Hey all.
First, let me apologize for not getting the latest comic strip to you.
As I write this, I am reflecting on the past week (plus) where I traveled to London, did a free talk as soon as I landed, facilitated my first [awesome] CSM class in London, hopped back on a plane to the USA, spent the morning with my youngest kid, drove three hours south to Raleigh, NC, and have spent the past two days teaching one of the most advanced public class I have done in a while — and thank all the participants here for helping me up my own game.
And now.
I am cooked.
I am actually holding back driving to Richmond tonight so I do not wind up on the side of the road. Or rather, in a ditch somewhere.
So.
Cartoon.
Coming soon.
I’ll probably be “off the grid” for the next few days (see my facebook and twitter status – link to me via the sidebar on the right of the site) for blogging.
On Sunday I am headed to Boise, Idaho for an incredible group on Monday and Tuesday, then am heading over to Phoenix on Wednesday, where I teach Thursday and Friday. (www.michaelvizdos.com/enroll). It sounds like user group meetings will happen in each place I am.
So.
I am trying to keep the “balance” on in life (whatever that is), and accept responsibility for not “being there” for all you, constant readers.
I hope there is a lesson in it for all of us 
.
Keep pluggin’ along where you are.
You are making a difference!
- mike
www.michaelvizdos.com
www.implementingscrum.com
Hi all,
[warning -- a little bit long -- over 802.13453223 words -- sorry]
This week has been instrumental in helping me get some great clarity of where I am taking the site in the future. Some people I know missed my original posting earlier this week — so if you did not read them go back a few posting to see what has lead to this posting tonight!
I am headed out this weekend (a camping trip with my two boys) and will return on Monday afternoon.
And.
I have no travel plans for next week.
So here is the Product Backlog for the site (prioritized, not estimated yet) — we’ll see what makes it to the Sprint Backlog for next week.
1) Cartoons – Publish one translated (of the original chicken and pig) along with a new one (this is actually on Sprints!). We have three more comic strips in the pipeline for release on the blog in the future.
2) Job Board – The infrastructure is setup. Now we need about 3-5 people to help bring it to fruition. I need to schedule a call or start an email thread with those who are interested in helping me on this project. If you are, please contact me and you’ll hear from me early next week.
3) Training Material – The infrastructure is setup. I need to publish the rollout plan for making this happen and start implementing it next week by people signing up for a new list. The goal will be to get people enough information on an on-going basis that they can then take it back to their locations and deliver it with ease. Options will include FREE, a subscription to talk to the trainers who are developing this (and recorded web-casts), and of course on-site paid consultation with me and other trainers to help you jump-start the tailoring process and we will work with you hand-in-hand to develop and even co-teach the class with you. The free information will be just as good as the other available options… I promise that! I’ll need you to keep me honest on that!
4) Remember that “Scrum on a Page” that I asked for comments on a few months ago. Wow. I had so much information to synthesize that I am now ready to meet with Tony and have him do a “Implementing Scrum” overhaul on it to match the site. This will become the cornerstone of the site and will be used in multiple ways. I am super-excited about this! And. It will not be perfect; however, just like the theme of our site, we need to have something to start those tough conversations. I think this will hit that mark!
5) Build a small affiliate program. As many of you know, I travel a LOT around the world. One of the ways this is possible is by making sure I can sell seats into the workshops (or create billable consulting hours). If you are interested in becoming an affiliate for selling seats into my classes — or even consulting engagements — this is the time for you to contact me and let me know your interest. The model rocks, and will be rolled out soon too.
6) I am in need of a developer to help me take an XML file and run it through some sort of converter so that I do not have to manually create the page www.michaelvizdos.com/enroll. I have access to the XML file and I’d like the output to look similar to what is out there today. This is something that just irks me because the data is available and without automation we have dual work to do (bad thing!).
7) I need to port the site www.michaelvizdos.com to a wordpress site. The infrastructure is setup. Just time is needed to actually do it. Fun stuff. But… I need to keep driving revenue from that site and keeping the implementingscrum.com site as free from advertisers as possible (I hope you enjoy that it REALLY does not have any advertising except for some things about me.
I need a few people who can commit to checking the forum a few days per week and making sure that spam does not get interjected. I have been really bad at checking this on a regular basis and know the forum is an important place for REAL people using Scrum to exchange information. Interested? Please let me know. I’d appreciate it.
So, this is the PRODUCT backlog of what I have going on just for the site. This is in addition to all the traveling I am currently doing and plan on doing in the future.
Have a great weekend!
If you have any input on the priority of things listed above, please comment about it here and I will listen to all my stakeholders (you) [smile].
Thank you, again, for everything you do.
- mike vizdos
This is an explosive new post where I (Michael Vizdos) in conjunction with some other Certified Scrum Trainers – will RELEASE ALL our material into public domain (under creative commons) so that anyone can use what we have developed over the years.
Is this selfish of us doing this?
We will promise that you will not be able to “certify” new Scrum Masters (from the point of view of the Scrum Alliance, a non-profit organization).
Does this matter?
If you *would* like “Certified” trainers to come in and help with your training roll-outs — we are available to do that. In the end, we have realized that there is more of a need to get people exposed to the Certified Scrum Training materials that a few of us have been selling (the training services of) for many years.
Here is the plan.
Try to use this information in your organization.
If you need help, contact one of us who have basically open-sourced our full two-day CSM class.
Fair?
Inspect and Adapt.
Let’s see where it leads.
Ready?
Contact us for more information on how to get this information. Now!
Also.
Contact us with your success stories!
Thanks for believing in this.
Let’s see where it goes!
- Mike Vizdos (mvizdos@gmail.com)
Hi all,
Hope this is helpful for those who both attended and are reading this from afar // after…
I sat in on a discussion between Alistair Cockburn and Ken Schwaber at the Scrum Gathering in Orlando today (March 16, 2009).
It was basically a summary of what Alistair learned while co-teaching a CSM course with Ken Schwaber as he became one of “us” (a Certified Scrum Trainer, which I am one of LOL).
The list went something like this…
“You Thought You Knew Scrum?”
=====
1. Treat people as adults.
2. Teach “Ask the Team” by actually asking the team during class.
3. 3 Bells. Deliver. Ask the Team. Inspect and Adapt.
4. Scrum is a mirror.
5. Scrum with beginners produces crap.
6. Scrum is a genetic algorithm.
[oops... running out of time soon... darn time boxing]
…. and Alistair had an “aha” moment… “Continuous “us” improvement”…
7. The team does not fail a Sprint — Inspect and Adapt.
8. Don’t shun the Project Managers – turn them into Servant Leaders and Impediment Removers.
======
The bantering between Ken and Alistair was fun to watch, and as a trainer I learned some new things. There were a lot of discussions of the “list” of eight things.
This list was typed out in front of the audience as we went along through the session.
My thoughts… (an “a ha” moment in Alistair speak)…
One of the things I have been reminded of is that we all teach the Certified ScrumMaster class a little differently.
Which is a good thing. As the market continues to get flooded by new Certified Scrum Trainers, it will be up to the consumer to decide which stay and which go… and this will happen over time. There are a lot of Scrum training courses around the world… PLEASE do your due diligence before stepping into one!
And.
I think I need to create a cartoon character for Alistair (smile).
Hi all,
So last week I spent in Santa Clara, California, learning from some of my mentors and friends and co-workers in the agile industry and beyond. Wow. It was an incredible experience and I was fortunate enough to be able to also present a few different sessions there.
Yes, you have noticed as I have that we have not published a new cartoon lately. Yes. This is my responsibility.
I am taking time to learn more in this craft of agile and Scrum.
This week, I will be in Orlando, Florida, for a few days with the Scrum Community and then the Scrum Trainers at the end of this week.
For up-to-date information, follow me on twitter at www.twitter.com/mvizdos.
And.
If you want to meet more people in the industry — follow the “mark” of #scrumgathering there. If you are there, tag your posts on twitter with that hashmark — and let’s see where things lead.
I promise we’ll get back on track with the comic strips soon. In the mean time — let’s learn more and check out your favorite comic strips on this site.
Comment away!
You may also see some surprises coming from me. Who’d think. From me? (smile).
Welcome to a new week…..
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