James Coplien is one of a unique person. This is a key book in helping make a sense regarding Agile. Is not a book full of platitudes. Is a wonder for me that a lot of so called Scrum people do not know his work.

I came across this book some time ago and, to be frank, was put off by the title. Now that I've had a chance to read it properly, and as the authors agree, there is nothing specific to "Agile" in this book at all. What I can say, is that this book is one of the best books I've ever read on organizational patterns, period. And there are 100 patterns to choose from. This book is very well written and entertaining throughout - a pleasure to read. I can't recommend it highly enough for those of us that have to deal with the politics inside organizations, as well as the technical aspects.

Well organized for quick hit reads. Use it all the time to read a specific pattern or two that helps stimulate thoughts about how my teams are functioning

This is an outstanding book that distills years of experience into a system, a pattern language, that names, organizes, and relates together, many of the experiences and realities that those of us in the world of development have to deal with all of the time. As one who has functioned at many levels in development, I was able to recognize and appreciate most of the patterns. The only cavil I might have is that section 6.2 and on really pulls together what the book is about, and it seemed that it, or some version of it, really belonged in chapter 1.

I like the Alexander pattern language format used in this book. Easy to follow. Personally, first book to lay it out how to gauge organizational health and the steps needed to fix.

The most insightful guide to understanding how people operate in not just Agile teams and not just in software development but in many working groups. It's amazing to see how many patterns you've always known about and had just not named. This book has them and names them.

This is a substantial but easy and enjoyable read due to the succinct structure of each of the 100 patterns. As other reviewers have noted, it's chock-full of nuggets. My favorites:

All the patterns are built on the foundational pattern "Community of Trust," which requires dealing honestly and courageously with personal and organizational shortcomings. For too many organizations this is not possible until the crisis of a foreign element.

"Organizations run by professional managers tend to have repeatable business processes but don't seem to reach the same productivity plateaus as organizations run by engineers." Managers are administrators, not producers. Maybe they should be paid less than the producers.

"A thread that runs through all of our patterns (and that is fundamental to the principles of the pattern languages presented here) is the focus on product...the focus explicitly is not on process."

"When I was in fourth grade...we had a spelling test every Friday. Our teacher told us that if everyone got a perfect score...she would bring each of us a candy bar...There was no hope for us with [Jimmy] in the class...we all gave special help and encouragement to Jimmy. On Friday, when everyone got a perfect score, it was hard to tell whether we were more excited about the candy bar or about Jimmy's success." Reward teams, if teams are what you want.

And "strive to tangibly tie financial rewards to the market success that results from the fruits of an individual's labor." You think you have an adequate bonus structure? How about "bonuses that are on the same order of magnitude as annual compensation?"

How serious are you about a high-performing organization? Here are 100 tried and true patterns to jump-start your success.