Welcome back to another week at www.implementingscrum.com.Sorry for the interruption of this series…. now back to our semi-regular programming (smile).Two weeks ago, I wrote to you about the different approaches to rolling out Scrum in your environment.I was pretty blunt about the “top down” approach taken by many organizations.
Guess what?
A purely “Bottom Up” approach will yield much the same results.
Huh?
You may be asking yourself.
Mike…. what can you mean by this statement?
Here is a typical scenario I see using the “Bottom Up” approach….
A developer (and by this I mean anyone in the role of a tester, business analyst, coder, architect, bla bla bla techno-type-person) goes to a conference and gets fired up about some new methodology or framework to use in their environment.
Or, maybe they do not have a “conference” budget and can squeak a book budget out of their current manager (or wow… even buy it themselves!). You can check out great Agile Book recommendations here.
The point is, this person gets excited.
About Scrum. Of course.
“Wow.” They think.
“We have been doing a lot of what Scrum says but not calling it Scrum.”
[RED LIGHTS AND BIG DANGER SIGNS GO OFF IN MY HEAD WHEN I HEAR THIS.....]
It usually means there is nothing in place at this time to help the organization and they are hacking their way through a problem and looking a some major death marches [THAT makes me sad].
Or.
“Wow. This Scrum stuff looks like it is a Silver Bullet and will fix all my problems.”
It does not.
In fact, Scrum starts amplifying the dysfunctional areas within your organization.
Ouch.
Really?
Yes.
See…. the “problems” that usually start surfacing “because” of Scrum have always been there. Scrum is actually just making them more visible — and sometimes painful.
So.
It is doing the job it is supposed to do.
Now.
How does an organization handle this amplification of problems and issues?
Hmmmm….
Notice I said, “Organization.”
If one team starts trying to do this on their own and “fight” the current organizational boundaries…. to quote my last statement….
[Political Correctness OFF]
You are screwed.
[Political Correctness ON]
It is unfortunate and I have seen this time and time again.
A team is successful at implementing Scrum.
And.
All of the sudden, the rest of the organization starts seeing that they are successful.
Yikes.
Sometimes too successful.
And.
They get taken out behind the shed and, how can I put this…. get shot.
The organization rejects it.
And Scrum “fails.”
Hmmm.
So what to do?
I am saying a pure “Top Down” OR “Bottom Up” approach are not usually successful.
The next comic will address how to actually use a combination of these in order to be successful at implementing Scrum within an organization.
There is hope.
It can be done.
It is done every day!
Gotta run!.Please send comments, questions, criticisms, ideas, or whatever here.
You can also enter The Scrum Community to discuss this entry and other Scrum topics. Thank you!
October 15, 2007
So if you are reading this post, I was not able to get to a computer this week to post a new cartoon.
I am on a vacation with my family where I may not have any internet access, so this is using some of the cool power of the new blogging platform on the site to send this to you.
Why would I even bother to post an entry when I am on vacation?
This is a reminder folks.
Talk time out and spend time with your family.
This work stuff will be there tomorrow.
I saw something interesting on TV the weekend before I left (my seven year old was sick ug)… we were looking at one of the Public Broadcasting stations and there was a continuous loop that was running with a message that said something like:
“Hey, it’s a great day outside. Go take your kid outside and play. Do something with them. Together. We are off the air from noon until three today so you can do this.”
I thought wow, that is neat.
And, because my poor kid was sick, I just changed the channel.
But.
The message came across to me.
We all need to spend time with our families.
And friends.
And significant others.
THAT is what is important.
Make a commitment THIS WEEK to do something different.
More next week…. I am bringing the family home to Washington, DC, and then flying out solo to Moscow and Kyiv to teach some classes for the following two weeks.
No rest for the weary.
So.
Take a break.
Breath.
It is good for you.
And everyone else!
Gotta run…
Please send comments, questions, criticisms, ideas, or whatever here.
You can also enter The Scrum Community to discuss this entry and other Scrum topics. Thank you!
October 8, 2007
Hi,
If there is anyone reading this from Spain (Madrid, Valencia, or Alicante) and is interested in getting together sometime over the next few weeks please contact me! I am always interested in meeting local people when I travel.
If you are not from Spain (or… err…. you do not want to meet with me), well… continue working (smile) and have a great day!
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