January 5, 2009. The Day Scrum….

…. umm.  Gotta think of the right word.

How about this.

I am working with some other Scrum Trainers right now in preparing something that is so mind-blowing in our community that well, the repricussions may be felt around our little universe.

Really.

It is THAT big.

Our Sprint One on the project we are working on will be completed and ready to roll into Production — immediately following our first iteration — will be unveiled on January 5, 2009.

This is an opportunity of a lifetime.

Just as the journey to get us all here today has been fun — you WILL receive new tools and knowledge that has yet to be released into the wild.

Woot.

There will be a sign-up page for this coming soon.

So this list can continue concentrating on announcements and cartoons, while this new list will allow you to gain greater power, have better sex, and start changing the world.

OK.

So maybe not have better sex… but I always wanted to say that in a blog posting (smile).

More soon.

YOU ROCK!

Thank you,

- mike vizdos

www.michaelvizdos.com

www.implementingscrum.com

Posted in Announcements, Blog, Certification, Exercise Examples, Training — by mvizdos on 12/03/08 1 comment




Animal Farm. Reading After High School. Real Life?

Think about the last time you read a book.

Non-fiction?  Fiction?  It really does not matter.

And this book you read… what did you DO after you read the book?

Did you put it back on your book shelf?

Did you even finish it (smile — you see, *I* start a LOT of books!)

And there it gathers dust until one day… for some reason… you got the urge to pick it back up again.

Started at the beginning.

Or maybe a few pages back from where you left your bookmark.

And.

What did you learn after re-reading the same book again?

Anything?

Think.  Really Think. [challenge ON my reader!]

Now.

What if you read a bunch of books on a topics after using Google to search for “Scrum.” [Note: Page 1 baby!]

And.

What if you read a bunch of cool blogs on the topic of Scrum (like www.implementingscrum.com or my personal site at www.michaelvizdos.com).

And.

Did nothing with that information.

Until.

One day, you took a class from someone experienced who tied together the real-life version with the book version of the topic.

Then.

You went back and read the “books” again.

What happened?

Was it the same experience or were you able to read it from a totally new perspective?

Please share via comments…. I am looking forward to continue learning with you!

Thank you,

- mike vizdos

Posted in Blog, Cartoons, Certification, Exercise Examples — by mvizdos on 11/10/08 (8) comments




2009 Plans. ImplementingScrum and Michael Vizdos.

Hi all.

I need your help.

Actually… my plans for 2009 depend on your input.

Wow.

Imagine a blank sheet of paper in front of you.

I am doing that now.  Actually, it has been blank for a little while.

I am in analysis paralysis.

So.

Here is what I need from you….

My goal for 2009 is to show how Scrum works in the real world using a creative manner with real world people.

What would you do?

Zero constraints.

Well.  One.

I am going to use Scrum to implement whatever I do.

I have some ideas brewing.  Which I will share in this comment thread in a bit.

I’d like to hear your ideas.

Blank sheet of paper.

Go :) .

Please put your ideas in the comment section on this blog entry.

And spread the word about this for me.

My 2009 depends on it (smile).

In advance, let me say a sincere, “Thank you.”

And let’s see where it leads me…. Or us as a community.

- mike vizdos

Posted in Announcements, Blog, Exercise Examples — by mvizdos on 11/06/08 (9) comments




Shhhh. Revealing a Secret Presentation. Grab it. Now.

Hi all,

Today I faciliated a 1/2 day experiential report about Scrum by using Scrum.

It was in Boston with an awesome group of about 36 people in attendance.

Nobody really knew other people in the audience prior to the meeting.  Wow, how things changed using Scrum.

As usual, I put the trust in the team and they were mega successful.

Readers both on RSS and my awesome e-mail subscibers can both view the presentation at www.implementingscrum.com/sd.

E-mail readers — look familiar?

RSS Reader?  You MAY really want to get subscribed via email so you can see some great content behind that presentation.

No.

The presentation was not just that powerpoint slide.

It was used to show what Scrum looks like at a high level.

Then.

We used Scrum to answer questions from the group about Scrum.

Huh?

If I can get a high speed connection tomorrow, I’ll send the updates to the page and notify you so you can see what happended.

Actually.. I have been taping a lot of exercise outputs.

Amazing patterns — and anti-patterns emerge.

Thought this was more important than a comic strip tonight.

Which, by the way I have on me (smile) and is ready to go.

But.

I thouht this information would help a lot of you out there.

Comments as usual are more than welcome.

Hasta Manana.

- mike vizdos

PS –> Think about the last time you read a book and then went through something like the book in real life.  What happened?  We’ll examine that tomorrow night with the comic strip.  Sorry I know I could not keep you hanging all night.  You’re welcome for the awesome foreshadowing (smile).

Posted in Blog, Exercise Examples — by mvizdos on 10/27/08 1 comment




Spinal Tap. Without a Lumbar Puncture. Painful?

One of the things I stories I have recently started talking about in my Certified ScrumMaster Workhops is about how Scrum really amplifies both the functional and dysfunctional aspects of an organization.

And the story I tell is that of an older movie called, “Spinal Tap.”

Ever hear of it?

If not, it is a “Rock-U-Mentary” about a fake band who gets followed around by a camera crew.

Ask anyone in your office about the “11″ line and have them do it in their best accent (they will know what you are talking about if they have seen the movie).

The main gist of that line is that during an interview, one of the band members asks why their amplifiers have an “11″ on them, instead of just the normal “10.”

Blank stare.

Then…. the band member says, “Because 11 is louder.”

And then the interviewer basically asks, “Why not just make 10 louder?”

Blank stare.

Band member, “Well, because this one’s got an eleven.”

So I may have screwed it up since it has been almost 25+ years since seeing the movie (I think… yikes!).

I have heard it is best watched in some kind of altered state; however, I would not condone or recommend that to anyone reading this article.

So what does an amplifier with an “11″ have to do with Scrum and introducing it into an organization?

Comments here are welcome again, as it seemed to spark some great discussions last week (scroll down to the bottom to see all the comments people have left… wow!) …. (of which I really need to go back and answer if appropriate)!

Here are my questions, but you can answer them (or your own) any way you’d like (It’s almost like being a moderator for the US Presidential and Vice Presidential Debates this year sigh):

1) What are the top five GREAT things that have been amplified in your organization when introducing Scrum?
2) What are the top five INSANE things (read: Dysfunctions) that have been amplified when introducing Scrum?

3) Was Scrum the cause of them?

4) Did Scrum force a change one way or the other?

Let’s see where it leads.

If anything, go watch the movie if you’ve got some time to kill :) .

Of course, that is AFTER you respond to the questions via comments back to the site!

Posted in Blog, Cartoons, Exercise Examples, Teams — by mvizdos on 10/22/08 1 comment




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