A Classic Apple Move
On July 6th the creators of the Scrum Framework (Jeff Sutherland and Ken Schwaber) discussed their highly anticipated update. Even though the move was due to popular demand, their emphasis on Scrum Values hit me more like a surprise Apple innovation. I was not expecting it, but ended up with something I can really use.
It’s all About the Values
These values add strength to the Scrum community by defining how people, operate and relate to each other. They help create a place where people love to work. A quote from the webinar discussing the five Scrum Values stuck with me, “Just these basic few words energizes the room for conversation and I see the first true collaboration unfold in front of me.”
Some may still debate the benefits of points vs. time estimation, but it’s hard to argue with commitment, focus, openness, respect and courage. Here are a few more quotes.
- Commitment – Commitment to become a person, better team, better company. A commitment to take your company into the future.
- Focus – Delivering twice the product in half the time, is only possible through extreme focus.
- Openness – It is only when you systematically see real things working can you determine progress.
- Respect – … for people with their strengths and weaknesses and trying to work with them to help them do the best they can to create the best product they can.
- Courage – This is particularly applicable to management. As Agile transformation occurs, the manager’s role will change.
Unexpected Treasures
The webinar also mentions a number of helpful ideas during the question and answer period. Such as this important article published in the Harvard Business Review on Embracing Agile. Written by Darrell Rigby, Jeff Sutherland and Hirotaka Takeuchi, it is one of the best executive summaries of Agile I’ve seen lately. There is also mention of the Harvard Business Review article on the Secret History of Agile. And for those who remain embraced in the time estimation over points debate, you will likewise not be disappointed. There is mention of processes used by teams which consistently deliver late. With a bit of good old fashioned “I told you so.” here’s the list:
- Time estimation.
- No estimation.
- Stories with sub-tasks.
- Well defined short stories.