An over-the-top movie on Scrum featuring Jeff Sutherland and some extreme characters.
In 1910, Teddy Roosevelt gave his famous “Citizenship in a Republic” speech at the Sorbonne. Many of us likely read it in high school, perhaps even had to memorize parts of it. I know I did, but shortly thereafter filed it away in a dusty recess of my mind, presumed to be forgotten. Fortunately, Jeff Sutherland resurfaced it in Scrum:
It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat. (source)
Jeff Sutherland writes in Scrum:
The thing that cripples communication saturation is specialization — the number of roles and titles in a group. If people have a special title, they tend to do only things that seem a match for that title. And to protect the power of that role, they tend to hold on to specific knowledge.
So we got rid of all titles. I called everyone and told them to rip up their business cards. If someone wanted to put a title on their resume, they could do it for external use only. In here, where the work was done, there were only team members. (emphasis added)
This book, Essential Scrum, is an attempt to be the missing single source for essential Scrum knowledge. It includes an in-depth discussion of Scrum’s principles, values, and practices–one that in most cases agrees with other agile thought leaders and “The Scrum Guide.” (Where this book offers a different perspective from what is widely promoted elsewhere, I point it out and explain why.)
Given this, the question is, does it deliver on its promise?
Absolutely.
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This is a fascinating video to watch. David Quinn, Senior Marketing Director at EMC, reveals the intimate details of how his organization introduced Agile to the marketing group. I’ve been through this process twice now, and repetition doesn’t make it less interesting.
I think it’s worth watching, but be a critical listener. He has some interesting interpretations of Agile and Scrum… They aren’t wrong, per se. But don’t assume his approach will be “right” for your organization (teams don’t have daily standups/daily Scrums, apparently).
It is usually far less expensive to start fast and learn fast that we were wrong than to spend a substantial amount of time and money up front to ensure that we make the “right” decision, only to find out eventually that we were wrong.
