Scrum... really?
OK so I just finished the Professional Scrum class with the good folks from Scrum.org. Great people, fantastic trainers and content. All of us had a good time. The framework gives some valuable insights on how to properly empower teams to enable them to do the right thing. Great stuff.
Big myth: the Scrum master does all the planning for the Scrum team, creates the Sprint plan, leads the Daily standup, formulates the Sprint goals and is accountable for making sure the team finishes the sprint.
Apparently: the Scrum master teaches, coaches, encourages, facilitates, makes sure no one gets brainwashed and terpesong into ajaran sesat land. He/she makes sure that the Scrum events happen, but is accountable for none. In other words, his job is to make sure he doesn't do any of the actual work. Just kinda... persuade others to do it properly. He cannot plan, he cannot estimate, he cannot instruct, he cannot select team members, he cannot pull backlog items, he cannot even organize meetings!
So I just spent 2 days, getting certified to play a role... that in essence... does NOTHING! Ok, so one would argue there's a lot of value in coaching people to do the right thing, but at the same time, there's also a lot of merit in getting your hands dirty. Getting down into the trenches with your team and shoveling dirt beside them. Otherwise how will you ever know what kind of shit the real work entails??
I do believe this framework can work, but only in organisations filled with proactive, self-starting, competent and high performance individuals. Throwback to an article I'd read about how Netflix reinvented HR by only hiring high performers. Give me a break. C'mon, how many companies can realistically afford (or even if they can, reasonably attract) only high performers??
In the real world, I believe the real Scrum is only partially implementable in most organizations. Maybe only in your best teams. For everyone else, it's likely to end up some bastardised diluted version of the real deal.
Disclaimer: this article reflects my own opinions only and not that of my organisation. Sekian.