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Scrum This!: Straight Talk About Agile Transitions from Someone Who's Been There
Like one of those "Dummy" books except for smart people who don't have all day, "Scrum This" takes a fast, useful, and wickedly snarky look at what Agile is and just what the hell has gone wrong with the "agile transition" at your company.
From the text;
So, here’s how it happens; someone way up in the leadership decides it’s time to make a change. There’s this cool thing out there called “Agile.” He/she/they decide that they want to bring it in to your organization because it’s such a game changer. They hire an “agile coach” then send all of the leadership and about half of the middle managers (maybe you as well) off to two days of “scrum” training. The managers all come back deeply confused and the agile coach is a really nice person but says crazy things about how work should be done that are so out of touch with how your organization works that they come off more like the prophet for some hip, new religion than like a serious business partner.
It’s now two years later. Everyone is having standups every day, and that’s nice, but half the teams have given up on sprints. There is confusion everywhere. Some of the developers seem to have adopted a, “therefor we don’t follow any rules” development pattern and the PMO office, now called, “the Agile Center of Excellence,” has started hiring project managers again for those Teams, “not closely aligned with agile.”
In some ways things are better; standups really do seem to help, and the rate of turnover among developers is down but messaging from management is erratic at best, no one can tell what is going to release when, you have no idea what the hell happened to the strategic plan. Oh, and, by the way, no one has seen the agile coach since they suggested the executives should give up their parking lot so that, “the people doing the real work,” didn’t have to walk as far in the rain.
Maybe this is all working out for leadership but, if you’re anywhere below VP and above janitor, it’s a major pain in your ass. That class was two days two years ago and no one seems remember what was said or why. In a meeting a few weeks ago someone suggested their Team wanted to try one of the other agile methodologies besides scrum. This provoked a huge discussion because half the people in the room either didn’t know that agile and scrum weren’t the same thing or had forgotten.
If any of this sounds familiar, be comforted!!
Also, "Scrum This!" is waaaayyyy cheaper than those other books on agility. Definitely worth the grab is it has anything useful in it at all.
From the text;
So, here’s how it happens; someone way up in the leadership decides it’s time to make a change. There’s this cool thing out there called “Agile.” He/she/they decide that they want to bring it in to your organization because it’s such a game changer. They hire an “agile coach” then send all of the leadership and about half of the middle managers (maybe you as well) off to two days of “scrum” training. The managers all come back deeply confused and the agile coach is a really nice person but says crazy things about how work should be done that are so out of touch with how your organization works that they come off more like the prophet for some hip, new religion than like a serious business partner.
It’s now two years later. Everyone is having standups every day, and that’s nice, but half the teams have given up on sprints. There is confusion everywhere. Some of the developers seem to have adopted a, “therefor we don’t follow any rules” development pattern and the PMO office, now called, “the Agile Center of Excellence,” has started hiring project managers again for those Teams, “not closely aligned with agile.”
In some ways things are better; standups really do seem to help, and the rate of turnover among developers is down but messaging from management is erratic at best, no one can tell what is going to release when, you have no idea what the hell happened to the strategic plan. Oh, and, by the way, no one has seen the agile coach since they suggested the executives should give up their parking lot so that, “the people doing the real work,” didn’t have to walk as far in the rain.
Maybe this is all working out for leadership but, if you’re anywhere below VP and above janitor, it’s a major pain in your ass. That class was two days two years ago and no one seems remember what was said or why. In a meeting a few weeks ago someone suggested their Team wanted to try one of the other agile methodologies besides scrum. This provoked a huge discussion because half the people in the room either didn’t know that agile and scrum weren’t the same thing or had forgotten.
If any of this sounds familiar, be comforted!!
Also, "Scrum This!" is waaaayyyy cheaper than those other books on agility. Definitely worth the grab is it has anything useful in it at all.
53 pages, Kindle Edition
Published September 4, 2022
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January 4, 2023
Kate's book "Scrum This!: Straight Talk About Agile Transitions from Someone Who's Been There" is a must-read for any agile coach or practitioner. Through personal anecdotes and practical advice, Kate offers valuable insights into the challenges and opportunities of agile transitions. She emphasizes the importance of trust and transparency, facilitation, simplicity, adaptability, collaboration, and continuous improvement in building effective agile teams and organizations. Her writing is relatable and engaging, and her experiences provide a relatable and insightful look at the practicalities of agile transformation. Overall, this book is a valuable resource for anyone looking to support agile transitions and build high-performing agile teams.
Displaying 1 of 1 review