Definition of Done Theses: 10 Simple Principles of a Critical Scrum Success Factor

TL; DR: Definition of Done Theses

Given the importance of a viable Definition of Done for a Scrum team’s success, it has always puzzled me how complacent or ignorant many Scrum teams are regarding their Definition of Done. So, let me share with you the ten first principles of this critical Scrum success factor to improve your team’s effectiveness, team spirit, and reputation.

Definition of Done Theses: 10 Simple Principles of a Critical Scrum Success Factor — Age-of-Product.com
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Stakeholder Trust

TL; DR: Stakeholder Trust

Trust is the beginning of everything. I am hesitant to recycle an old slogan of a banking institute. However, in the context of becoming a learning organization and embracing business agility, it condenses the main challenge perfectly: How shall we convince the incumbents with vested interests in the status quo to give the new way of working the benefit of the doubt? Join me and delve into how distrust manifests and what we can do to earn stakeholder trust.

Stakeholder Trust — Scrum Master Survival Guide — Age-of-Product.com
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Four Scrum Master Success Principles

TL; DR: Four Scrum Master Success Principles

Contrary to popular belief, the Scrum Master success principles are tangible, when we guide the analysis with an outside perspective.

Read on and discover four Scrum Master success principles: From when not to use Scrum to product quality to supporting the Product Owner to putting self-management at the center.

Four Scrum Master Success Principles — Age-of-Product.com
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Scrum Guide 2020 — The Development Team Is Dead; Long Live the Scrum Team!

TL; DR: The Scrum Guide 2020

The Scrum Guide 2020 is available now: Change is coming to make Scrum more accessible and inclusive beyond software development. Learn more about the changes, download the brand new and free Scrum Guide 2020 Reordered to spot patterns quickly, and join the Scrum community discussion.

Scrum Guide 2020 — The new edition of the Scrum Guide Reordered — Age-of-Product.com
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Scrum’s Nature: It Is a Tool; It Is Not About Love or Hate

TL; DR: Scrum’s Nature: It Is a Tool; It Is Not About Love or Hate

Regularly, we find articles from developers detailing why ‘Agile’ in general and Scrum’s nature, in particular, deserve our collective disdain.

What has always struck me in this discussion is its emotionality. Scrum is a tool, useful to accomplish one primary task: delivering value to customers of emergent products in complex environments while mitigating an organization’s exposure to risk at the same time. So, if Scrum is not working in an organization, maybe it is because Scrum is applied to the wrong cause in the first place. Or, that its application has been mechanical, driven by folks who don’t know what they are doing. (Seriously, how hard can Scrum be if the manual comprises of 18 pages, right?)

The question then is: Why would I “hate” a tool unsuited for the intended purpose or applied incompetently? Would I hate a hammer for not being capable of accurately driving a screw into a wooden beam? Probably not, as the hammer wasn’t designed for that purpose, and neither sheer will-power nor stamping with your feet will change the fact.

Scrum’s Nature: It Is a Tool; It Is Not About Love or Hate — Age-of-Product.com
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