Becoming successful at implementing scrum!

As an Agile certification holder, I've been considering how to assist a colleague with a Scrum implementation that appears to be out of control and filled with "Scrum Buts," as my buddy Ken Schwaber refers to them.

Several times during our talk, I cringed when they mentioned their "version" of Scrum and their version of "TDD."

Yikes

When trying to modify their company culture to become more "Agile," I believe this is a common pitfall that managers fall into. The bottom line is that if you're adopting Scrum for business value motivators like profitability, product turn rates, cost control, or to compress/reduce feature release windows, I'd say your heart isn't in the right place, and you should re-evaluate what the value proposition is for implementing Agile software development methodologies/techniques. Being effective at Scrum, in my opinion, necessitates more of a shift in personal and managerial mindset than any technical or procedural change.

Because it's not really a methodology, nor is it a technique — framework – technique – bleh, I have a hard time using the term "methodology" in the same sentence as Scrum. At the same time, it's all of them and none of them.

Scrum is a Philosophy

It's a world-view relating to managerial engagement with those involved in production, as read while studying for the Agile certification.

I propose that you start by reading Ken Blanchard's book "The Servant Leader" if you want to learn how to adopt Scrum successfully. Once you've got your heart in the right place, abandoned the "command and control" mentality, embraced the TPS/Lean concepts of empowering and allowing the team to make "management" decisions, and finally resolved to give them that power, you're ready to take on Scrum.

Now it's time to tackle the tough stuff, like finding, training, and aligning with the Product Owner(s) so you can really move down the Scrum Road. If you can't put these fundamental beliefs and opinions about people, roles, and responsibilities aside, or if your organisation isn't structured to let you put them aside, you should abandon the idea of implementing Scrum/Lean/Agile until you can come to terms with what it means to lead people versus what it means to manage them.

Need more insights on the same? Take on a professional credential such as PMP, Agile, CBAP Certification etc., today!