realized that there couldn't be a better subject matter than Agile that is best suited for the Head First way of learning. Let me tell you this upfront. This book does NOT cover all the topics, tools and techniques listed in the PMI-ACP Examination Content outline, but certainly gets you ALMOST there and in a very reassuring manner that you don't mind relying on the thousands of resources available online to address the "last mile connectivity" issue. What I like the most about this book is that the learning about the Agile mindset and the concepts are likely to stick to your memory for a long-time, unlike what tends to happen when you use heavily verbose books. I religiously studied all the chapters, did all the exercises, crosswords and chapter-wise exams. After a couple of rounds of revision, also took the final practice exam from this book 2 days before my real exam and got exactly 70%. That was least comforting.. until I took the real exam, which, I felt, was much easier. I was hoping to just pass the exam, but ended up getting "Above Target" for 6 of the 7 domains and "Target" for one domain. I'd strongly recommend this book for both PMI-ACP aspirants and practical knowledge seekers alike to get a solid foundation in Agile concepts.

I used the book in order to help me for the preparation of the ACP exam. I had also a bootcamp with a mentor. I bought the book 1 week before the exam after 3 months of preparation and some of the questions were very similar. The book is friendly, easy to understand and very useful. 100% recommended !

I would be more than glad to write this review and you must read it if you're looking to write the PMI-ACP exam...This book is amazingly put together and well thought out for people who wish to prepare, write and pass the PMI-ACP exam. Head first is a different read, which makes the reader really understand the topic and concepts in the agile domain. Head First Agile book has a chapter, Chapter 7 "Preparing for the PMI-ACP® Exam: Check your knowledge" --> They warn you to go back and absorb the first 6 chapters of this book if you've scored low on the Practice Exam questions at the end of each chapter or if you're not familiar with the content. A nice thing about each chapter is the interactive end of chapter review with things like, JUDGMENT CALL, CROSS PUZZLE, and 17-20 EXAM like Questions. The PMI-ACP® exam is all about understanding real-world situations that happen to agile teams. You’ll be asked about what someone on an agile team should do when specific things happen on a project. You’ll be tested on your knowledge of different project situations, and how agile teams respond to those situations. "One approach that many questions on the exam take is to ask you about how an agile practitioner would respond to a specific situation. Handling questions like this is an important key to passing the exam." With this in mind, this chapter focuses on the details of the type of questions asked on the exam, in depth breakdown how the questions are constructed and how to approach it in finding the right answer. Chapter 9 is Practice PMI-ACP Exam loaded with 120 questions so it looks just like the one you’re going to see when you take the real thing. I have nothing but positive for this book and I'm glad I ordered it in passing the exam. I would highly recommend ordering this book over the Book by Mike Griffiths, 2nd Edition.

Pro: - Easy and fast to read and understand - Easy to learn the content and get into the agile mindset which is most important to pass the exam - Great learning tool with the real-life examples, quizzes and exam tips - Relevant topics for the exam are covered Contra: - The 120 question exam at the end are suddenly totally different (situational based and much harded) than the quizzes and exam questions after each chapter. I only got 67% on my first try, which was quite frustrating as I only had a couple of days left until the exam. I passed the exam with "above target" in 6 out of 7 domains. So I believe they made it especially hard to not overpromise. - I bought the book in 2021 and got the first edition from 2017. But it definitely needs an update. There are some typos but especially the practice exam should be updated, as I believe the actual exam questions also change over time. On top of an Udemy course I only bought this book and an Udemy practice exam. I definitely recommend this book but also to have multiple sources to study for the exam.