Welcome back to yet another week at www.implementingscrum.com.
Thanks as usual for coming back this week and helping me spread the word about this site.
If you have some time today, please tell three or four of your friends about it, and let’s see if even more people can have fun with us.
Ask them to subscribe. Please. There are opportunities all over the site (please let me know if it is confusing in any way!). In fact, you can forward them this note and have them Subscribe to Implementing Scrum via Email!
Now… about “Fun.”
Yeah, I know, I know… we do serious work in the real world Mike….
I know.
I live it, as I hope you can tell.
So last week I wrote a few segments about Fantasy Island, and I really loved that comic strip.
One of the things listed was, “You may be on Fantasy Island” if you play Planning Poker without your Product Owner.
For a quick overview on an introduction to Planning Poker, please see this posting.
And come back! I am not going anywhere.
You back?
See. I told you I’d still be here. I am persistent that way (get it geeks of the world?!?! HA??? Ug… nevermind lol).
OK.
Ug.
WARNING: IF you have a very sensitive sense of humor (or none at all)… PLEASE STOP READING THIS POSTING.
My title tonight varied from, “How Planning Poker is like Unprotected Sex” to the one you see you actually displayed.
Guess it is at least a little more politically correct.
SO.
Um.
How can Planning Poker look like a one night stand?
Let me see if that can be answered sufficiently….
1) When you leave a Product Owner out of the process, you are at risk of waking up the next morning wanting to gnaw your left arm off. Clear?
OK.
Next one.
2) A Product Backlog does not have to be something that the Scrum Gods (aka Mr. Schwaber or others) think is perfect. Here is a fair question for you…. “Does it meet the needs of your customer?” If yes, all is good. If no, hire me (smile). Um. Dunno what that has to do with a one night stand (sorry).
3) Scrum Planning Poker without a Product Owner lands you in Fantasy Island. And. You cannot get off. Much like drinking and partying which can lead to the one night stand. You know, cannot get off the Island. And… never get to “Done.”
4) You cannot do any type of real release planning. Just like a one night stand, you may wind up with something you will have to live with for the rest of your life in about 10 months with not a clue it was coming (see my “Making Babies” post). Well, you saw it building and growing, but you have no idea what you are in for.
5) Hmmm…. I think the number one reason was the best (lol). Let me think. Oh…. this thing called “Group Think” may take place where everyone makes ASSumptions about the other. Can lead to going back to #1 in this list (smile).
6) Having a Product Owner there is like wearing a…. hmmm… do I dare say it? Nope. Use your imagination if you can. And. If it is missing it may feel fine but your team can wind up catching something that is hard to get rid of - or even cause your team to die.
7) And I guess my final word of advice… If you find yourself out during that “last call” and someone has that “five beer” look… GO HOME ALONE. This can be paralleled to playing Planning Poker without a Product Owner. If the Product Owner is not there… CANCEL THE MEETING.
Wow.
Was that the most inuendo-filled-posting I have ever posted? I think the most inuendo-filled-COMIC-STRIP was the one on CSM Training. Strange how that is the most downloaded comic strip on the site (smile).
Hehe… It was a little fun.
Now… back to the work thing.
And remember your PRODUCT OWNER!
If you or your friends [or enemies] have not signed up for FREE updates to this blog, please Subscribe to Implementing Scrum via Email!
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!
June 3, 2008
I sincerely appreciate it.
And please feel free to help me pass on the word about this site to your friends and co-workers around the world who may be interested in the new — and existing — rich content on this site about Scrum and how I see things when working with clients around the world and training new ScrumMasters for their roles.
Today I am going to start with an introduction of a new character for our site. All of the other characters are introduced in more detail here.
His name is Scott Ambler and he has been one of my personal mentors for many years. We co-wrote a book a few years ago and have traveled to some pretty cool places on the globe over the years. In addition to Scott being a friend and mentor, he has also published about 20 books (either as author or co-author) and now, as he likes to say, “IBM joined me.” He now works for IBM as an Agile Practice Lead (pretty cool job I think) and we still keep in touch.
His profile can be found at www.ambysoft.com/scottAmbler.html.
So why have I included him as a character on this site?
He knows a lot about various different agile methodologies. In fact, he is the leader in the industry on a lot of them (because like Ken Schwaber, Scott Ambler has helped get the word out about different agile software development methods).
And.
He is a bit on the controversial side. For instance, he is not a big fan of the current certification model that I (and others) teach; this should add some good content for the cartoons (smile).
Sorta like I approach things in life.
Coincidence?
Hmmm.
So, starting tomorrow you will get an introduction to the character that is Scott Ambler in the first official cartoon for 2008 on implementingscrum.com.
This should be another fun year.
Hang on for the ride.
Get involved.
And help us all learn more about Scrum and other agile methodologies.
And remember, like the other characters, what Tony and I say in the cartoons use purely artistic license and may not reflect their real world views or opinions.
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!
January 7, 2008
Welcome back to another week at www.implementingscrum.com.So there are a few different ways a Scum Team can get started.This week, we examine what is called the “Top Down” approach.Just from the words used to describe this approach makes me feel a little queazy (sick to my stomach).Why?It invokes thoughts of command-and-control organizations, something that has a tough time implementing Scrum — or any new framework / methodology / whatever within their organization.
When the top level “CxO” (”x” can = “Executive” or “Technical” or “Financial” or whatever bigwigs like as their titles) comes up with these great ideas and wants to “push” it down to the people that work for them, a lot of the times the people actually doing the work roll their eyes and think, “Oh, another change of the week.”
And suck it up.
And.
Do it.
Only to the point where things do not break.
And.
They stay under the radar and do not rock the boat.
And.
Are not really productive with this Scrum stuff that is being shoved down their throats.
Yikes.
We have seen this before (in this series of cartoons, you may want to look at the, “You Suck. And Somebody is Sad” entry.
Ouch.
It happens way too often.
And.
There is usually a very large mushroom cloud going off somewhere in the organization.
Then.
Some other “fad” gets brought in to clean up the mess of the last one.
Rinse and Repeat.
Ug.
Frustrating, huh?
I think you can see if you are in an organization that is rolling out Scrum in this fashion….
[political correctness off]
You are screwed.
[political correctness on]
So.
What can you do besides look for another job?
See if you can help actually make it work.
And.
That will be what the next cartoon in this series will address.
Until then, remember.
All is not lost!
Really.
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 1, 2007
Well. It seems like there are people out there trying to add new “types” of Scrum.
And it seems like this topic rears it ugly head (meaning it “shows up”) pretty regularly in different discussions and on different boards.
You will see “Scrum Type A, B, and C” as some examples of this “evolution.”
What do the different Scrum Types looks like?
Scrum Type A
This seems to be the classic, by the book way Scrum is taught. An iteration (or Sprint) starts and stops at regular intervals.
Scrum Type B
This is where Sprints start “overlapping.” Ug.
Scrum Type C
This is where there are basically continuous - and overlapping — Sprints. Jeff Sutherland (one of the creators of Scrum, not normally mentioned) - Explains “Type C” here.
Ummm.
And the scary thing is, there are probably many more “types” of Scrum out there.
At the end of the day though, really, Scrum boils back down to doing the basics.
Ken Schwaber has addressed this publicly (and privately at meetings I have attended with other Certified Scrum Trainers).
Here is one of his comments (from a yahoo group posting):
“There is only one Scrum… There are many ways to fill in its blanks to optimize productivity and ROI, but those vary with each situation. I may implement Scrum differently if there is hardware and software involved, if there are various levels of engagement throughout the enterprise, if the engineers are more or less competent � but it is all Scrum.”
So what is the big fuss?
I really do not know.
Seriously.
It is all the same stuff.
And.
I personally think the marketing around Scrum - one of the many available agile techniques for software development - is tough enough to try to explain, teach, and implement to both people inside and outside of the software development industry.
Does it really matter about the different “types?”
No.
Really.
If this religious dogma of “typing” Scrum continues (and I am urging, along with others, to stop this nonsense) I guess I should claim “Type V” now.
Scrum - Type V
(for Vizdos, pretty creative, huh?).
This would be where all teams actually use Scrum (as Scrum should be used!) and really get it. And then all the Scrum Teams out there actively print out all our cartoons from ImplementingScrum.com (all are available here!) and use them as teaching and learning aids. And each and every person implementing “Type V” Scrum would send out all their own favorite cartoons from the site to people they know (wow, you can do that from each page by using that “tell a friend” link!) and link back to them from their own sites (both internally and externally for the world to share).
But wait.
Sorry.
And (use AND not BUT).
Um.
This differs from the way you are using Scrum today in what way?
Thought so.
Scrum = Scrum at the end of the 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!
August 6, 2007
Sit down.
And listen. This is important.
Really (smile).
If you are on a Scrum Team, either as the ScrumMaster, Product Owner, or Team Member and are looking around your team room today asking yourself, “Why the heck are we using Scrum on this project,” you are not alone.
It turns out that the majority of projects that start using Scrum actually fail.
Wow.
This supports my statement that Scrum is not a “Silver Bullet” for software development.
If your team is not working out…. I would not recommend doing what our intrepid ScrumMaster above is saying to the team, because the response will probably be much the same.
Gulp.
So what the heck do you do?
Try using Scrum.
If things are not going well, make sure you are following “the basics” of Scrum. It is not Rocket Science.
Take a look around this site and do some research on the Internet — there is a lot out there to help you.
However.
And this is a big one.
If it is not working, STOP calling it Scrum and move on.
If not, you can pretty much guarantee yourself and the team of dying a slow, iterative, and incremental death march.
Do you understand the implications of the above statement?
Really?
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!
July 9, 2007
Older Articles »
