Comparison of scrum

Lao Tzu's "Tao Jing" cloud: "Governance of great powers, if cooking is small ." It is common in ancient Chinese to describe complex things and profound truths by using simple examples close to life. Another example is the metaphor of the full text in Xun Zi's "Persuasion" (it is estimated that all those who have read Chinese in the middle school can carry a few words): "Blue, take it in blue, but better than blue; ice, water for it, and cold in Water ", used to compare people through learning transformation, but better than before. As an agile framework, scrum also has many metaphors that allow us to better understand its connotation and extension.

 

A while ago, I was reading the book "scrum Agile Software Development" (succeeding with agile: Software Development Using scrum) by Mike Cohn, chairman of the scrum alliance. The author uses many Image metaphors to explain some problems and concepts in scrum. For example:

 

1. Rocket and gravity

 

"I compared scrum to a rocket. Rocket Propulsion relies on its engine power. But what pulls it back is gravity. If the rocket is pushed far enough, it can go into orbit. But if it cannot enter the orbit, it will be pulled back to the ground and returned to the starting point. The Influence of scrum must be pushed far enough so that the entire transformation will not be pulled back to the starting point because of the "Enterprise gravity ."

 

The author uses the above metaphor to discuss the agile transformation and promotion of enterprises and the delivery of scrum. The development team cannot maintain agility on its own. Scrum must be transferred to other departments; otherwise, the "organizational inertia" of these departments will eventually turn the transformation efforts into ashes. The author has also set up a specific chapter to explain that promoting scrum cannot ignore groups outside the development team (including human resources, logistics and Project Management Office PMO) and how to enable other departments to work with agile practices. In the previous agile salon event on the scrum Chinese network, Li Lianhua, the speaker, also mentioned this metaphor in his speech "difficulties, challenges, and third-level assistance in scrum practice, he mentioned that overcoming this "Enterprise gravity" requires "three-level assistance" (just like the three-level assistance of rocket launch), namely agile awareness, engineering practices and practices.Community.

 

Ii. Pain

 

Resistance to any change is inevitable, as is scrum transformation. But what kind of reaction should business leaders take in response to "Conflict? Is "we" defeated "them "? Or are we going to analyze the cause and create an atmosphere that makes everyone feel the transformation imperative? The author cited a metaphor:

 

"The resistance signals in social organizations are just as useful as the signals of pain on the body, and pain indicates some physical disorders. Like pain, resistance does not tell us what went wrong, but simply feels something wrong. It is meaningless to try to overcome these conflicts, which is more serious than simply taking painkillers without diagnosing the cause ."

 

Therefore, the countermeasure should not be to use absolute authority to completely ignore the emotions and responses of employees and push scrum to the enterprise, nor should we regard conflicting employees as the problems to be solved. Just like we can't just use painkillers, but we should carefully explore the causes and take the right medicine.

 

3. Band command

 

Ken schwaber, one of the creators of scrum, issued the word "scrummaster" in 1997. Why did we invent this new title? The reason is to remind everyone that scrummaster is not only a Project Manager role to increase or reduce some additional responsibilities. So what role is scrummaster? Mike Cohn uses the following metaphor:

 

"Think of scrummaster as the band conductor. Both of them must guide a group in real time. Individuals in A group come together for a creative goal, which is achieved by no one alone. The comment of the Boston pop music conductor Keith Lockhart on his role: 'When you become a conductor, people will guess that you will be a Napoleon-like character-standing in a big box to send power. I am not a fan of power, but a fan of responsibility. 'Excellent scrummaster successfully fulfills its responsibilities in a unique way-untitled, special responsibility ."

 

The band conductor does not really play music like a violator or a number operator, but he helps the orchestra to complete the concert in a consistent manner through his understanding of the music; scrummaster, unlike a team member who really produces software, he protects the team, quickly removes the road stone, ensures that the team works smoothly together, and enables the team to effectively move toward the goal. Similar roles may include football coaches and movie directors. Scrummaster understands that his work does not bring him a good parking space for the company's car or garage entry. He can neither say to the team members, "You are fired ", you cannot say "let me come" when you encounter a problem ". Therefore, scrummaster is an art.

 

4. Sports Team

 

The primary goal of a high-performance scrum team is to accept the Team Responsibility System. Is the Po only responsible for the product backlog? OnlyProgramNeat and elegantCodeResponsible? Is only the tester responsible for quality? No. The entire team should be responsible for all aspects of the product. This is a bit like a sports team.

 

"The new season begins. We will say which members of the team are responsible for winning the championship? Coach? Boss? Star player ?...... The entire team is responsible for winning the game in some way. If the team loses, it may be easy to blame this person or that person, but the Team knows that everyone of them is responsible for failure. This is never a human error. In fact, there is no individual person responsible for failure ."

 

The SCRUM software R & D team may include architect, ue designer, developer, tester, DBA, and scrum master and Po. This is like the people in different positions in the football team who have different responsibilities, but they are all responsible for winning or losing the game. In the attack, the defender can goal and defend against punctuality. the striker can be the first defensive line.

 

5. sandwich shops

 

In the "relying on experts but be cautious" section, Mike used the sandwich store example when talking about whether the scrum team members should be "General talents" or "specialized talents. Scrum experts often reference this example to explain the relationship between talent and specialists in the scrum team.

 

"A common misunderstanding is that every member of the scrum team must be general talents rather than professional talents. This is not correct. I am surprised that every sandwich store in the world already knows how to treat experts, and we are still struggling in the software industry ....... They have three types of employees: order taker, sandwich maker, and floater ). The ordering clerk works on the counter, writes every sandwich order, and passes it to the background cook. The cook works behind the ordering clerk and prepares sandwiches after receiving the order. Ordering staff and chefs are experts. A mobile engineer is a multi-user, capable of two jobs, but may not be as good as an expert ....... This revelation to the scrum team is that we always have to try to have some hands. It is the versatile operator that makes experts more professional ."

 

It is often said that some of the company's code is only written by one person (expert), only he understands that once he leaves, no one can take over. Therefore, the attempt to train "mobile workers" may prevent such problems.

 

Vi. Continuous Tire Pressure Detection

 

"…… One improvement I'm particularly satisfied with is the sensor used to automatically detect whether the tire pressure is too low. Sometimes it is difficult to tell whether the tire pressure is getting low. Manual tire pressure testing is obviously dirty, so I seldom do it. I think continuous inspection of tire pressure is a great invention. At the same time, automakers invented new ways to continuously test tire pressure, while the software development team realized that continuous testing is also a good idea ."

 

In traditional development methods, testing starts only after the development is completed and delivered to the test stage. Even some companies that claim to have used scrum use the microwaterfall Development Method in each Sprint (including my original company, which had entered such a misunderstanding), that is: after a function is fully developed, start testing. In fact, scrum regards testing as a major practice and uses testing as part of the development process, rather than something that happens after the development work is completed. Instead of trying to test the product quality after the product is built, it is to continuously build the quality during the process and product manufacturing process.

 

There are many metaphors in the book, such:

"I think of agile processes as a vortex. Over time, the vortex gradually forms and attracts new people and groups to serve as the basis for it ."

"Everyone knows that you are agile, so it is easier for you to stick to it ....... Whether you start to lose weight, quit smoking, or start an exercise plan, it is always a good idea to tell your friends about this plan. You may feel a certain amount of pressure to succeed, because you have announced your plans ."

"I do not advocate this (taking turns as scrummaster )....... At home, we take turns to clean the table and wash the dishes. We can all do this job. However, we don't take turns cooking. My wife's cooking skills are far better than others at home, and we hope the best food we can cook ."

"A team with collective ownership will write cleaner Code and may reduce defects. No one is willing to lose face in front of colleagues ....... Consider the bathroom you used for the guests. Which one will keep it clean? Only you will use it, or what the guests may see ?"

"When watching a tennis match, you may notice that the attention is very concentrated when the player receives the serve, rather than standing unprepared. The leaders and promoters of Enterprise scrum transformation hope that enterprises can always be ready to move in the left, right, or any direction ."

"The product backlog is in the iceberg shape. At the top of the backlog iceberg of this product is the small functional requirements that the team can fully implement in the last sprint. When we look at the iceberg further (that is, the future, the number of backlog entries increases until the horizontal plane. The team does not know what is hidden under it, and those who are actually not in the discussion process ."

"American writer E. l. doctorow once wrote, 'writing novels is like driving a car in the fog of the night. You can only see the places where the headlights are, but you can complete your journey in this way. 'The same is true for software development. My headlights cannot light anything between me and where the light cannot reach. The areas highlighted by the headlights are enough for me to see and respond to the safety of my car ."

"One disadvantage of the detailed descriptions is that they are rarely updated. Before writing a document, ask yourself if you are willing to update it all the time. If not, either carefully consider the necessity of writing the document, or set an expiration date for this document, similar to the milk box, 'it is best ...... Before drinking 'prompt ."

 

In addition to this book, I have also heard a lot about scrum.

 

When I watched Jiang Zhihui's video "software game" a few days ago, he also used many metaphors. For example, he described the necessity of iteration from "killing games, he compared to putting eggs in the basket to the to-do list in the sprint, And he compared scrum software development to a team game of cooperative communication like World of Warcraft. Compare scrum to the game and Bill Li. He compares scrum to go (easy to get started, easy to be a master ), compare the implementation of scrum to the next go (the layout is left blank at the beginning, and many doubts, challenges and dilemmas will be encountered in the middle disk ). Scrum trainer Jens Ostergaard compares the three stages (or realms) of learning scrum with "guard-break-separation" in Japanese Kendo ). Wait ......

 

through these metaphors, we can better understand and comprehend scrum. In turn, our constant learning and exploration in technical practices enrich our insights into our lives.