Interested in becoming a Certified ScrumMaster? Come to my next workshop!

Hi all,

Yesterday I thought I’d try something different and opened a “Scrum Challenge” with an open ended statement, “Scrum is…”

Wow, did you respond. Many comments came in connected to the blog entry (you can see the originals up to the date of writing this entry; however, I know there will be more! Others came in over Twitter.

I do love the Internet and my followers (all of you!!!). I thank all who participated. I may make this a regular event with different “Random” Scrum Challenge questions!

When starting the *random* open ended statement with, “Scrum is…”, here is a list of the responses:

• Pure Randomness (Twitter)
• Humane (Twitter)
• A project framework designed for efficient human communication
• A magic potion that heals leprosy and cures blindness
• what gets IT Done
• A framework with constraints on behavior that cause a complex adaptive system to self-organize into an intelligent state
• Not a way to solve your problems. It is a way to find what the problems are.
• Moving forward while running in circle
• Just another way of spelling “common sense”
• Not a silver bullet, but I will never run another project without it.
• The only way software should be developed!
• An ugly word (and deliberately so).

This is an awesome list from my readers about what their perception of Scrum is (and is not). I got this by asking a very open ended two word statement… “Scrum is….”

What has this list of peoples perception caused you to think about what Scrum is (and is not)? Do you agree or disagree with them all?

Now… How can you apply this on your Scrum Teams?

Think about the possibilities in your organization if you change around questions to an open ended statement, and then be quiet [shut up] and wait for the responses.

This is an effective technique I use when training new ScrumMasters and coaching existing teams.

My next question… Do you want to see something like this in the future?

I’ll ask a seemingly *random* question related to Scrum and then allow for about 24 hours to tally up the results — then give you (my reader!) a synopsis of the results AND how you can use what you have learned in this posting in your real world today.

This will not be the only posting type (you’ll still get cartoons, interviews, and guest postings too!).

Can this type of entry help you start some of the tough conversations about software development?

Please leave your thoughts, ideas, and recommendations in the comments section below this blog entry.

I appreciate it and am glad to be “back” doing this again…

Thank you!

- mike vizdos

3 Comments! to “Scrum Challenge #1 OVER: Scrum is…”

1. Sunil Raikhanghar Says:
   February 26th, 2010 at 8:25 am

   I love the concept about giving charge to the people by asking question and keeping quiet. I believe it goes back to the core of the Scrum about empowering the individuals and also helps with the self forming of the team. When few inidviduals share the same thought, they can get to know each other better. It also helps with the communication across the individuals.

2. mvizdos Says:
   March 1st, 2010 at 10:01 pm

   Sunil,

   I agree and this is something that even I (as an experienced ScrumMaster) has to focus on. During some of my classes, I experience the same feelings and one of the reasons I teach new CSMs is to make sure I go “back to center” and not over-engineer things.

   I appreciate your comments thank you.

   - mike vizdos

3. Random Thoughts Scrum Challenge #2: An AWESOME Product Owner in Scrum will... | Implementing Scrum Says:
   March 5th, 2010 at 9:03 am

   [...] I’ll then post a synopsis of the results like I did for the first Scrum Challenge — Scrum Is… [...]

Leave a Reply

Comment moderation in full effect!

All comments at Implementing Scrum are moderated to help cut back on spam.

This only happens once (more if you are using multiple computers). Once you are in the system, everything is good to go after that.