I picked up a copy of Scrum: The Art of Doing Twice the Work in Half the Time
by Jeff Sutherland because I am investigating different project management methodologies for developing learning and development. The present project management methodologies that we use to develop learning lack in agility that our clients are demanding.
Jeff Sutherland is the co-creator of Scrum framework and a leading expert on how the framework has evolved to meet the needs of today’s business. The methodology he developed in 1993 and formalized in 1995 with Ken Schwaber has since been adopted by the vast majority of software development companies around the world. Could the more agile methodology apply to learning development?
This book isn’t a detailed guide to Scrum practice—it focuses on the why more than the how. Instead the book explains the basis of Scrum and how it was implemented by sharing Jeff’s experiences through stories. You can download the official Scrum guide at http://www.scrumguides.org.
Is Scrum and Agile the answer for our learning and development practice? I don’t know yet. It’s something I’m still mulling over.
Five Favorite Quotes
I went to the CEO and told him we were scrapping the Gantt chart. He was shocked and demanded to know why. “How many Gantt charts have you seen in your career?” I asked. “Hundreds,” he replied. “How many of them were right?” He paused. “None.”
…briefly introduced Toyota’s Taiichi Ohno in the first chapter of this book, where he said, “Waste is a crime against society more than a business loss.” His thoughts about waste deeply influenced mine, and I want to spend some time talking about them. Ohno talked about three different types of waste. He used the Japanese words: Muri, waste through unreasonableness; Mura, waste through inconsistency; and Muda, waste through outcomes.
Yet people want to blame individuals, not systems. It just feels better. The Fundamental Attribution Error appeals to our sense of justice.
John Shook of the Lean Enterprise Institute once began his description of the Chief Engineer role by quoting the US Marine Corps leadership manual: An individual’s responsibility for leadership is not dependent on authority.… the deep-rooted assumption that authority should equal responsibility is the root of much organizational evil. I believe misunderstanding around this issue is rampant, problematic, and runs so deep in our consciousness that we don’t even realize it.
Scrum Master the how and the Product Owner the what.