Whilst reading a recent article with a very philosophical approach to failure I was struck by the parallels between Agile and another constant challenge in my life. At some point in life many people recognise the fact that for one reason or another they need to lose some weight. The first reaction for many is…
As a Scrum Master it would be easy to assume that rugby is my sport of choice but even a quick glance at my TV habits would reveal that football (soccer) is my preference. The sad fact is that I actually have a love/hate relationship with the game and in one of my rare moments…
It may have recently been placed 8th in the top ten of weirdest job titles but I’ve been giving a lot of thought to the designation ‘Scrum Master’ for the last few weeks. It’s a title which now appears to have many contradictory definitions, many of which have irritated me when they differ from my own…
I’ve been pair coaching the past 6 months with Kelvin Lawrance. We wanted to experience and explore the benefits of pairing as we felt it shouldn’t just be limited to the developers around us. It’s been an amazing experiment and journey and I’d like to share a few discoveries for those who might be interested.…
In Chinese philosophy, yin and yang (also yin-yang or yin yang, 陰陽 yīnyáng “dark—bright”) describe how seemingly opposite or contrary forces may actually be complementary, interconnected, and interdependent in the natural world, and how they may give rise to each other as they interrelate to one another. – Wikipedia If you read a previous posting about technical v non-technical Scrum Masters you…
One of my favourite bits of the job as Agile Coach is sharing any knowledge I may have with those a few steps behind me on the road. This week I was asked the question below and I thought it would be a good time to try and summarise a few bits and pieces I’ve picked…
I’ve seen a number of discussions over the last few days around the fact that the Scrum Values have finally been added to the Scrum Guide. On the whole the consensus seems to be that this was obvious and overdue improvement to the guide, to the point where it should perhaps be considered as a ‘bug fix’…
I had the privilege of being called for jury service this year. It’s incredible really, we can learn so much from people who have nothing to do with our line of work; we get to see things differently – it’s so renewing. Spending several days with the same 11 jurors on the trial, as well as the…
A few months ago I wrote about some of the challenges faced by a Scrum Master with a technical background, namely the risk of having an opinion on technical matters and wanting to express it. The discussion came to light again when I read Manjit’s heartfelt article which looked at the problem from the other perspective and…
Should you bother reading on? If you’re a Project Manager thinking about re-branding yourself as a ScrumMaster after reading a little on the subject, then beware of the traps and pitfalls discussed here that may await you. If you’re a senior manager or recruiter and you think there is a similarity between the roles of…