Category

Scrum

Top 10 Ways to be a Great Product Owner – Part 1

While there is some debate within the Scrum community, the Product Owner accountability is often described as the most difficult accountability in Scrum. In this two-part blog series, I want to highlight 10 ways to become a great Product Owner. The first five of these recommendations are as follows: 10.) Have a Product Vision –...
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Does a Scrum Master need to be Technical?

One of the most common questions that we get when teaching people about Scrum involves the Scrum Master.  Specifically, does a Scrum Master need to be “technical”? In order to answer this question, we first need to explore what it means to be “technical”.  Defining this word isn’t as easy as it seems.  First, everyone...
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Technical Debt is Having its Moment

“Technical Debt” has been a topic of discussion within the software industry for several years.  However, recent events such as the Southwest airlines debacle and the FAA outage has brought “Technical Debt” and its consequences into the main stream, even garnering mention on the front page of the New York Times.   “Technical Debt”, as...
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Image of a guy sitting in a barn

Wayne the Scrum Master

Those of us who have spent way too much time watching the Hulu show, “Letterkenny”, have no doubt all had the same thought: “Would Wayne be a good Scrum Master?”  Fortunately, Wayne and the other residents of Letterkenny, Ontario give us a number of catch phrases to examine as we consider whether he would indeed...
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Michael Jordan Statue

You’re a PST? Does that mean you’re like Mike? (No, not that Mike!)

In the last month, I’ve occasionally been asked why I chose to pursue my Professional Scrum Trainer (PST) accreditation rather than become a Certified Scrum Trainer (CST). Even more frequently I’ve been asked what the difference is. As a PST I can teach Professional Scrum Master (PSM) classes accredited by Scrum.org rather than Certified Scrum...
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Scrum Fundamentals

The New Scrum Guide

On November 18th, Jeff Sutherland and Ken Schwaber released a new version of the Scrum Guide – the definitive source for Scrum.  While there are a number of people who have done comprehensive reviews of the changes and debated in excruciating detail the meaning behind each of these changes (see this article by Johnannes Geske...
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Zoom Video Call

Reflections on the New Normal

As many of us were forced to do, agilityIRL pivoted from in-person classroom to live, online classes in mid-March.  While our transition to online learning was forced by the pandemic, I’ve learned a lot about the environment, its challenges, and benefits over the past few months.  As a long-time CST used to in-person classroom training,...
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Welcome Come In Sign

agilityIRL: Welcome to Agility In-Real-Life

At agilityIRL, we’re focused on helping teams, leaders, and organizations become Agile—in real life. If you’re ready to become Agile via a whole-system approach that changes both the mechanics and culture by which you work, you’ve come to the right place. We’re glad you’re here. Welcome! We’re Proud to Launch Our New Website Welcome to...
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Questions from a Certified ScrumMaster® Class – Part Two

I recently taught a Certified ScrumMaster®(CSM) Class at Watermark Learning. Because our time in class is limited and our class backlog is full of activities, exercises and simulations, I rarely have enough time to address all of the questions raised. Blogging, while limited in space, does allows me the opportunity to address these questions while...
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Questions from a Certified ScrumMaster® Class – Part One

I recently taught a Certified ScrumMaster®(CSM) Class at Watermark Learning. Our two-day class is packed full of real-world examples of how to apply Scrum to solve complex problems. Of course, there is never enough class time to work through the backlog of questions that students raise, and as a passionate Scrum practitioner, this nags at...
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