Today we dive into the main part of Fixing Your Scrum, Practical Solutions to Common Scrum Problems, by Ryan Ripley and Todd Miller, published in 2020 by The Pragmatic Programmers. In this installment of Re-read Saturday, we tackle both Chapter 1: A Brief Introduction To Scrum and Chapter 2: Why Scrum Goes Bad.
Chapter 1: A Brief Introduction To Scrum
I am going to make the assumption that the great majority of my blog and podcast listeners have a good handle on what scrum it is. If not I certainly have a class to sell you :-). That’s a way of saying that I am not going belabor this chapter. I would like to highlight that there are several really good references that Todd and Ryan point out that everyone should read and digest. Three in this chapter are:
- The Scrum Guide,
- Cynefin Framework, and
- Stacey Matrix.
If you are working in agile, you really should have a copy of the Scrum Guide. It is critical for understanding Scrum. The quick overview in the book is just that, a quick overview, and it does not purport to pass the in-depth knowledge needed to help guide a team or transform an organization. Todd and Ryan point out that the scrum guide is dense (even the newest version is dense – I have used it for sleep management). One of the ideas the book passes on is the idea of using a group reading to explore and test the nuances of Scrum. Cynefin Framework and Stacey Matrix address organizational and change complexity. I had not heard of the Stacey before I read Fixing Your Scrum the first time. I am convinced that having a working knowledge of all three is core knowledge for leaders.
One of my main takeaways from the re-read of this chapter is that it is easy to become overly focused on the roles, artifacts, and events that make up Scrum as a framework. While important, the values that underpin Scrum are why it works. Without embracing the values the best you can do is to go through the motions.
Chapter 2: Why Scrum Goes Bad
The layout of Chapter 2 prepares you for the rest of the book. This chapter ticks off some of the most popular reasons implementations of Scrum go bad. I have seen the scenarios in this chapter multiple times in my career before Scrum was framework so even if you are you are using some other framework, pay attention. For example, the first scenario, view Scrum as a set of ala carte best practices is one of the most common anti-patterns all popular frameworks are exposed to. Frameworks are built to work when all of their parts are present. Picking and choosing based on your opinion often lead to catastrophic results. The scenario approach to the chapter (and future chapters) is why I have found this book useful. When I encounter a Scrum problem I can reference Todd and Ryan’s sage advice to craft a path forward for the people I’m working with.
The scenario in this chapter that I think is most prescient is that of “lacking goals.” The concept of a sprint goal is often replaced with a to-do list (or sprint backlog) for a goal. The lack of big picture goal hobbles the team. There no way to think about solving a focused business problem if everyone is focused only on a set of stories or tickets. They just get stuff done and therefore each sprint becomes a solo slog. The advice that Ryan and Todd provide are great seeds for experimentation. Everyone will have to tailor the advice based on their own context and then test if it works.
One final note on Chapter 2. I have leveraged the 15% solution exercise explained in the Coach’s Corner at the end of the chapter on a couple of occasions (with attribution of course). The exercise focuses participants on taking manageable steps toward a healthier implementation of Scrum (or any framework) without trying to fix everything all at once which would lead to frustration.
If you have not bought your copy — what are you waiting for? Fixing Your Scrum: Practical Solutions to Common Scrum Problems
Last Week’s Installment Week 1: Re-read Logistics and Front Matter – https://bit.ly/3mgz9P6
