Overcoming Dangerous Scrum Anti-Patterns with Stefan Wolpers

Are your Scrum practices silently sabotaging your team's success?

It shocks me how some teams get bugged with Scrum and fall prey to a process instead of using it to create value. I’m not claiming Scrum is bad, but limiting it to a process is definitely a bad choice.

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A few weeks ago, I chatted with Stefan Wolpers, author of "The Scrum Anti-Patterns Guide" book. We explored what gets in the way of driving value with Scrum. My favorite part of our talk:

Our job isn't to do Scrum well. It's to create value for customers and the business.

The whole conversation lasted roughly 50 minutes. You can watch the recordings here. However, you may be busy, so let’s break it down into 7 key points.

Here are 7 takeaways from our conversation:

1 . Scrutinize Established Processes

Regularly evaluate and potentially eliminate processes that block progress. If something hasn't been useful for months, it's likely no longer relevant.

Don't be afraid of removing processes.

Be afraid of being limited by outdated processes.

2. Understanding the Big Picture

Effective teams understand the complete path from product vision to delivery. Ensure everyone knows key business metrics and how their work contributes to the larger goal.

Give teams a reason to come to work.

Without purpose, people will limit their creativity.

3. Involving Developers in Product Discovery

Involve software engineers early in the product discovery process for feasible and innovative solutions.

Let those who create the solution be part of understanding the problem space.

4. Cultivating a Failure-Friendly Culture

Encourage a culture that values learning from failures. This approach fosters innovation and risk-taking, which are crucial for navigating complex environments.

The question isn't if we will fail; it's when.

Make failures smaller and digestible, treating them as learning opportunities.

5. Stakeholder Engagement

Be different. Introduce regular stakeholder retrospectives and get them actively involved in product development. That fosters collaboration and builds trust.

Business stakeholders aren't your enemies.

They are your partners.

6. Prioritizing Technical Health

Continuous attention to technical standards ensures the team can efficiently adapt and implement new ideas.

Teams need to find a sustainable balance between new ideas and keeping the product maintainable. Either extreme won't work.

Start small, learn what's worth investing further, and ditch what's proven useless.

7. Effective Backlog Management

Maintain a concise and actionable product backlog. Overloaded backlogs with outdated items can significantly impede progress.

Your trash bin is your friend.

If you haven't touched something in the last three months, throw it away.

Whatever matters will come back anyway.

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Watch the whole interview for more insights.

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Have a lovely day,

David

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