Books tell stories to teach us important lessons in a variety of ways. Many ‘howto’ type books tell us what to do in a logical, linear path from beginning to end. Some of these might have quizzes and exercises that help us to learn the materials. Portia Tung’s book The Dream Team Nightmare uses a different device to help us learn ‘howto’ be an agile coach.

The Dream Team Nightmare book  is a ‘make your own adventure’ story so as you follow choices and move around the book. For example, you might find something like this “if you decide to take a walk turn to page .., or if you decide to have lunch with the team turn to page …”, which means you follow your logical path through the book, but in a meandering instead of linear path. Your goal is to make it to the end of the contract with the team and not be fired by the manager.

Instead of ‘learn by telling’ book, this is a ‘learn by seeing and doing’ book. You see what an agile coach does and you decide what our hero does at various times. Sure, you’re still limited by the choices on offer, and you might see other options that might have been, but this is a realistic scenario to show you what being an agile coach is like.
This is highly readable book that will provide you a good read, and leave you thinking about your choices and options long after you put the book down. Go read it and tell your friends about it too.