In his book, co-creator of Scrum Jeff Sutherland explains the how and, most importantly, the why behind the scrum framework. In fact – the book focuses largely on the latter, taking different important elements of successful teamwork and using them to illustrate why his framework is particularly effective.
If you’re looking for a manual on how to implement scrum, this probably isn’t it (he’s written other books that do that!). What this book does really well is explain the human psychology behind why scrum works really well to promote more effective, efficient, happy teams. Here are some of my highlights:
Focus on team, not individual, performance
“Everyone knows this, but in business we all too often focus on individuals, even if production is a team effort” (p.41).
Sutherland uses research to explain that there is a huge difference between the best and worst performing individuals. The easiest way to influence outcomes, in his view, is to focus on the team performance, whose output can be increased by a higher factor at a much faster rate. His theory is that self-governing teams are incredibly powerful. Encourage autonomy and self-reflection. Allow teams to identify and fix issues within the team.
Set the end goal, but don’t control the direction – let the team have control over how best to get there. Moreover, teams need to be cross-functional, and provide complementary skills, and small (between 3-9 people) in order not to lose velocity.
Happiness is Critical to a well-functioning team
“Happy people sell more stuff, make more money, cost less, are less likely to leave their jobs, are healthier, and live longer.” (p.148)
Sutherland makes the point that the human struggle towards a goal is actually the most rewarding bit of the process (not achieving the goal itself). He notes that mountain climbers won’t tell you about the moment they sat on the summit, but rather the climb itself, the challenges, the barriers. However, corporate culture typically rewards the achievement of the goal, rather than the process. He also makes the point that happiness actually PRECEDES achievement, rather than the other way round. Therefore, by making teams even just a little happier, you can increase team performance.
That happiness needs to be measurable and so, after each sprint, the scrum master should ask 4 questions about individual’s happiness including, “What one thing would make you happier in the next Sprint?”. By working to remove barriers to achievement and happiness, managers can positively influence productivity. The continuous improvement part of Scrum is particularly important here – and Sutherland warns of the “happy bubble” where a team is implementing all the aspects of Scrum, but stagnates because they have become complacent.
Prioritising workload; eliminating waste
“Scrum isn’t just about making teams go faster. It’s about boosting impact which… is about boosting revenue.” (p.171)
Sutherland gives many examples throughout the book of Waterfall project plans that are beautifully laid out but horribly inaccurate over the period of 12-24 months. He notes that humans are simply dreadful at estimating how long things will take. Soon your beautiful plan is totally out of date, and you are miles behind your deadline. Another interesting fact he gives is that 20% of the work will produce 80% of the value for customers.
With the Scrum method, you have small boxes of time (sprints) by the end of which you must deliver something working that could be used by a customer. Before each sprint, the team selects items from the Backlog (all the features that could make up the finished product) to work on, and the Backlog is continually re-prioritised by the Product Owner. In this way, you achieve the greatest amount of value as fast as possible, and you have finished features that can be tested by customers, so that you can receive useful feedback immediately and change direction if need be. There are some useful instructions in the book too about estimating time required to deliver.
I hope you get a chance to read the book for yourself – it’s a great, accessible, easy way into learning about Scrum and the benefits. If you’re thinking about trialling Scrum in your own life or work, why not give it a go!
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