The Scrum Culture: Introducing Agile Methods in Organizations PDF
Preview The Scrum Culture: Introducing Agile Methods in Organizations
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 Thisworkissubjecttocopyright.AllrightsarereservedbythePublisher,whetherthewholeorpart of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation,broadcasting,reproductiononmicrofilmsorinanyotherphysicalway,andtransmissionor informationstorageandretrieval,electronicadaptation,computersoftware,orbysimilarordissimilar methodologynowknownorhereafterdeveloped.Exemptedfromthislegalreservationarebriefexcerpts inconnectionwithreviewsorscholarlyanalysisormaterialsuppliedspecificallyforthepurposeofbeing enteredandexecutedonacomputersystem,forexclusiveusebythepurchaserofthework.Duplication ofthispublicationorpartsthereofispermittedonlyundertheprovisionsoftheCopyrightLawofthe Publisher’s location, in its current version, and permission for use must always be obtained from Springer.PermissionsforusemaybeobtainedthroughRightsLinkattheCopyrightClearanceCenter. ViolationsareliabletoprosecutionundertherespectiveCopyrightLaw. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publicationdoesnotimply,evenintheabsenceofaspecificstatement,thatsuchnamesareexempt fromtherelevantprotectivelawsandregulationsandthereforefreeforgeneraluse. While the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication,neithertheauthorsnortheeditorsnorthepublishercanacceptanylegalresponsibilityfor anyerrorsoromissionsthatmaybemade.Thepublishermakesnowarranty,expressorimplied,with respecttothematerialcontainedherein. Printedonacid-freepaper SpringerispartofSpringerScience+BusinessMedia(www.springer.com) 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.” vii 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! ix
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