Why Scrum Cant Fail (Andrea Tomasini, agile42)

Why Scrum can not fail?
Understanding what is Scrum all about and how to adapt to it

agile42 | We advise, train and coach companies building software www.agile42.com | All rights reserved. Copyright © 2007 - 2009.

Wednesday, 7 October, 2009

Andrea Tomasini
VP Professional Services
andrea.tomasini@agile42.com



The Goal of Agile Approaches



Change from this... Production-based process



... to this. R&D based process



Thinking Lean - where Scrum comes from



The Lean Principles
Muri, mura, muda



Load
(muri)



do not overload your
Load Processes
(muri)



Flow (mura)



Flow (mura)
keep the Flow
Even



Waste (muda)



Waste (muda)
remove non value adding
Activities



Eliminate waste What is waste in software?



Build quality in Do it right the ﬁrst time round.



Create knowledge Amplify learning



Defer commitment Decide as late as possible



Deliver as fast as possible Learn as fast as possible



Respect people Empower the team



Optimize the whole Improve the entire system



Scrum Origin



Scrum Origin
• Scrum is a “Lean” approach to
software development



Scrum Origin

• “Scrum” was ﬁrst used by
Toyota engineers at the Harvard
Business Review, when they
presented in 1986 the ﬁrst idea
of the Toyota Production
System



Scrum Origin

• “Scrum” was ﬁrst used by
Toyota engineers at the Harvard
Business Review, when they
presented in 1986 the ﬁrst idea
of the Toyota Production
System

• Jeff Sutherland and Ken
Schwaber invented Scrum for
Software Development (1995)



Scrum Characteristics




Teams choose the amount of work




Teams decide how to best reach the agreed goal




Work is prioritized based on Business Value




Allows to deliver working software at regular intervals




Adapts to change without big impact on development



Framework to control chaos (1/2)



• Based on the
assumption that
Software Development
is not a deﬁned
process, and has to be
controlled through
empirical methods[1]...
self organization,
continuos inspection
and adaption



• Based on the
assumption that
Software Development
is not a deﬁned
process, and has to be
controlled through
empirical methods[1]...
self organization,
continuos inspection
and adaption

1. Process Dynamics, Modeling and Control, Ogunnaike and Ray, Oxford University Press, 1992



• Scrum “encourages” the growth of
fundamental values, that are
stemming following simple practices
on a daily basis, these values are




Transparency




Trust
Transparency




Commitment
Trust
Transparency




Courage

Commitment
Trust
Transparency




• Without these values the “self Courage
organization” and the “team
collaboration” are not as effective as
they could be... Commitment
Trust
Transparency



Why Scrum works and why it can’t fail?



Why Scrum works? (1/2)




Time Box




The Scrum
Approach tend to
limit the complexity
by creating a ﬁeld
Time Box in which for a
speciﬁc timeframe
the technology and
the requirements
can only slightly
change


• The Lean approach let people closer to the problem make a decision on how to
solve or avoid it, limiting the costs and continuously improving the process




• Self Organization of teams empower people and motivate them to achieve better
results, having more fun, and delivering on time and with higher quality





• Organizations can change requirements at short deﬁned interval, without
affecting the productivity of the team, but having the chance to meet frequently
customer expectations





• Organizations can change requirements at short deﬁned interval, without
affecting the productivity of the team, but having the chance to meet frequently
customer expectations

• It allows to deliver working software at deﬁned regular intervals



Why Scrum Can’t Fail?



• Scrum is a Framework that encourage and enable transparency, doing so by
Empowering People into a work environment to autonomously make decisions in
order to reach faster and more effectively a deﬁned goal




• Empowered People will expose all the inefﬁciencies and impediments that are
existing into the organization now, these impediments will have to be tackled and
solved... or not




solved... or not

• Organizations that will not embrace the values of Lean and Scrum, won’t be able
to successfully implement Scrum, and will fallback to “compromises” that will
generate dysfunctions into the organization




solved... or not

• Organizations that will not embrace the values of Lean and Scrum, won’t be able
to successfully implement Scrum, and will fallback to “compromises” that will
generate dysfunctions into the organization

“People and Organizations are failing Scrum, by not
accepting to solve dysfunctions which Scrum will make
evident and clear, and hiding them behind ScrumBut(s)”


Leadership inﬂuences change




• “People don’t resist change. They resist being changed.” -
Peter Senge




Peter Senge

•“Culture does not change because we desire to change it.
Culture changes when the organization is transformed; the
culture reﬂects the realities of people working together
every day.”- Frances Hesselbein




Peter Senge

•“Faced with the choice between changing one’s mind and
proving that there is no need to do so, almost everyone
gets busy on the proof.” - John Kenneth Galbraith




Engageme
Peter Senge nt




Engageme
Peter Senge nt
culture reﬂects the realities of people working together a li sm
every day.”- Frances Hesselbein R e




Engageme
Peter Senge nt
culture reﬂects the realities of people working together a li sm
every day.”- Frances Hesselbein R e
Determ
in
ation


Questions to ask yourself




•Do I clarify strategic direction?




•Do I strive for participation?




•Do I clarify expectations?




•Do I resolve conﬂicts?




•Do I strive for participation? Empower
ment




•Do I strive for participation? Empower
ment

n ?
O f te
o w
H


Questions? & Answers!



Questions? & Answers!

For any further comment and or question, feel free to
contact us info@agile42.com

Further References:
Scrum Alliance: http://www.scrumalliance.org
Control Chaos: http://www.controlchaos.com
Implementing Scrum: http://www.implementingscrum.com
Jeff Sutherland Blog: http://jeffsutherland.com/scrum
Mike Cohn “User Stories”: http://www.mountaingoatsoftware.com
agile42 Website: http://www.agile42.com/



Why Scrum Cant Fail (Andrea Tomasini, agile42)

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