Practicing agile theory

An analogy - Ever thought of how Agile scrum could very closely be compared with a "road trip" that almost everyone must've taken sometime in their lifetime? In arriving at the destination ( Product ), there's a lot that goes into the journey -  the Scrum Team must have visibility ( Vision, Roadmap ) to start with, along with an awareness of the road conditions ( Project Transparency ).  That said, the team must have an understanding of traffic/driving rules ( Scrum Processes ) and the vehicle chosen for the trip, should be in a good working condition ( Dev Environment ). With those as prerequisites to begin - The driver must have the knowledge of the route/directions to get to the destination ( Knowledge/Expertise/Competence of developers ). In addition, the driver must have enough fuel ( Motivation ) to get the journey started & keep it going until the team has arrived at the destination ( Product ). While the above sounds simple, during the j

The agile game called "Solve the puzzle" This is a simple game that teams using Agile can play to understand values and principles. Needless to say, the scrum master is the "facilitator" and a keen observer.  Below are some key points I'd like to share about this puzzle game - it takes 5 mins. of preparation for the scrum master game ideally finishes in 15 minutes; it should not take longer than that while the game is played by teams, the scrum master's role is to facilitate, observe and take note of the observations Prep work required: 10 mins. max The SM needs printout of 3 images (color prints would be better but procuring that is a challenge, even black & white prints are just fine). To add to a little complexity in the game, you can choose to use images where the subject is the same - just placed differently. Below is what I used as pictures for the game - If you observe closely,

Well, by now I’m sure you must’ve understood about the topic of the post and what it is all about – servant leadership of course! One of the attributes of a scrum master is “being a servant leader”. But what are the attributes/actions that qualify a scrum master to be called a servant leader. Let’s look at some of them below – Serving others and not yourself; in other words, selfless management of team members Being a servant means you do not or should not command others. On a lighter note, does your housecleaner/household help ever give you instructions regarding what to do? No right?   Let go of the command and control that our traditional managers are used to exercise as part of their role, in your journey to become a scrum master.   Leading by example & helping people develop and perform as high as possible Think of the Scrum Master as a personal trainer who helps you stick with an exercise regimen and perform all exercises with the correct form. A goo