Why Scrum Case Studies Don’t Work

You may be asking, “what do you mean Scrum or Agile case studies don’t work?” Afterall, isn’t the point of a case study to provide information about the successful Scrum or Agile transformation? Yes, case studies do just that. They provide the information about a particular company and its journey. But please remember that any Agile approach, Scrum in particular, means change. Structurally changing and behaviorally changing.

In Collaborative Leadership Team’s experience, there are 2 reactions to Scrum or Agile case studies that simply don’t work. Or that do more harm to your organization’s agility than good.

1.  Cognitive Dissonance: When asked for “real” examples of organizations adopting Scrum or Agile frameworks we provide real company case studies in our classes and in our coaching. These examples contain factual information about decisions made, structural changes made and behavioral changes made. Yet countless students and clients then immediately reply with “Well that won’t work for our company because (fill in the various reasons)”. Dr. Harvey Robbins gave us a simple explanation. It’s cognitive dissonance. Even when presented with facts, the people in question will start to rationalize or hold true to existing beliefs that prevent them from making those changes. It’s not a case of “Scrum doesn’t work” or “Agile doesn’t work”. They work. If used as intended. If an organization does not want to change, they could choose not to. But there’s no value in calling something Scrum or Agile if there is no change behind it.

2. Copying without Knowledge: It’s great if case studies inspire your organization to change or to do something differently. But there is no quick fix, no magic pill or any shortcut. Too many organizations think they can simply copy another organization’s journey. Dr. Edwards Deming called this “copying without knowledge”. He noted that American management thinks they can just copy Japan but they do not know what they are copying! The same is true with Scrum and Agile. How many people try to copy Spotify? Never mind that their business has nothing to do with an online music streaming business, they just copy buzz words that Spotify doesn’t even use and say they are doing the “Spotify Agile method”. Even though no such thing exists. The reality is that every company has to take their own journey. They have to talk to each other, make decisions for their own business, make structural changes along with behavioral changes to achieve those goals and objectives.

What can you do instead? Create your own “case study.” Really make the structural and behavioral changes required and discuss what was learned from doing that. It doesn’t have to mean changing the entire company at once. It can be as simple as starting with one product or one initiative but really making the necessary changes. Then determine if goals and objectives were met for the product release or initiative. Were they not met? What did we learn? What could be improved?

If you are interested in learning for yourself and curious about how to get your own journey started, we’re here to help. Whether it’s joining our free user group, accessing free podcasts and blogs or attending one of our live, online workshops, check out our course schedule here.

Use These 3 Tips Next Time You're Coaching Up In Your Organization

We asked and our community answered!  You asked for more tips on working with your leaders in an Agile or Scrum adoption. Read on for our top 3 tips to coach “up” in your organization or just have a more meaningful conversation with your leaders.

1.       Respectfully ask Why: the number of people filling our classes who are unable to answer us when we ask “what is the reason or goal for your company changing the way it does work to Agile or Scrum?”.  If the people doing the work do not know the answer to what the goal is it’s unlikely that this goal will be met. Going Agile isn’t a Goal. Scrumming isn’t a Goal. Goals can be measured. Respect is key here. A common mistake is asking “Why”? and it sounding like a challenge to someone’s authority. Phrase the question honestly. If you are confused or the teams of people are confused, say that:

·       “We’re confused as to what the goal is. We want to meet goals and objectives, we want to do a good job, we just don’t understand what problem we are being asked to solve”.

·       “What does Success look like”?

·       “How will we measure this goal”?

·       “How will we know when we’re Done”? 

2.        Don’t use the “A” word or the “S” word:  it’s a common mistake for people newer to Scrum and Agile to talk about those as if they are separate things as opposed to what they are – different ways to approach work. In projects, did you say project management every other word or sentence?  Did you utter waterfall constantly?  No. It’s just the way you did work. When you talk about Agile and Scrum as if they something else, that’s where those ideas stay – as something else. The language can also confuse people if they don’t understand it. Or worse. It can put a leader on the defensive if you say something silly like “that’s not Agile” or “that’s not Scrum”. Who cares!  They are different ways to do work. Try phrases like:

·       “You have asked us to change the way that we’re doing work but I’m hearing you also ask us to do the same work the old way.  Can clarify what the expectation is please?”

·       “We’re not meeting goals and objectives so it may be helpful to take a look at our approach to the work – can you help us with that”?

3.       Be Brief, Be Clear, Be Gone:  another mistake for people newer to Agile and Scrum who are enthusiastic about this change, is that they verbally throw up entirely too much information and vocabulary on their leaders in their excitement. Depending on the level of leadership being addressed, it’s not that they don’t care or are uninterested necessarily, it’s that there is a lot on their mind. They may have the best of intentions but little time and a limited attention span. We’ve experienced many leaders rolling their eyes, sighing and looking at their watch who then reply “what are the top 3 things you need from me right now?”.  So try this:

·       Come prepared with the top 1, 2 or no more than 3 things that are most pressing that require that leader’s attention

·       Craft that message as succinctly as possible with facts, no unnecessary “A” or “S” words

·       When you’re done be gone. The leader can always ask for more information if they need it or want it or follow up with you if necessary.

With any advice, tips, tricks, etc. they are only effective if you use them and most importantly continue to use them. Practice is what will bring about more permanent changes to the way you and your organization approach work.

To learn more, check out our course schedule and join us for a training!

Collaborative Leadership Team first in Minnesota to offer Certified Scrum Professional® - ScrumMaster (CSP®- SM)

MINNEAPOLIS, MINN. (PRWEB) JULY 03, 2019

Through incorporating the values and principles of Agile into business decisions organizations quickly learn and adapt to capitalize on opportunities. Scrum is a management framework that some of the most successful companies on the planet use to incorporate those Agile values and principles. Collaborative Leadership Team guides business agility and is the first Path to CSP Educator certified to provide the Certified Scrum Professional® - ScrumMaster (CSP®- SM) in the Midwest.

“It’s easy to claim that you have skills with Agile and Scrum” said Angela Johnson, CEO of CoLeadTeam. “The CSP®- SM validates candidates’ work experience. Employers can more easily determine who has the skills to assist them in their Scrum journey knowing that the Scrum Alliance and an approved Path to CSP Educator like CoLeadTeam has vetted a candidate.”

The CSP®- SM program provides the Scrum Master with a deeper set of skills for their service to any Organization, Product Owner and Development Team. Beyond Scrum Mastery, this program focuses on the necessary Facilitation and Coaching skills that an effective Scrum Master needs to better coach leaders in an Agile organization. COO Teri Bylander-Pinke shared, “CoLeadTeam continues to be the first Agile and Scrum consultancy bringing advanced training and coaching to Minnesota. As a result, companies we transform are positioned to deliver more value for their clients and improve their agility.”

The inaugural CSP®- SM program in the Midwest will be held at the West End Conference Center August 19 - 20, 2019.

To learn more about this program, please visit: https://www.collaborativeleadershipteam.com/

About Collaborative Leadership Team: Collaborative Leadership Team (CoLeadTeam) guides business agility by using a unique combination of Coaching, Customized Training and Assessments. Our core values are focused on optimizing Leaders and Teams, improving their ability to deliver valuable, working product. We have experience with clients in many industries: software, hardware, services, manufacturing and more. For more information please visit our website or send an email to teri@coleadteam.com.

Contact Collaborative Leadership Team: 
Teri Bylander-Pinke 
Chief Operations Officer 
Collaborative Leadership Team 
Teri@CoLeadTeam.com 
https://www.collaborativeleadershipteam.com