Home > Articles > Software Development & Management > Agile

Get Ready for Scrum!

In this article, excerpted from the author’s book, Agile Software Development with Scrum (Prentice Hall, 2001, ISBN: 0130676349), Ken Schwaber describes his own experience with a complete implementation of Scrum,including how he worked closely with a team to build a product while using the Scrum process.
This chapter is from the book

Scrum is different. Work feels different. Management feels different. Under Scrum, work becomes straightforward, relevant, and productive.

Scrum Is Different

I've spent a good part of my professional life building technology products and systems. I've had successes, and I've certainly had failures. I think I'm not alone when I say that most systems development projects are difficult, and I suspect harder than they need to be. I remember a project when I worked with a plant manager at a pharmaceutical company. Together, he and I implemented a complicated material requirements planning system. As we were about to successfully complete the project, I congratulated him and told him that he could make a lot of money helping other companies implement similar systems. He looked at me aghast, and said, "I'll never go through something this gruesome again. I can't wait to go back to just managing the business!" His observation was one of many that led me to think that something was wrong, that there must be a more straightforward way to build and implement systems.

Every project is different. The technology, the requirements, and the people involved are different every time. I've studied different approaches to project management in an effort to make my life easier and the teams more productive despite their differences. I've tried new development environments, modeling tools, technologies, methodologies, people approaches, everything and anything to improve the process of building a system. I've found some things that improved my life, like always using the best engineers, forming cross-functional teams, and facilitating long design sessions around white boards. These tactics all help, but without Scrum these projects were all eventually overwhelmed by the complexity inherent in systems projects.

I used to place my hopes on commercially available methodologies. They contain templates of work that has built systems previously. They therefore contain the tried and true processes that other professionals have successfully used. Companies that build software for a living usually sell methodologies. I always figured that for this very reason, they must all be really good. Methodologies are like cookbooks; follow their recipes and a successful system will result. Some methodologies are modest in scope and depth, while others contain literally thousands of pieces of work, or tasks, tied together into templates. Each template is appropriate for a specific type of development project. I worked with these methodologies for years, trying to improve them.

Over the years, methodologies added definition to my projects. I knew what to do when and could assign people to the work. I felt like I was more in control and each project had a lot to show for it. Unfortunately, my success rate did not go up. One company that I worked at cancelled a major project after two years. I toured the project space not long after its cancellation and found a ghost town. There were hundreds of cubicles full of workstations and books of standards, training materials, requirements manuals, and design documents. Unfortunately, this project hadn't been successful. The project never even reached the software construction phase of the project, so no functionality was even delivered.

I ran a software company in the early 1990s that developed and licensed a process management product called MATE. Our largest customers were Coopers & Lybrand and IBM, and these companies wanted us to employ their methodologies to build MATE. I gave it a shot and was thoroughly displeased with the results. At the time, my company's requirements were always changing and we were working with fairly new technologies. It looked like the methodologies should help, but instead they just got in our way, decreased our flexibility, and generally slowed us down.

I wanted to understand the reason that my customers' methodologies didn't work for my company, so I brought several systems development methodologies to process theory experts at the DuPont Experimental Station in 1995. These experts, led by Babatunde "Tunde" Ogannaike, were the most highly respected theorists in industrial process control. They knew process control inside and out. Some of them even taught the subject at universities. They had all been brought in by DuPont to automate the entire product flow, from forecasts and orders to product delivery.

They inspected the systems development processes that I brought them. I have rarely provided a group with so much laughter. They were amazed and appalled that my industry, systems development, was trying to do its work using a completely inappropriate process control model. They said systems development had so much complexity and unpredictability that it had to be managed by a process control model they referred to as "empirical." They said that this was nothing new, and that all complex processes that weren't completely understood required the empirical model. They helped me go through a book that is the Bible of industrial process control theory—Process Dynamics, Modeling and Control, by Babatunde A. Ogunnaike and W. Harmon Ray (Oxford University Press, 1994)—to understand why I was off-track.

In a nutshell, there are two major approaches to controlling all processes. The "defined" process control model requires that every piece of work be completely understood. Given a well-defined set of inputs, the same outputs are generated every time. A defined process can be started and allowed to run until completion, with the same results every time. Tunde said that the methodologies that I showed him attempted to use the defined model, but that none of the processes or tasks was defined in enough detail to provide repeatability and predictability. Tunde said that my business was an intellectually intensive business that required too much thinking and creativity to be a good candidate for the defined approach. He theorized that my industry's application of the defined methodologies must have resulted in a lot of surprises, loss of control, and incomplete or just wrong products. He was particularly amused that the tasks were linked together with dependencies, as though they could predictably start and finish just like a well defined industrial process.

Tunde told me that the empirical model of process control, on the other hand, expects the unexpected. Because the processes are imperfectly defined, generate unpredictable and unrepeatable outputs, and every project is different control is exercised through frequent inspection and adaptation. The experts at DuPont recommended that I study this model and consider its application to the process of building systems.

During my visit to DuPont, I experienced a true epiphany. Suddenly, something in me clicked and I realized why everyone in my industry had such problems building systems. I realized why the industry was in such trouble and had such a poor reputation. We were wasting our time trying to control our work by thinking we had an assembly line when the only proper control was frequent and first-hand inspection, followed by immediate adjustments.

Based on this insight, I have since formulated with others the Scrum process for developing complex products, particularly software systems. Scrum is based on the empirical process control model.

Scrum is a way of doing things that is completely different from what most people in the software and product development industry are used to. All of the assumptions, mechanisms, and ways of looking at things are so different that a new way of thinking evolves as you begin to use Scrum. Scrum feels and looks different because of it rests upon an empirical basis. Less time is spent trying to plan and define tasks, and less time is spent on management reports. More time is spent with the project team. Most people really understand Scrum only when they begin to use it. A light bulb goes off when they experience its simplicity and productivity. They realize how inappropriate more traditional models of development process really are for this industry.

The following case study covers a complete implementation of Scrum. In it, I describe working closely with a team to build a product while using the Scrum process. In this example, I made decisions and encouraged the team to act differently than they were used to acting. I taught them by example to approach their work in an entirely different way. By the time we had completed the first Sprint, the team was already behaving differently. They had seen Scrum work, and now they were Scrum users. They had come to embody the values integral to Scrum, such as empiricism, self-organization, and action.

As you read the case study, think about what is missing from it. There is no formal project planning. There is no Pert chart. There are no roles and individual assignments. Notice how the team is able to get on with its work and build valuable product increments anyway. Notice the team transform from a dispirited group of individuals waiting for instructions into a team that takes the initiative and acts. The team operates within the permission it has and does the best it can. By the end of the first Sprint, the team had adopted a completely new set of values and begun to act unlike any other team at the organization.

InformIT Promotional Mailings & Special Offers

I would like to receive exclusive offers and hear about products from InformIT and its family of brands. I can unsubscribe at any time.

Overview


Pearson Education, Inc., 221 River Street, Hoboken, New Jersey 07030, (Pearson) presents this site to provide information about products and services that can be purchased through this site.

This privacy notice provides an overview of our commitment to privacy and describes how we collect, protect, use and share personal information collected through this site. Please note that other Pearson websites and online products and services have their own separate privacy policies.

Collection and Use of Information


To conduct business and deliver products and services, Pearson collects and uses personal information in several ways in connection with this site, including:

Questions and Inquiries

For inquiries and questions, we collect the inquiry or question, together with name, contact details (email address, phone number and mailing address) and any other additional information voluntarily submitted to us through a Contact Us form or an email. We use this information to address the inquiry and respond to the question.

Online Store

For orders and purchases placed through our online store on this site, we collect order details, name, institution name and address (if applicable), email address, phone number, shipping and billing addresses, credit/debit card information, shipping options and any instructions. We use this information to complete transactions, fulfill orders, communicate with individuals placing orders or visiting the online store, and for related purposes.

Surveys

Pearson may offer opportunities to provide feedback or participate in surveys, including surveys evaluating Pearson products, services or sites. Participation is voluntary. Pearson collects information requested in the survey questions and uses the information to evaluate, support, maintain and improve products, services or sites, develop new products and services, conduct educational research and for other purposes specified in the survey.

Contests and Drawings

Occasionally, we may sponsor a contest or drawing. Participation is optional. Pearson collects name, contact information and other information specified on the entry form for the contest or drawing to conduct the contest or drawing. Pearson may collect additional personal information from the winners of a contest or drawing in order to award the prize and for tax reporting purposes, as required by law.

Newsletters

If you have elected to receive email newsletters or promotional mailings and special offers but want to unsubscribe, simply email information@informit.com.

Service Announcements

On rare occasions it is necessary to send out a strictly service related announcement. For instance, if our service is temporarily suspended for maintenance we might send users an email. Generally, users may not opt-out of these communications, though they can deactivate their account information. However, these communications are not promotional in nature.

Customer Service

We communicate with users on a regular basis to provide requested services and in regard to issues relating to their account we reply via email or phone in accordance with the users' wishes when a user submits their information through our Contact Us form.

Other Collection and Use of Information


Application and System Logs

Pearson automatically collects log data to help ensure the delivery, availability and security of this site. Log data may include technical information about how a user or visitor connected to this site, such as browser type, type of computer/device, operating system, internet service provider and IP address. We use this information for support purposes and to monitor the health of the site, identify problems, improve service, detect unauthorized access and fraudulent activity, prevent and respond to security incidents and appropriately scale computing resources.

Web Analytics

Pearson may use third party web trend analytical services, including Google Analytics, to collect visitor information, such as IP addresses, browser types, referring pages, pages visited and time spent on a particular site. While these analytical services collect and report information on an anonymous basis, they may use cookies to gather web trend information. The information gathered may enable Pearson (but not the third party web trend services) to link information with application and system log data. Pearson uses this information for system administration and to identify problems, improve service, detect unauthorized access and fraudulent activity, prevent and respond to security incidents, appropriately scale computing resources and otherwise support and deliver this site and its services.

Cookies and Related Technologies

This site uses cookies and similar technologies to personalize content, measure traffic patterns, control security, track use and access of information on this site, and provide interest-based messages and advertising. Users can manage and block the use of cookies through their browser. Disabling or blocking certain cookies may limit the functionality of this site.

Do Not Track

This site currently does not respond to Do Not Track signals.

Security


Pearson uses appropriate physical, administrative and technical security measures to protect personal information from unauthorized access, use and disclosure.

Children


This site is not directed to children under the age of 13.

Marketing


Pearson may send or direct marketing communications to users, provided that

  • Pearson will not use personal information collected or processed as a K-12 school service provider for the purpose of directed or targeted advertising.
  • Such marketing is consistent with applicable law and Pearson's legal obligations.
  • Pearson will not knowingly direct or send marketing communications to an individual who has expressed a preference not to receive marketing.
  • Where required by applicable law, express or implied consent to marketing exists and has not been withdrawn.

Pearson may provide personal information to a third party service provider on a restricted basis to provide marketing solely on behalf of Pearson or an affiliate or customer for whom Pearson is a service provider. Marketing preferences may be changed at any time.

Correcting/Updating Personal Information


If a user's personally identifiable information changes (such as your postal address or email address), we provide a way to correct or update that user's personal data provided to us. This can be done on the Account page. If a user no longer desires our service and desires to delete his or her account, please contact us at customer-service@informit.com and we will process the deletion of a user's account.

Choice/Opt-out


Users can always make an informed choice as to whether they should proceed with certain services offered by InformIT. If you choose to remove yourself from our mailing list(s) simply visit the following page and uncheck any communication you no longer want to receive: www.informit.com/u.aspx.

Sale of Personal Information


Pearson does not rent or sell personal information in exchange for any payment of money.

While Pearson does not sell personal information, as defined in Nevada law, Nevada residents may email a request for no sale of their personal information to NevadaDesignatedRequest@pearson.com.

Supplemental Privacy Statement for California Residents


California residents should read our Supplemental privacy statement for California residents in conjunction with this Privacy Notice. The Supplemental privacy statement for California residents explains Pearson's commitment to comply with California law and applies to personal information of California residents collected in connection with this site and the Services.

Sharing and Disclosure


Pearson may disclose personal information, as follows:

  • As required by law.
  • With the consent of the individual (or their parent, if the individual is a minor)
  • In response to a subpoena, court order or legal process, to the extent permitted or required by law
  • To protect the security and safety of individuals, data, assets and systems, consistent with applicable law
  • In connection the sale, joint venture or other transfer of some or all of its company or assets, subject to the provisions of this Privacy Notice
  • To investigate or address actual or suspected fraud or other illegal activities
  • To exercise its legal rights, including enforcement of the Terms of Use for this site or another contract
  • To affiliated Pearson companies and other companies and organizations who perform work for Pearson and are obligated to protect the privacy of personal information consistent with this Privacy Notice
  • To a school, organization, company or government agency, where Pearson collects or processes the personal information in a school setting or on behalf of such organization, company or government agency.

Links


This web site contains links to other sites. Please be aware that we are not responsible for the privacy practices of such other sites. We encourage our users to be aware when they leave our site and to read the privacy statements of each and every web site that collects Personal Information. This privacy statement applies solely to information collected by this web site.

Requests and Contact


Please contact us about this Privacy Notice or if you have any requests or questions relating to the privacy of your personal information.

Changes to this Privacy Notice


We may revise this Privacy Notice through an updated posting. We will identify the effective date of the revision in the posting. Often, updates are made to provide greater clarity or to comply with changes in regulatory requirements. If the updates involve material changes to the collection, protection, use or disclosure of Personal Information, Pearson will provide notice of the change through a conspicuous notice on this site or other appropriate way. Continued use of the site after the effective date of a posted revision evidences acceptance. Please contact us if you have questions or concerns about the Privacy Notice or any objection to any revisions.

Last Update: November 17, 2020