Published in Serious Scrum·PinnedHeart of Agile and ScrumThe most exciting part was to meet Alistair Cockburn. My mistake was not raising a hand. — In February 2001, Seventeen persons signed the Agile Manifesto. The participants are today considered the royalty of Agility. Ken Schwaber and Jeff Sutherland founded Scrum; Ward Cunningham developed the first Wiki. If you google for refactoring, XP, or clean code, you will find Martin Fowler or Kent Beck. And so…Serious Scrum7 min read
Published in Serious Scrum·Jul 23Member-onlyWhy a shorter Sprint will not make you more AgileFocus on how fast you can deliver something of value — I believe it is human to base our decisions on incorrect assumptions. Too often, we blindly copy concepts that have been successful for others hoping it will bring the same success to us. For example, many have tried to mimic Toyota’s success by copying their factory machines or “ceremonies” without…Toc4 min read
Published in Serious Scrum·Jun 22Member-onlyHave we forgotten about reflecting?Inspect and adapting are useless without reflection — My experience is that Scrum Teams spend most of their time in “delivery mode.” In the best case, we focus on meeting the Sprint Goal; in the worst case, we struggle to deliver the User Stories we “promised” by the end of the Sprint. Then at the end of the…Serious Scrum5 min read
Published in Awesome Agile·Jun 17Is SAFe the right recipe for your organization?Is SAFe the solution to becoming Agile? — Whether your large enterprise should embark on the SAFe journey depends on how Agile you need to be and your starting point. Maybe the most relevant question is why you need to become Agile. Agility works best in a complex environment where it is hard to predict the outcome. The…Safe6 min read
Published in Serious Scrum·Jun 8Member-onlyDo we need estimates in a complex environment?We might overestimate the use of estimates. — Is predicting capacity better than using estimates? For me, the purpose of an estimate is to plan when we can deliver output in the future. The further into the future and the greater the effort, the harder it is to get the estimate correct. We know the least in the…Scrum7 min read
Published in Serious Scrum·May 25Member-onlyWhy collaboration is more important than the role, you play.Performing teams benefit more from having accountabilities than role descriptions. — Several persons approached me, saying, "We need to define our roles in Scrum. We are confused!" As a manager of a brand new unit, I had already onboarded a few excellent people and had the luxury of hiring more. …Leadership5 min read
Published in Serious Scrum·Apr 20Member-onlyHow lack of slack reduces your focus on what mattersI firmly believe that slack is essential to being productive, innovative, and focused. You are probably asking how lack of work or activity or a reduction in intensity, quantity, or speed can lead to more productivity? I agree; the statement sounds counter-intuitive, and had I not experienced the opposite in…Leadership5 min read
Published in Serious Scrum·Mar 31Member-onlyI don't care about your deliverables.The other day I had lunch with a new acquaintance. She had attended one of my presentations at IHM Business School. She told me a story about first-year students at the Royal Institute of Art in Stockholm. The students were given a canvas plus paint and asked to paint something…Serious Scrum5 min read
Published in Serious Scrum·Mar 4Member-onlyThe mistakes organizations make when they appoint product ownersSince beginning with Scrum in 2008, I have noticed that organizations make the same mistakes selecting Product Owners. Maybe we all have to make these mistakes before we get better. Like a teenager growing up refusing to listen to their parents, having to make their own mistakes. Without further ado…Product Owner5 min read
Feb 17The Game Masters Framework for Software (GeMs)~A thought experiment for products in a complex or chaotic environment~ This entire article is a thought experiment describing how we can fuse Agile, Lean, or other ideas such as game mechanisms from Role-Playing Game (RPG) into a framework. Why on earth would you do this, you might ask? First…Roleplaying Game13 min read