Agile Turkey 2019 - Liberating Structures, an antidote to Zombie Scrum

Scrum is HUGE! It’s massively adopted by organizations. That’s of course awesome! Except for the fact that many organizations and teams think they’re doing Scrum, while they’re not. Sure, they’ve got all the Scrum roles, events and artifacts in place. But there’s no working software at the end of the Sprint. There’s no drive to improve. No involvement of customers and users during development. This might look like Scrum from the surface. But it isn’t. This is Zombie-Scrum, and we need to stop it!

During the presentation, you’ll learn more about the causes and symptoms of Zombie-Scrum. Even more important, you’ll discover an antidote: Liberating Structures. Please note: this presentation isn’t for the faint of heart. Be brave. Join the resistance and help us fight Zombie-Scrum!

Transcript

1. Liberating Structures An Antidote to Zombie Scrum Agile Turkey Summit October 24, 2019
2. A Word of Warning... Chances are, you will be... • Overwhelmed → by learning a new language • Shocked → by the state of Scrum • Confused → a presentation about Liberating Structures? • Annoyed → 1 minute conversations?! • Terrified → Scrum Zombies in the room?
3. Purpose Presentation • Create awareness • Offer inspiration for experimentation • Trigger useful conversations
4. The State of Scrum(.org) Scrum is HUGE! It’s massively adopted by organizations! Some numbers: • ± 300 Professional Scrum Trainers worldwide • 143.000 people trained around the world • 3.250.000 people have taken the open assessments • 300.000 people are certified • 100+ Scrum books • 10.000.000+ Scrum articles • 3 Scrum Songs
5. The Real State of Scrum Many organizations think they’re doing Scrum… But it’s not Scrum… It’s… Zombie Scrum
6. What do you consider the symptoms of Zombie Scrum?
7. Zombie Scrum!
8. Meet the Zombie Scrum Research Team Barry Overeem - Doctor Stubble Christiaan Verwijs - Captain Curly Johannes Schartau - Lord Red Beard
9. Causes of Zombie Scrum • Complex organizational structures • “Business” and “IT” • Cherry picking Scrum • Stuck in the “right” (tools, documentation, contracts, detailed plans) • Maturity models...
10. Another cause of Zombie Scrum: The need for Agile Coaches to succeed with Scrum
11. This isn’t cause #1… What do you think is the #1 cause?
12. Zombie Scrum Cause #1 People often don't have a clue WHY they are using Scrum
13. We use Scrum because...
14. The Million Dollar Question How to prevent or fix this #1 cause of Zombie Scrum?
15. The Silver Bullet Answer Use Liberating Structures
16. Liberating Structures? Say what?
17. Liberating Structures are… “A set of skills for people to improve their interactions in groups”
18. Why Liberating Structures? Because the way we interact in groups is broken!
19. Too structured and inhibiting
20. Go Wild!
21. Recognize your Scrum Events?
22. Liberating Structures to the rescue
23. Some Examples...
24. A ‘frame’ to unleash and involve everyone! Every Liberating Structures uses 5 design elements. They offer a ‘frame’ for collaboration, decision-making, and interaction. Scrum, anyone?
25. An example: Troika Consulting 1. The invitation 2. Arrangement of space and material 3. Configuration of groups 4. Distribution of participation 5. Sequence of steps and allocation of time
26. How We Have Used It Individual coaching Team coaching Growing communities Public meetups Growing The Liberators Scrum.org classes Team kickoffs Team reboots Scrum Master Learning Journey
27. Most importantly, we’ve used it for... • Clarifying the purpose of doing Scrum • Improving the Scrum events • Encouraging the self-organizing capabilities of the Scrum Team
28. Some examples...
29. Clarifying the purpose of doing Scrum 9 Whys What, So What, Now What Critical Uncertainties 15% Solutions
30. Improving the Scrum events 10x10 Writing Shift & Share UX Fishbowl Min Specs 25/10 Crowd Sourcing
31. Encouraging self-organization 15% Solutions Improv Prototyping Troika Consulting Impromptu Networking
32. “Awesome! But I still don’t know what Liberating Structures are...”
33. Join the Zombie Scrum resistance!
34. Do the Zombie Scrum Infection Checker
35. Join a Liberating Structures User Group
36. A bit of reflection
37. Something new I’ve learned is...
38. Something I already knew, but got confirmed is...
39. A question that emerges is...
40. A good, yet brave next step for me is...
41. Thank you!
42. ‘Unleashing Organisational Superpowers’ As The Liberators, we take a radical approach to organizational change. Rather than taking the lead, we empower people within organizations to drive change themselves. As facilitators we create space where people can tackle difficult challenges together while also having fun. Inspired by the fields of complexity science and organizational psychology, we use Scrum and Liberating Structures to deliver fast-paced interactions, high involvement and creative destruction. With a strong focus on radical transparency, an experiential approach and creating a shared purpose, we put organizations in a position to thrive on complexity rather than being defeated by it. Are you ready to leave your comfort zone and unleash your superpowers?
43. Unleashing Organisational Superpowers