OK.

I am overwhelmed right now.

So I am going to admit I am human (smile) and will post a new cartoon next week.

The good news is I have had a GREAT week working with teams and learning tons.

About a lot of things.

My apologies.

- mike vizdos

Hi all.

The topic this week is about keeping things simple.

And picking one thing at a time and doing it well.

Very well.

Tonight I am writing a little bit about it.

Let’s see if I can actually get the comic strip up tomorrow (when I make my drive over to Portland, Maine).

You’ll see.

Hmmm…

As complicated as this week seems to me and you.

There is always a simple solution.

Really.

- mike vizdos

Hola.

Been a long day for me. The comic strip is ready.

Sometimes this seems like the simple thing.

Maybe that makes sense .

I’ll post it tomorrow.

- mike

… if anyone is interested in meeting for breakfast or dinner I’ll be on the road this week.

M-T-W in Hartford, CT (Actually Windsor)

T in Portland, Maine.

Let me know. Individually or in small groups… let me know!

Contact me.

Thank you,

- mike vizdos
www.michaelvizdos.com
www.implementingscrum.com

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

So.

A few weeks ago had someone in a class explain this. He was trained as an Antropologist — not a software developer.

Interesting dude. Really.

Let’s say your current organizational system is like a river flowing down stream.

How rough varies.

Introduce change.

Any change.

Just one.

Scrum for example (funny how that gets worked into this conversation, eh?).

Pretend that change is a boat (or canoe, as drawn!).

Insert a Chicken and Pig for some humor (smile).

Following along with me?

Now.

Paddle.

What happens when you stop paddling?

The river flushes you back down stream.

That’s the gist.

Easy brilliance.

Does this apply in your current situation?

If you are about to just embark on this journey, remember to always keep paddling!

Stop paddling and you have made a choice to give it up — and make room for something else to take its place.

Gotta run… Please send comments, questions, criticisms, ideas, or whatever here.

You can also enter The Forum to discuss this entry and other Scrum topics. Thank you!

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

Remember about a month ago our ScrumMaster got “whacked” and disappeared for a while. Last week he reappeared in the hospital.

Today, he is back at work.

And.

He did not die.

Assuming positive intent, he really wanted to just help the guy in the SUV with directions.

He never got there, as we can see. And is seems like the guy in the SUV made a run for it, not liking what he saw on the ground (what would you do if you saw a fashion forward guy wearing a blue thingee on the ground; wait…. hold that thought…. we also use talking pigs and chickens in this cartoon… never mind).

So what does this have to do with Scrum?

As a consultant, I am constantly working with both prospects (those who have not engaged me for any services yet) and current / past clients. I have a strong relationship with people in the industry, and consider myself a person who is not afraid to speak up and give the honest truth.

Not a lot of people like doing that.

Sometimes, as we saw, clients do not like to hear the truth. They want to keep doing waterfall, and make the conscious decision that in the end they will succumb to what is known as the, “Iterative and Incremental Death March.”

They will then go find someone who will say, “Yes” to anything they ask of them.

And this occurs with most organizations trying to use Scrum on more than one project in an organization.

It is a choice.

What about the small minority of organizations that succeed with implementing Scrum in their organization?

Wow.

Incredible things happen.

To the people as individuals, as team members, and the organization as a whole.

These are the organizations I enjoy working with; however, as you can see, they are a small minority in the world.

You know what I have started doing more and more lately (which uggg is hard for me!)?

Saying “No.”

And working only with organizations and teams and people who sincerely want this Scrum thing to work.

Sometimes I get conned into thinking an organization is truly interested, and get burned. Life happens.

We all learn and move on.

This is not the majority of time though, and yes, even I need to assume positive intent.

Why am I telling you all of this?

First and foremost… think about where you are today on your team and within your organization.

Are you constantly saying, “Yes” even when you know it makes no sense?

Do you need help saying, “No” sometimes?

Where can you go for that help?

And remember… a dead ScrumMaster is a useless one.

DO NOT commit career suicide.

But remember… you DO have a choice.

Always.

Gotta run… Please send comments, questions, criticisms, ideas, or whatever here.

You can also enter The Forum to discuss this entry and other Scrum topics. Thank you!

Hi all,

Well, as I write this I am sitting in a hotel room in wonderment of the airline system in the USA. Guess I will get home tomorrow morning. I had a great class this week in Chicago and, as usual, I learned a lot. It was a great class with a lot of interesting and challenging questions.

And.

I think I received a really great complement.

“This is one of the only classes I have never fallen asleep in.”

Was this good?

Or was it a slam?

Personally, seeing the engagement of this person during the class over two days, I was impressed with his engagement and participation levels. This person has been in the industry for many more years than I have, and he added a lot of value to the class.

I am taking it as a complement (smile).

Assume positive intent.

Heh.

So…. Next week I will be presenting another CSM workshop in Oklahoma City on Tuesday and Wednesday. If you are interested, we have a few seats left and I am always open to having others attend. If you cannot attend and would be interested in meeting before or after the class, please contact me off this blog and we can see if something can be set up.

I am happy it is Friday.

I am happy tomorrow afternoon I will be home hanging with my kids and wife.

Spring is coming in Richmond, VA.

Sounds like a cookout at my house tomorrow night.

And there is some great stuff coming next week.

As usual.

Hope you have a great weekend — or, if you are reading this on Monday — welcome to Monday morning!

Thank you,

- mike vizdos
www.michaelvizdos.com
www.implementingscrum.com

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

About a month ago, our intrepid ScrumMaster seemed to have disappeared and replaced with someone who just agreed with everything everyone said (not really a yes man, especially in the cartoon!).

Well.

He is back.

Or. He never left.

So why is he now sitting in a hospital room with an IV unit, talking to himself?

At least he in conscious and alive.

But now he is saying “No.”

Is this a bad thing?

Remember the entire reason for him getting into this position — or at least why we think he did.

He was saying, “No” to a lot of people, and standing up to the Values of Scrum as he envisioned them.

So we have the Scrum Values.

And.

Each person in the world either knows nothing about them, has heard of them, or is choosing to ignore them.

Which person are You?

Where is your Team?

And your Organization?

Do you see a difference between the current “replacement ScrumMaster” and the one we originally started with?

What do we do next?

Yikes. This is a short posting tonight.

Think about it.

Really.

Think.

Sometimes this can be dangerous.

I call it living.

Something I am continuing to learn how to do.

Gotta run….Please send comments, questions, criticisms, ideas, or whatever here.

You can also enter The Forum to discuss this entry and other Scrum topics. Thank you!

Hi all,

Well, we have done it again. The boys (Dominic - almost 8 and Kenton almost 5) spent this evening adding some audio comments to an older strip that was created last year.

If you’d like to see the original posting, please go to http://www.implementingscrum.com/blog/2007/09/04/scary-team-retrospectives-part-one/.

Remember, this is from the point of view of my children, who are awesome at talking about what daddy does in English that everyone understands.

To see the video, look below:

As usual, comments and emails are welcome.

Thank you.

- mike (and Dominic and Kenton) Vizdos
www.michaelvizdos.com
www.implementingscrum.com

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

Wahoo. We made it another week and did not wind up six feet under or having our ashes spread in some remote location of the world. In other words… yipee… we all made it another week to see another great cartoon and continue learning.

OK… so the title of this one is a little twisted. OK. A lot twisted. I guess I should have named it “The ScrumMaster Guide to Picking Up Filing Cabinets” but then who would really want to read about that?

This week I am writing about something that all people playing the role of ScrumMaster must be aware of.

Actually, I’d consider it important for the ScrumMaster on a team to help show the Team Members and Product Owner — through example — what to do when you are in over your head and really need help.

How many times have you been in a situation where you felt like you had to “wing it” or “fake” an answer?

We have learned that as a Product Owner, that can have dire consequences for the team.

Instead of “faking it” or “winging it” or “making up an answer” the Product Owner should feel safe enough to say to the team, “I do not know, but I will find out and get back to you in the agreed upon time.”

And then do that.

Guess what following through on promises helps build?

Trust.

Really.

The agreed upon time should be something that is ummm…. agreed upon by the team — maybe as one of the team norms that are posted on the wall of your team room.

You have those, don’t you?

Right next to the Burndown Chart and team Definition of Done, right (smile)?

So what can the ScrumMaster do to help show the team that they do not know everything (really… we do not!) and sometimes we need to bring in outside help.

Think about Retrospectives.

And.

What if the ScrumMaster is part of the problem in the current system?

You know the answer.

Get help.

Really.

Ask someone else to facilitate the Retrospective.

I have written about this in the past, but have been recently reminded how important this is for all roles of the Scrum Team.

Wow.

Something as simple as asking for help.

That simple.

But.

It does not get performed enough.

As a ScrumMaster, how can you make some simple changes on a daily basis to show the team how to become the best they possibly can?

Remember that the implementation of Scrum should sometimes be taken in small baby steps.

Which small baby step can you take today?

Please share them with us in the comments or on the forum.

Gotta run….Please send comments, questions, criticisms, ideas, or whatever here.

You can also enter The Forum to discuss this entry and other Scrum topics. Thank you!