Scrum + Hip Hop: Vol. 4
It Takes a Village
A common misconception about Agile is that it’s a developer thing. “Throw a little Scrum at developers, and we’re golden, right?” Sadly, this happens too often. From developers, to testers, all the way up to the CEO, becoming agile is about a change in mindset for the entire company. From the bottom to the top, everyone has to walk the same walk, and talk the same talk.
“Started from the bottom now we’re here.” — Drake
When Wu-Tang Clan first stepped onto the scene in 1993, they changed the game forever. Their first album, “Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers),” is still considered one of the greatest hip hop albums of all time. With a crew of 10 members (RZA, GZA, Method Man, Raekwon, Ghostface Killah, Inspectah Deck, U-God, Masta Killa, Cappadonna, and Ol’ Dirty Bastard), staying on point took work.
Like I said in Scrum + Hip Hop: Vol. 3, sometimes people think “doing Agile” is a developer thing. I can’t say it enough; you don’t DO Agile. Thinking it’s something you do is part of the problem. If it takes weeks for approvals to go through just to spin up a web server, is that staying on point? If small pockets of developers are the only ones following Scrum (or Kanban, or XP, or whatever), how that how is agile? Let’s back up, and talk about Scrum. What exactly is it?
“Scrum is a management and control process that cuts through complexity to focus on building products that meet business needs.” — Scrum.org
That’s a mouthful. But can we do better?
“Scrum is a process framework used to manage product development and other knowledge work.” — The Agile Alliance
Meh. Still sounds like it was written by a robot.
Can we break it down more? How about this?
“Scrum is an Agile framework for completing complex projects.” — Scrum Alliance
Short. Concise. But it still doesn’t speak to why you’d use Scrum in the first place— to help you become agile. It’s one of the reasons why after companies roll out Scrum to their development teams (scheduling stand-ups/daily scrums, planning meetings, sprint reviews, and retrospectives), folks ask: “So, are we agile yet?”
“ Let me simplify the rhyme just to amplify the noise.” — Eminem
Here’s my definition: Scrum is a tool that helps organizations better react to changes, but in baby-steps.
If you understand agility, the ability to quickly react to change, does this definition make better sense? When developers need a new web server spun up, the organization needs to be able to make that happen without being hindered by too much red tape (a.k.a. impediments). At the end of the day, it’s about producing valuable software for your customers. To do that, your whole crew needs to be on board.
If every member of Wu-Tang Clan didn’t have the same vision, would “Enter the Wu-Tang” been have been as successful? Would the album have had the same profound effect on hip hop that it did? If an entire organization, from junior developer to CEO, doesn’t have an agile mindset, how likely will that business fail at becoming agile?
The Next Track: Stand Up & Be Heard
