Reddit mentions of The Toyota Way to Lean Leadership: Achieving and Sustaining Excellence through Leadership Development

>Is there any must know scrum master tips that a newbie should know.

Scrum's primary job is to highlight where your problems are. if things are painful, figure out how to fix them WITHIN the scrum framework. it's trying to teach you and your team things about workflow, process, etc. the things you encounter that make things harder within the framework need to be fixed within the framework.

Your job as a Scrum Master is somewhat fluid. you're part project manager, part process engineer, and part team manager. If work isn't moving, grease the wheels and help it move. if stuff is moving to fast, help people hit the brakes.

> Is there anything about agile you wish you knew when you started with it?

Start practicing Systems level thinking. your team is not in a vacuum. everything they do effects someone else. make sure you aren't making things harder for someone else.

I wish I had started reading sooner. if you don't have a lot of time to read: Audio books. use your commute to improve your skills.

Absorb as much information as you can. Scrum is not a silver bullet. it also doesn't do work for you. it only highlights where you need to focus. the rest is on you, so read and study. Scrum and Agile are about fostering a habit of continuous and relentless improvement. you should put this to practice on yourself as well. it's the one thing I wish I had started sooner.

If your company allows it, attend the local agile conferences. these are GREAT for newbies. they cover a lot of good information. one thing you want to do is start collecting stories about different implementations. there are hundreds of successful ones and the one that works best for your team will likely be a combination of those. the more stories you have to draw from, the greater your options for success. start collecting.


Recommended reading:
Phoenix Project: https://www.amazon.com/Phoenix-Project-DevOps-Helping-Business/dp/0988262509
Crucial Conversations: https://www.amazon.com/Crucial-Conversations-Talking-Stakes-Second/dp/0071771328/
Lean from the Trenches: https://www.amazon.com/Lean-Trenches-Managing-Large-Scale-Projects/dp/1934356859/
The Toyota Way to Lean Leadership: https://www.amazon.com/Toyota-Way-Lean-Leadership-Development/dp/0071780785/
When you're ready for something more advanced:
Tribal Leadership: https://www.amazon.com/Tribal-Leadership-Leveraging-Thriving-Organization/dp/0061251321/
Toyota Production System: https://www.amazon.com/Toyota-Production-System-Beyond-Large-Scale/dp/0915299143/
Lean Software Development: https://www.amazon.com/Lean-Software-Development-Agile-Toolkit/dp/0321150783/
Note: This last book is 'advanced' mostly because of price. It's worth it.

Poppendieck's bookshelf is also a good place to start. I'd set a goal to try to read every book on this list in the next 2 or 3 years. most of the books i've listed are also on their bookshelf.

http://www.poppendieck.com/reference.htm