Advanced Scrum Training and Meeting Jeff Sutherland

When it comes to Agile delivery, I’m a big advocate for Scrum. Scrum offers an easy to understand and lightweight framework for developing products.

Scrum is great, but it by no means is a silver bullet.  Scrum does not solve problems, it exposes them. It is like shining a big flashlight on your product development team, exposing the good, the bad, and the ugly. Scrum is an adaptive framework, not a methodology.

For most organizations, Scrum is an effective Agile framework. This is particularly true for companies new to Agile. Scrum offers a set of guide posts and rules that make it easier for organizations to get out of their own way. The rules are simple, but not easy. Anyone can get a get good understanding of Scrum by referencing the Scrum Guide.

Last week I got a great refresher on Scrum by taking the Scrum Alliance Advanced Certified Scrum Master (A-CSM) training led by Angela Johnson. Angela is passionate about Scrum, and her and her company, Collaborative Leadership Team, does a great job.

The training was a great reminder that Scrum is about people working together to deliver the highest possible value early and often.

During the training, I had the privilege of meeting and chatting with Dr  Jeff Sutherland . He was teaching a course next door on Scaled Scrum and during a break we met. While we were discussing the challenges of Agile adoption, he gave me some good insight. He told me that sometimes all it takes is one person to start an Agile movement within on organization. He said it’s like someone pulls a lever.

Dr Sutherland relates Agile transformation to the Blue Pill/Red Pill scene from the Matrix. “Take the blue pill, and go back to sleep and continue to use waterfall. Take the red pill, and stay in Agile Wonderland, and see how deep the rabbit hole goes”.

Below is a picture I took with Dr Sutherland.