Book · 2018
Accelerate
by Nicole Forsgren
Four researchers measure what actually makes software teams fast, and the findings keep getting cited against companies mistaking speed for shortcuts.
What does Reddit think of Accelerate?
Accelerate doesn't get quoted much. Fifty-six recognized mentions in seven years is thin, but the citations that exist do real work. The ↑90 r/ExperiencedDevs comment leans on it to argue that good work is actually faster on any reasonable timescale, treating that as a research finding rather than a hot take. The ↑78 comment goes further and names the four DORA metrics directly, framing them as a way to measure devops performance for people who have to justify it to business stakeholders. The sharpest use of it is defensive: the ↑178 comment recommends it specifically to people whose leadership has turned agile into a stick, arguing the book at least tells you what the metrics were supposed to measure before someone weaponized them.
Community feedback & reader fit
Themes
- · The four DORA metrics as research basis rather than opinion
- · Data-driven pushback against return-to-office and scrum theater
- · Good work as measurably faster, not slower, argued by citation
- · One entry in a canon alongside The Phoenix Project and The DevOps Handbook
Common praise
- + The ↑90 comment cites it directly to argue good work is actually faster on any reasonable timescale, treating that as a research finding.
- + The ↑78 comment names the four DORA metrics by name and credits the book's research team for identifying them.
- + The ↑178 comment recommends it specifically as the source for understanding what the metrics are designed to do.
Common criticism
- − It cracks only fifty-six recognized mentions across seven years, thin next to how often it gets cited as foundational.
- − It shows up as one item in a reading list (↑131) alongside The Phoenix Project and The DevOps Handbook, not as the standalone pick; nobody isolates it as the one to read first.
Who it's for
Bring this to the argument, not the book club, if your leadership treats agile as a stick rather than a framework; the ↑178 comment frames it exactly that way, as ammunition for what the metrics were built to measure. If The Phoenix Project and The DevOps Handbook are already on your list, per the ↑131 roundup, this is the one that gets you the actual DORA research behind them instead of the allegory. This isn't a how-to, so look elsewhere for prescriptive steps; the excerpts here cite it for metrics and findings, not a process to follow.
Mentions over time
Which Reddit comments matter for Accelerate?
The most relevant excerpts across the subreddits where this book is mentioned — opinionated, argued takes first, then top-upvoted mentions. Click through to read the full thread.
“We've lost several senior-level people in my organization due to our decision to bring everyone back on-site. \* There's a lot of speculation in the child comments -- basically CEO said "we're bringing everyone back because that's what is best for the company". Managers weren't really given a line …
“Same as small-a agile. If the leadership understands it, it's a positive. If they don't get it, and abuse it to carry on with the status quo but with a new stick to beat developers with, it's a negative. I recommend reading Accelerate to hear from the originators of DORA what the metrics are desig…
“The sequel to “The Phoenix Project” is “The Unicorn Project.” I also like “Accelerate” if you’re into DevOps. For leadership advice, I recommend “Turn the Ship Around” and “Extreme Ownership.” Both well produced audio books that are interesting to listen to. For interesting infosec stories, the Dark…
“This is the list I made for work: **Culture/Organization** * The Phoenix Project (Kim/Spafford/Behr, 2013): allegorical novel that uses fiction to teach us about the advantages of modern IT culture (agile, CI/CD, etc.) * [The U…
“I tried reading it but honestly found it wanting. Its a poorly written fictional take on organizational change. The book is full of straw men, forced dialogue, and I personally found it pretty amateurish. It read a little like the text of a 90's after school special, where the intent is well meaning…
“Good work is actually faster on any reasonable timescale. Source This is actually a research finding. Source
“I have found that coding is not as important as I go up the ladder. People and processes matter a lot more these days. Even if you aren't in management, working on your leadership skills helps as a senior IC. I recommend: - Accelerate - The Manager's Path - What Got You Here Won't Get You There
“Bad management love scrum. Edit: scrum is a good gateway to better agility, but people get stuck there and end up wasting too much time on estimating, planning, grooming and refining a backlog. In most cases, improving your test strategy, ci/cd pipeline, team collaboration and architecture to a…
“The DevOps Research and Assessment (DORA) team has identified four metrics that measure DevOps performance. Using these metrics helps improve DevOps efficiency and communicate performance to business stakeholders, which can accelerate business results. DORA includes four key metrics, divided into t…
“DevOps Handbook by Gene Kim and others is good to read through and/or as a reference. Making Work Visible by Dominica Degrandis is wonderful for dealing with invisible w…
“I've been ruminating on something that your post seems to resonate with. My journey to DevOps has looked something like this: * 15 years ago: wow servers … s***, this is all the stuff I wanted without the lack of determinism of the linear (or overly complicated) automation! Better learn GoLang so I …
“The book is written as a fictionalized application of the same concepts Gene Kim put out in his other, more formalized books. Accelerate is also a great book.
“Deployments and releases should be boring and easy. As a junior you're looking at this awe; get some years and disasters under your belt and you'll see just how much of a nightmare this is. Deployment frequency and lead time for change are 2 of the key metrics that indicate a high performance organ…
“Software engineering is still a relatively young profession and although best practices exist, have been proven to work and are well documented not every … zero so no doubt eventually the effective companies will overtake the industry but this will be long, bumpy road. Best advice I can give you is …
“Those metrics are truly meaningless, and he's incompetent. Points/velocity is a planning metric, not a performance metric. Give Accelerate a read (or buy him a copy) and look into DORA metrics.
Convinced? Pick up Accelerate
Readers also mention
Books that share discussion threads with Accelerate — counted from the comments, not curated.
Guides featuring Accelerate
Ranked best-of lists and editorial guides where this book's tracked mentions place it.
Accelerate — frequently asked
Is Accelerate worth reading if I'm not in devops specifically?+
Yes, per the r/ExperiencedDevs excerpts. The ↑90 comment cites it to back a broader claim, that quality work is faster on any timescale, treating it as research rather than opinion. That argument shows up in a thread about engineering practice generally, not a devops-specific one.
What are the DORA metrics from Accelerate?+
The ↑78 r/ExperiencedDevs comment names four metrics from the DORA research the book covers, framed as a way to measure and communicate devops performance to business stakeholders. That's the specific claim the excerpt makes about what the book contains, not a summary invented here.
Is Accelerate better than The Phoenix Project?+
The data doesn't pick a winner. The ↑131 r/devops list puts Accelerate's research alongside The Phoenix Project and The DevOps Handbook as complementary reading rather than competing picks, one an allegorical novel and the other two closer to primary source material and metrics. Nothing in the displayed excerpts ranks them against each other.
Does Accelerate actually change how leadership treats agile?+
Depends on the leadership, per the ↑178 comment: it works if they understand the framework, and becomes a stick to beat developers with if they don't. The book gets recommended in that same thread specifically to help readers understand what the metrics were designed to do.