The Scrum Culture: Introducing Agile Methods in Organizations

315 Pages·2015·3.91 MB·English

by  Dominik Maximini (auth.)

Management for Professionals
Dominik Maximini
The Scrum
Culture
Introducing Agile Methods
in Organizations
Management for Professionals
More information about this series at
http://www.springer.com/series/10101
Dominik Maximini
The Scrum Culture
Introducing Agile Methods
in Organizations
DominikMaximini
Wendlingen
Germany
CopyeditingprovidedbyKevinLeePotter
ISSN2192-8096 ISSN2192-810X(electronic)
ISBN978-3-319-11826-0 ISBN978-3-319-11827-7(eBook)
DOI10.1007/978-3-319-11827-7
SpringerChamHeidelbergNewYorkDordrechtLondon
LibraryofCongressControlNumber:2014957176
#SpringerInternationalPublishingSwitzerland2015
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Foreword by Gunther Verheyen
OneoftheaspectsofScrumthatisoftenperceivedasverydifficultisthesimplicity
of Scrum. Despite the lightness of Scrum, each of the elements in the Scrum
framework does tie back to existing problems. It is a challenge to adopt Scrum
from this understanding and implement it without additional phases, roles, and
bureaucracyandstillsolvemanyproblemsinyourproductdevelopment.
Thereis,however,anevendeeperchallengerelatedtothat.Scrumismuchmore
about people, behavior, and culture than it is about “process.” The mind-set and
principles underlying the Scrum framework hold at least an implicit indication of
theenvironmentinwhichScrumwillthrive.But,despitethegrowthandpopularity
ofScrum,ithasremainedimplicit.TherelationshipofScrumandcultureremains
unexplored.
Dominikacknowledged this gap and this need for exploration and has done so
greatly.Hisbook“TheScrumCulture”offersusahighlystructuredinsightintohis
journey, findings, and discoveries, the path he followed, his conclusions, his
definition of the Scrum culture, and the consequences when adopting Scrum. In
theabsenceofexistingresourcesontherelationshipofScrumandculture,Dominik
createdone.
Takeyourtimetoreadhisbook.Digesttheinsightsyouwillgetfromit.Absorb
it.AnduseittolookbeyondthemechanicsofScrum.Usethisbook,“TheScrum
Culture,” to reflect on your organization’s culture and be prepared for some real
improvement. Increase the benefits of your Scrum adoption by understanding the
impactonyourorganization’sculture.
Antwerp GuntherVerheyen
May2014 DirectingtheProfessionalseriesatScrum.org
v
ThiSisaFMBlankPage
Foreword by Christiaan Verwijs
The official Scrum Guide by Ken Schwaber and Jeff Sutherland counts only
16 pages. If size is any indication of difficulty, it might leave the reader with the
impressionthatimplementingtheScrumframeworkiseasy.It’ssimplyamatterof
settingupabacklogandaScrumTeamandworkingthroughsaidbackloginshort
iterations that produce something of value to the organization. What can be hard
aboutthat?
But reality is—as it always is—quite different. The first challenge lies in
achievingathoroughanddeepunderstandingofwhyScrum(throughitsempirical
process control) works better for most projects than a planned approach. Without
thisunderstanding,it’seasytorevertbacktooldbehaviorandfamiliar-but-ineffec-
tive approaches when the going gets tough. The second challenge lies in making
Scrum work within the culture of an organization. Although Scrum is only a
framework in which people can address complex problems, it espouses a great
numberofimplicitvaluesandnormsonhowateamshouldbehave,communicate,
worktogether,andperceivetheirwork.Take,forexample,theemphasisthatScrum
placesonnothavingaprojectmanagerthatdistributestasks,makesdecisions,and
organizes work. The entire Scrum Team is responsible, and should autonomously
self-organize toward a mode that works best for them. There are many important
implicit values and norms to be found here, such as an emphasis on democratic
decision-making,aneedforopencommunicationandcontinuouslearning,astrong
relianceon(personal)autonomy,andadesiretobeinvolvedintheprocess.Ifthese
implicit values and norms don’t align with the (organizational) culture in which
Scrum is implemented, and no attention is paid to this alignment, the change
program will fail or not be as successful as it could’ve been. Although there are
no statistics available for the success rate of Scrum change programs, the success
rate of organizational change programs in general is low at best (<30 %, Fine
etal.2008).Acommonthemeinorganizationaldevelopmentisthatamisalignment
with organizational culture is the root cause of this low success rate (i.e., Schein
1992). And this is no surprise, as changing organizational culture is perhaps the
most difficult part of any organizational change. Most of the implicit values and
norms that make up organizational culture act as a powerful inertial force against
change.
So, as Scrum practitioners we have to pay more attention to the alignment of
organizationalculturewiththeespousedvaluesandnormsofthe“Scrumculture.”
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viii ForewordbyChristiaanVerwijs
Butwhatdoesthis“Scrumculture”looklike?Whatvaluesandnormsareespoused,
exactly? What methods and interventions can help to achieve better alignment?
This wonderful book by Dominik Maximini is the first solid, well-researched
publication to provide answers in this important area. In this book, you’ll find a
wealth of information on Scrum and organizational culture, the results of an
expansive quantitative study on “the perfect Scrum culture,” and a great number
ofmethodsandinterventionsthatcanbeofhelp.
Buildingontheresearchandpracticespresentedinthisbook,thecommunityof
Scrum consultants, trainers, change agents, coaches, and teams can certainly help
moreorganizationsimplementScrumsuccessfully.Andhopefully,theresearchin
this book will also act as a stepping stone for more scientific research into this
interestingareaoforganizationaldevelopment.
Utrecht ChristiaanVerwijs
May2014 OrganizationalPsychologist,ScrumMasterandTrainer
References
Fine, D., Hansen, M. A., & Roggenhofer, S. (2008, November). From lean to lasting:Making
operationalimprovementsstick.TheMcKinseyQuarterly.
Schein,E.M.(2004).Organizationalcultureandleadership(3rded.).Jossey-Bass.
Acknowledgments and Disclaimer
I would like to take this opportunity to thank all those who helped me with this
book. Without the help of all these people, you, dear reader, would not hold this
bookinyourhands.
FirstIwanttothankthegreatauthorsonwhosewritingsthisbookisbased.It’s
alwayseasyforadwarftolookbigwhenheisstandingontheshouldersofagiant.
Dr. John Kotter’s excellent work—especially his book “Leading Change”—
provides a great framework for changing organizations. Kim Cameron especially
helpedme,notonlybywritingwhathedid,butalsobyallowingmetousehiswork
andpublishtheresults.Ofcourse,withoutthepioneeringworkofKenSchwaber,
this book would not even have been thinkable. His uncomplicated willingness to
helphassupportedmemorethanonce.
Secondly, the people who guided me most on the scientific side: Brigitte
Ott-Go¨bel, who always found time to answer my questions, no matter how trivial
theymighthavebeen;andChristiaanVerwijs,whoenlightenedmeonthematterof
statisticsandhelpedmebothinreformulatingmyquestionstomakethemanalyz-
ableandinactuallyrunningtheanalysiswiththeproperstatisticalmethods.
Thirdly, the people who supported me in other regards: Jean-Pierre Berchez
greatlyhelpedinmakingitpossibletodistributethepaperversionofthesurveyon
both the Scrum Day Germany and the AgileTour; Elke Maximini, whose sharp
mind helped me more than once to circumvent literary cliffs; Dieter Maximini
whosefaithinmeneverwaveredandalwaysgavemenewstrengthwhenIneededit
most;andTinaHarder,whoisthepersonwhosufferedmostduetomyengagement.
She raised my spirits whenever they were down and enduredmyisolationwhenI
had to get some writing done. Of course I want to thank my customers, without
whomIwouldneverhavebeenabletocollecttheexperiencesthatledtothisbook.
ChancesarethatthehelpofGlennLammingensuredthatyou,dearreader,donot
have to suffer too much since he greatly improved the quality of my wording,
grammar,andpunctuation.
This all would not have been possible without the participation of hundreds of
Scrum practitioners around the globe. Every single one of them invested in some
cases more than an hour to participate in the survey—that is, 13,740 min or
29workingdays.Thankyouforthat!
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