Growing Up Fast

The first half of the book covers the philosophical underpinnings of complementary opposites in nature, human interaction, and the workplace. It surveys business management over the last 100 years and shows how we've come to the "Agile Age," which is not about big ideas Mad Men-style, but lots of little ideas to test and try.

The second half of the book discusses the mindsets and tools required for success in agile work, and examples are given throughout the text in the form of case studies on companies like Netflix, 3M, Microsoft, Domino's Pizza, and Dell Computer.

The introduction and conclusion of the book set up the metaphor of the book's title, to personify the current impasse between big regulation government and total free market capitalism. Agile is posed as a third option between the Mom and Dad's battle between over-planning and wild speculation, concern for the future and obsession with "what worked" in the past-as both occupy our resources without agile process or priorities for the innovations we need going forward in society.

Agile is portrayed as an inquisitive, experimental, brilliant child who still lives above the garage at her parents' house-and it's time for her to move out.

"There are also plenty, plenty of high-level remarks out there about how businesses need to be agile - with very little insight about how. Hey, we should all be rich and good-looking too...

But there have been few guides that address the gap between the fluffy and the functional.

Growing Up Fast: How New Agile Practices Can Move Marketing and Innovation Past the Old Business Stalemates by Jascha Kaykas-Wolff and Kevin Fann brilliantly spans that chasm." Scott Brinker @chiefmartec