Reading
Read Sutherland’s Chapter 8 on Priorities and Chapter 9 on Changing the World
Chapter 8 is focused primarily on the role of the Product Owner and explains the characteristics and responsibilities of an effective Product Owner … or a team of product owners, if the project is fairly large. Even if that is not your role on the team this term, read this chapter!! You may be asked to fill that role soon.
The final chapter is, I hope, inspirational.
While Scrum isn’t the right approach for every project or every company, I have seen the shift to Scrum processes or Agile philosophies revive several languishing projects …. and save a few that would have died with a sudden change in management in traditional development environments.
Why? Because focusing on the next actionable step, while keeping the context – the “why” – in mind, is just good motivational psychology. And the more you accomplish and enjoy that feeling of mastery, the more you want to accomplish. As Sutherland noted, people want to succeed and have accomplishments. Scrum harnesses our natural impulses. The challenge is to make sure that we are harnessing them for good.
Assignment
Questions to consider this week:
- Do you know which 20% of your user stories/requirements/features deliver 80% of the value to your community partner? Do you have a Product Owner who could isolate the sections of the project that deliver the majority of the value?
- If you were told that this is the last term in which a develop team would work on the product, what would you prioritize so that you could deliver a working prototype by March 23rd?
- What key ideas will you bring into your future projects, keeping in mind that Scrum works in many areas …. not just software development??
- What daylight dreams (to borrow from Lawrence), will you pursue next?
