Duncan Maddox on LinkedIn: #agile #scrum #continuousimprovement (2024)

Is your organisation just dressing up a traditional / waterfall approach in Scrum's clothing and then wondering why they're not Agile???Here's a quick check list of the most obvious signs that underneath all that Agile clothing, you're not really Agile at all....⛔ You have long-term (fixed scope, fixed deadline) plans⛔ And those plans are treated as commitments⛔ Sprints act as milestones for predetermined work⛔ Sprint Planning is used to allocate work to the team⛔ Stand-ups are used to check progress against the Sprint plan⛔ Velocity is used as a target⛔ Sprint Reviews are just demos of work done⛔ Sprint Retrospectives are where the team talk about all the things that they can't change⛔ Agile techniques such as story points and planning poker are imposed upon the team⛔ You think you can only release work at the end of the Sprint (or even less frequently!)⛔ The team's technical practices aren't continuously improving⛔ You waste time in lots of pointless meetingsJust to be clear, waterfall is not the enemy here.There's nothing wrong with using a traditional, planned approach for predictable work using established technology with mature engineering practices.And there's nothing wrong with taking a more Agile approach for more complex, unpredictable work.But you are not going to get "the best of both worlds" by dressing up a waterfall approach in Agile clothing. Very loosely inspired by James Mahy's thoughtful post ("Can software engineers be trusted? / Scrum is just waterfall in an agile trench coat")#agile #scrum

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Success with Agile is simple.It just comes down to solving the following formula...Success with Agile = Customer Focus+ Delivering Value Early & Often+ Fast Feedback Loops+ Effective Teamwork+ Embracing Change+ Technical Excellence+ XAll you need to do is solve for X.Where X of course represents a set of variables, each variable potentially taking multiple values, varying across different products, teams, organisations and time.So... what's X for you??? #agile #scrum #fridayfunday

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Scrum has too many events, too many rules and too much dogma for it to be really Agile.Apparently.I can see how people who haven't seen Scrum "in action" could think that.There's probably a reason why people talk about hummingbirds or antelopes or dolphins when they're describing "agility".They're pleasing to the eye.And Agile is all about being "lightweight", "fast" and "nimble".But if you've ever seen a high performing Scrum Team work together to solve problems, overcome impediments and deliver something great then you'll totally understand.You'll understand how "all those" events and rules give a team *just enough* structure to find their own flow, their own way of working and encourage them to continuously seek out small incremental improvements.And *that* is a beautiful thing to see!#agile #scrum

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We all tell ourselves little lies every day (mine is telling myself I'll run an extra km tomorrow to make up for the biscuit/s I'm about to eat) so here are five lies that Scrum Teams tell themselves...(based on nothing more than anecdotal data) What did I miss???

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REMINDER: LinkedIn is a bubble (of your own making).So, when you step outside that bubble what you're saying and the way you say it might not change but people might react very differently.You might be surprised... pleasantly or unpleasantly! :)

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However much time you think you're wasting in Scrum meetings, it's much less than the time wasted if your lack of alignment / understanding and/or collaboration results in you building the wrong thing the wrong way.💥 Sprint Planning should ensure that the team have alignment over the Goal for the current Sprint and enough of a plan to get started.💥 A Daily Scrum should be an opportunity for the Devs to review their progress, raise problems and make a plan for the next 24 hours.💥 The Sprint Review should be an opportunity to check that stakeholders are happy with value delivered and then adapt the plan going forwards.💥 And the Retro should be an opportunity for the team to find better ways of working.This can sound like a lot of structure / meetings / time wasted especially if you're not used to having any structure at all.But (having worked this way for a decade or so) it's never felt like a lot of meetings to me.Based on my experience (and some quick maths) the Scrum events might take up about maybe 15% of a typical working week.So the question is... if that 15% ensures that you're building the right thing the right way, is it really "wasted time" or is it really "real work"!!!IMHO If teams understood the purpose of each of the Scrum events, focussed on having an effective event and were then just allowed to get on with the work... they wouldn't feel like their time was being wasted at all!#agile #scrum #scrumexplained

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IMHO I think Scrum/Kanban/Agile training can be a great investment for a team. But unless you also invest the time and effort ensuring management and senior leadership have bought into these new ways of working... what exactly do you think is going to change???And yes, I might be biased (about investment in training) but that doesn't mean I'm wrong! 😉 #agile #scrum #wednesdaywisdom

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Scrum Masters, don’t fall into the trap of just "sweating the small stuff”… i.e. focusing entirely on ensuring the team update the artifacts, turn up to events and stick to the timeboxes.The role of the Scrum Master was always intended to be more than just an "administrator" for the team.Just as an example, it’s easy to fixate on ensuring the team stick to the timeboxes (maybe something I've done myself!!!)But maybe... just maybe... our focus should be on the big picture before we start obsessing about the little details.💥 Is Scrum the right approach for this team and / or product and / or organisation?💥 Do we all have a shared understanding of what it is that we’re trying to achieve?💥 Are we delivering value?💥 And if so, how can we show that we’re delivering value?💥 And if not, why not?💥 Do stakeholders and managers all understand how best to interact with the team?💥 Are the team getting stuff done every Sprint and do we all agree on what done means?💥 Does the team have the psychological safety to raise concerns and ask questions?💥 And are we really being Agile and embracing change... or just following a plan?💥 Is the team constantly striving to find better ways of working?💥 And are they empowered to make their own decisions, solve problems the best way they see fit and perform small experiments?💥 What’s stopping this team from being great, and what can you as their Scrum Master do to help them take the next step?If you find yourself fixating on the detail a little too much, don't be afraid to think a little bit bigger.#agile #scrum #scrumexplained

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Full disclosure, I have a little "head cold" today so reading this quote this is literally how my brain saw it. Had to read it again to realise my brain was adding a couple of words! 😅However the message resonates with me.(With and without my additions)Being a "master of Scrum" is much more than just about understanding Scrum.Sure that's the foundation, or your first step.(And yes, I teach Professional Scrum Master courses because I think that knowledge is important).But a real master of Scrum, i.e. a great Scrum Master is someone who is able to pass on that understanding by simplifying and sharing.It's not about being right and imposing ways of working on others.It's about helping people see that there is a better way of working.It's about being able to take others with you on the journey.It's about figuring out how to pass on what you know in a way that resonates with other people and gives them that lightbulb moment.And that's something you'll only be able to do (and get better at) with practice.Or at least, that's what I'm taking from it today!Image from, 'The Diary of a CEO: The 33 Laws of Business and Life'.#agile #scrum #scrumexplained

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