Thomas Henson

Book Review Scrum by Jeff Sutherland

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I just finished reading “Scrum: The Art of Doing Twice the Work in Half the Time” by Jeff Sutherland.

scrum by Jeff Sutherland book cover

The version of Scrum by Jeff Sutherland I read was an audio book actually narrated by J.J. Sutherland, who is Sutherland’s son. Scrum: The Art of Doing Twice the Work in Half the Time is a quick read or listen however you decide to do it. It’s a book that can be easily finished in a weekend.

It’s not a book that is going to tell you exactly all the details of running a Scrum team, but it gives the basics on how to start using Scrum. Most of the book is about why Scrum works and builds the case for Scrum for all projects.

Anyone reading this book will find it interesting and easy to read. Sutherland gives a brief history of Scrum’s origins and then goes into many real world examples of Scrum.

Scrum by Jeff Sutherland

Good:

  • Several examples of Scrum working outside of Software Development.
  • In depth talk how to build the case for Scrum in any organization.
  • Great explanation on the of history of Scrum and how it was modeled after fighter pilot training.
  • Opportunity to learn Scrum from one of the co-creators of Scrum.

Bad:

  • Short book that left me wanting to hear more examples.
  • Not a technical book about how to Scrum but a why to use Scrum book. I only say this for those experienced in Scrum looking for a technical book.

What I learned:

This book was great for giving me different ways to present the need for Scrum in an organization. As a ScrumMaster I always find myself selling Scrum to others inside and outside of my organization. This book will definitely give me more examples to talk about.

I learned new parts about the history of Scrum. Some of the history of Scrum I wasn’t familiar with was Jeff Sutherland’s career in the Air force. Jeff was a Top Gun and used much of his experience as a fighter pilot in the Vietnam War to create Scrum.

I would definitely recommend this book for any manager looking to improve his team’s performance. Scrum is well known in the software industry but the principles can apply outside of software development as laid out in this book. In fact the book goes into many examples of Scrum being used outside the software development industry.

While the book is for those without experience in Scrum, anyone interested in Scrum would enjoy. This is definitely a book you will want to pass around the office.

Let me know what you thought of the book.

 

Complete Agile Podcast List

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Why Listen to Agile Podcasts

If you are continuously improving your Scrum Team, should you not take the same approach to your scrumification? A way you can increase your scrumification in Agile Development is to try and consume as much information as you can.  One of the ways I like to do that is by listening to podcasts. The reason podcasts are so great is because they are FREE and, it is EASY to listen to them anywhere. Especially if you have a hellish hour-long commute like I do.

Passing Cars

Where to find Agile Podcasts?

Searching for anything in the iTunes store is always so clunky compared to finding a list online, but I still tried to search for Scrum and Agile Podcast. I was able to find some Agile podcasts but it also threw in podcasts that weren’t Agile-based. After searching online I didn’t find a resource listing out specific Agile Podcasts.

(However I did find a great resource for Development Podcast from John Sonmez and I recognize his list as the inspiration for this list)

headphones

After searching for Agile Podcast/Scrum Podcast I didn’t find any specific Ultimate/Complete/Best list of Agile podcasts. So I decided to create one.

Complete Agile Podcast List

(The following are in no particular order. Except the fact that This Agile Life is first because they have an MBA on the show)

This Agile Life – A podcast with about 4(+/-  1) rotating hosts that hold 30-45 minute discussions on Agile topics. One of my favorite podcasts because 1) the host has an MBA and 2) all of the hosts are really knowledgeable.

  • Daily Standup – Episode only had one host, John Sextro, but a lot of great tips about running your daily stand up. Now matter how long
    you have been doing Scrum, this episode will give you some ideas for your standups.

The Agile Coffee  – Episodes are done in a Lean Coffee format, meaning, where topics are voted and discussed for 5 minutes, then another vote is taken to decide to carry on the discussion or move on. There are different people on the show, but it’s more or less 2 people with the 3 hosts of the show.

  • Episode 16 – Discussion on the Hackathons Vic recently ran was very interesting, and how his company has been facilitating Hackathons is great information.

The Agile Revolution – Craig Smith, Renee Troughton and Tony Ponton are the 3 hosts of this podcast and have guests that appear on the show as well. Most episodes are around 45 minutes and the series has about 80+ episodes to date.

The Daily Scrum – The series ran during 2012 and has about 19 episodes.
Last episode was in 2012. About 17 episodes long.

Agile Weekly – Podcast has been running since 2009 and has about 130+ episodes. Most episodes are under 20 minutes. The last podcast was in mid-June 2014.

Scrum For Success – Series ran for 5 episodes in 2009. No current episodes.

Agile Toolkit Podcast – A wealth of information with a ton of episodes. Many episodes feature a lot of big names in the Agile Community. Topics
go from Scrum Certification to how to set up your team rooms. Most episodes are under 30 minutes, which provides a
great opportunity to listen on the car/train to work. Bob Martin Episodes Executive Transition – Great episode for learning how to guide your leadership into the Agile world.

Agile University – The idea for this podcast is to give an overview of agile in under 5 minutes. Great way to bring someone into the Agile fold
in 8 short episodes.

Confessions of an Agile Activist – 7 episodes spanning 2007 to 2013; the host talked about bringing the podcast back sometime. Contains a 3 part series on selling Scrum.

Arrested DevOps –  Host Matt Stratton, Trevor Hess, and Bridget Kromhout talk about DevOps topics. The Podcast is current and currently has 29 episodes.

Agile Chicago Style – New Podcast from the Chicago Agile community. New episodes published every month.

Meta-Cast – Agile podcast hosted by Josh Anderson and Bob Galen. Podcast has over 65 episodes and 2 episodes are added monthly.

Tell Me What I Missed

Just like in Agile development, this is the first release of the Agile Podcast list, so it’s not going to perfect. In fact, it will take many releases to become a GREAT Agile Podcast List. So be sure to let me know what I have missed or any ideas for improving the list by  posting comments, Tweeting, or sending me an email.

How to increase your Scrumification

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So it has happened , your company is switching to Scrum. Your boss came into your office today and asked you to head the transformation to Scrum. Of course you jumped at the chance, I mean who doesn’t want to be known for rolling out a company wide project? The problem is you really aren’t  sure what Scrum is and in fact you thought it was something from your glory days of intramural Rugby at college.

long-highway-trees

Why do you care about learning Scrum before trying to implement it in your organization. It is just another process to learn or tool to use right? No Scrum is much more than a set of rules that can be recited and implemented in a 1/2 day. To really get the benefit from Scrum you will need commit to investing time in learning about Scrum. Continuous improvement is a key of Scrum. Everyone in your organization should have some idea of what Scrum is in order for your organization to thrive.

What is the quickest way for you to scale your learning curve

Books – Grabbing a book is the easiest way to begin to wrap your brain around Scrum. The first book I would recommend would be Agile and Iterative Development by Craig Larman book here while it is an Agile book it does give you a great perspective on Agile methodologies and why these methods work. Mike Cohn is an author and has a very helpful blog on Scrum/Agile development, you should read anything he puts out. Reading is essential for learning Scrum but it’s going to take some time versus attending training or hiring a coach.

Conference – Attending an Agile conference is a great way to get your Scrumification (knowledge of Scrum) whipped into shape. Depending on where you live you should be able to find a conference to attend a couple times a year without having to travel too far. A conference is a great way to meet other agile practitioners with different levels of experience.  If you just starting out in Scrum you will be surprised how many people you will run into who are in the same boat. Conferences also offer consulting companies a chance to set up booth space to showcase options for training and coaching should you decide to go that route.

Training – Get a training budget and send some key members of the Scrum team off to training. Many Scrum Consultants offer different training options, from fundamentals to Certified ScrumMaster, Product Owner, or  Scrum Developer. In an ideal world send the whole Scrum team off to be certified in each of their roles. At a minimum you should certify your Product Owner and ScrumMaster. Developers in your organization are more likely to have some familiarity with Scrum practices while the stakeholder/project manager might have limited exposure to Scrum. That doesn’t mean there is not value in sending the developers to training as well, the Scrum Developer training goes into depth about best practices for development and testing. Your budget will be the deciding factor in training, so use it wisely.

Hire a Scrum Coach – While this is probably the most expensive option, it is the quickest and most thorough. There are many different options here but the basic premise is you hire a certified coach to come into your organization. For a set amount of time the coach will observe and interact with your team. The goal of the Scrum Coach is to guide your team into a well oiled Scrum team as fast as possible.

These are just a few ways to increase your knowledge of Scrum. Hopefully you can tell by now that the most important part of learning Scrum is to keep learning about Scrum. There is no one perfect way to learn Scrum and your learning is never done. Insert joke about not having a proper definition of done here. Just as your team should strive for continuous improvement so should you.

 

How to Build the case for Scrum in your Organization

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So you’ve read all the great stories about how scrum can help your team produce better results. Most of your colleagues  at other companies are using Scrum and thriving because of it. Now all you have to do is sell it to your boss. You believe management won’t buy in, so what should you do? What if you could build the case for Scrum in your organization. Startup Stock Photos
Before beginning to build the case for Scrum in your organization you need to ensure your team is on-board first.. Even if management signs off on your proposal it’s not going to work unless your team is on-board. Chances are your team will be excited because, Scrum is a team first framework  based on the idea that teams are self-organizing.

So how do you build the case for Scrum in your organization?

  1. Start sending subtle hints to key decision makers in your organization – Find articles or case studies and pass them around to those decision makers. Send an email out as a by the way checkout this article. Try leaving a copy sitting in the break room or by the coffee pot. If you really want bonus points find articles that quantify how much money the company has saved or increased revenue by using Scrum. The goal here is to get the information out about Scrum.
  2. Point out missed opportunities with your current system – Try to constructively point out opportunities your team could capitalize on under a different project management methodology. For example is there a process you could update to make your team more productive. How about problems with your last project that could have been caught earlier with a more iterative process? Do your stakeholders have a voice throughout development? The goal is to pointing out the pain points of your current process.
  3. Look for ambassadors in your company – Talk with coworkers to find others in your organizations that are sympathetic to your cause. In a large organization you may find teams that are already using Scrum. Maybe some of your team members have used it with previous employers. You might even find other project leads who have wanted to take on Scrum for their teams as well. The goal is to build a collation.
  4. Build the slides – Even though you have built your case it’s still important to reiterate the points in your meeting with management.  First show the opportunities where your team could have benefited from using Scrum versus your current methodology. Next pick a use case of Scrum turning around an organization and lead with it. Third give an executive overview of the Scrum Framework. Be open and honest about what Scrum is and is not, leadership needs to have a realistic view of Scrum. Do not over sell Scrum as if it will solve world peace. Highlight any of your competitors that are using Scrum and how they beating you with it. End with a slide about the proposed roll-out of Scrum and how it will affect the current work in progress. The goal is to create a compelling slide deck.
  5. Have the conversation – Schedule a formal meeting with the decisions makers.  Invite any of your ambassadors to this meeting but be careful about bringing the team. You want to ensure leadership has an opportunity to discuss it, without feeling ambushed. If you have successfully built the case, leadership should not feel ambushed. Many organizations are slow to make decision or will need a few more meeting like this to get change to occur in the organization.

whiteboard

Building the case for Scrum is not guaranteed to work in all cases. But laying out your case in a professional fashion will give your a higher chance for success. Some organization are not ready to make the leap to Scrum but having the Scrum conversation in a professional way will help your organisation move toward Scrum. Remember for Scrum to work in your organization you will need leadership to buy in.