Scrum Masters(*) are at an interesting position in agile organisations. They are a linchpin to the successful implementation of agile methods, yet more often than not they have no person to turn to in times of doubt or uncertainty.
They are agents of change, often tasked with helping transform the culture of organisations, yet often are not challenged to transform themselves along the way.
And as we all know, sometimes, bad habits creep back in. Or probably never left. And if left unchecked, these little gremlins can form into fully grown anti-patterns. Scrum Masters are not immune to them. Stefan Wolpers of Age of Product captured 20 of the most prolific Scrum Master Anti-Patterns for you to reflect upon. Are you a Scrum Master exhibiting one of those? Don’t be afraid to ask your team for help. Or can you see this behaviour in your Scrum Master? Don’t be afraid to offer help!
(*) Or whatever you want to call them. Personally, I am very unhappy with that name ('scrum' limiting the role to enforcing scrum rules, and 'master' insinuating they know much more than everyone else). I'm more happy with "Agile Coach", or, personally, with "dude" or "hey, you!".
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For some reason, I keep coming back to the problem of complexity, and if simplification to remove complexity actually is a good thing.
Sometimes, things are complicated, and then we’re glad when someone (or something) comes around and makes things easier for us.
But things that are complex are something entirely different: Something complex isn’t tedious, it’s incredibly rich, and there is danger that making it simpler removes from that richness.
And as my thoughts are circling back to the issue of complexity, I am looking back on this article that was published nearly two years ago.
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A nuclear reactor starting up
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Ever wanted to see a nuclear reactor powering up?
Glad I could help.
(On a tangent: It never occurred to me that there would be that one moment when a nuclear reactor would go from inert to the most dangerous thing on the planet. It’s completely logical, of course, but I just never thought of it)
(For bonus-points: It is called “bringing the reactor to criticality”)
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Shared Micro-Mobility and the cannibalisation of other modes of transport
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Oooh, this is what I call a “Meta-Told-You-So-Moment”. A couple of issues back, I voiced my — let’s say: mild unhappiness with the phenomenon of cheap rental e-scooters littering the sidewalks of Everytown, Everywhere.
E-Scooters are an environmental disaster, and from observation (I know, “the plural of anecdote is not data”) I suspect that they fail to live up to their hype.
The big question for every city is: How is your modal split looking? By that, we mean: How many daily trips are performed on foot, on a bicycle, on public transport, on a car, and so forth.
The second aspect next to the mode of transportation is the mode of ownership: Do you own the car you drive in, or is it a cab? Or a car sharing system where lots of people use the same cars?
E-Scooters can be a net benefit if they mostly replace privately-owned cars (and to a lesser extend, shared cars) due to their negative environmental impact. My suspicion is that this will not happen, and that E-Scooters will mostly cannibalise public transport, walking and cycling as modes of transport (all of them vastly superior to any scooter technology).
McKinsey did a study on Munich, a city notoriously pro-car, and found out that even in the best-case scenario, rental e-scooters rides will only to 30% replace car rides, with the other 70% cannibalised from other modes of transportation.
So, while it is true that car-traffic would go down, it would do that in a much lesser extent then expected, and even then only with massive public investment.
(Via Jon Woodroof of TwoTone Amsterdam and his excellent newsletter focusing on personal growth/health/productivity/stability, startupts, sales, and cycling.)
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The evolution of the Agile Coach
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What's the difference between Agile coaching in a transformational setting vs. coaching in an already agile Org?
Erin McManus and Fiona Siseman from Spotify point out that the focus of agile coaches shifts from "big change" to delivering incremental value, and they talk about all the interesting challenges this creates.
There’s another interesting aspect in there: While agile coaches are responsible for creating a framework to help others be successful, they too need a framework that allows them to be successful themselves.
Listening to them is 38 minutes well spent!
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That's it for this edition of Let's Be Fwends. As always, I want to thank you for taking the time and reading it. See you next year! 🎆
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