The Agile Rabbi

The choices we make, the way we conduct ourselves, these show what we value. Each of us have values, those behaviors that we feel are of intrinsic value and benefit. They are the guiding light to how we lead our lives. We often don't think much about our values, never the less they are always there. Values are typically something that we learn to value over time, they are something parents and teachers try to instill in us, but in the end they are concepts that we either find value in or we don't. In light of that I find it interesting that in Scrum we assign the Scrum team values. We tell you that to do well these are the things you need to value. In doing so what we are really saying is that to do Scrum well, these are the things you must value in your Scrum environment. To instill these values in a Scrum team the team and corporate environment must reward the team when they exhibit these values. If that does not happen, it is less likely that the team will exhibit these

The Standup, like all Scrum ceremonies, is about focus. It is so very easy to make this conversation into something other than it should be. In a well oiled Scrum team, the team will standup when it is time for Standup without any prompting from the Scrum Master. In these cases the whole teams understands that this conversation is needed for the team to continually be delivering the features of highest value.  As you are probably aware there are 3 questions that all team members answer during the daily standup 1.        What did you do yesterday? (meaning since the last standup) 2.        What are you planning to do today (between now and tomorrow’s standup) 3.        Is there anything in your way (are there any impediments) At times it is advisable to add in a 4th piece of information and that is if there is something mentally in your way outside of the team such as a sick child at home. This alerts the team to the fact that you may have a bit of a split focus. It al

I am still working on my next post, but I feel it is important to always say thank you when someone does something for you. This is important on a team as it helps to bond the team together. Of course it needs to be said in the right voice, as I often have to remind my children. A snide thank you can do a great deal of harm to a team environment, whereas a heartfelt thank you, even for something small is always a good idea and often pays dividends in the future. In this case I want to give a very big thank you to my youngest son for providing the Agile Rabbi artwork in blog header. so Thank You Noah for drawing that for me. Here is the picture. I retroactively have put it in the first sermon where the image is discussed as well.

The other day a friend asked "I have a very small team of just three people. I am the Product Owner , we are a well formed team and therefore have all the knowledge we need to develop and deliver our product but we don't have a Scrum Master is that ok?" My response. "Is it Ok? it depends on what you mean by ok. Can you develop and deliver a quality product that way, certainly. Are you practicing Scrum? You are.. but.. and since that is the answer what you are practicing is really ScrumBut as coined by Scrum.org. It is Scrum but ... not exactly as prescribed by the Scrum guide , so it really isn't Scrum. The Scrum Master serves a very important role on a Scrum team. I like to view the Scrum Master as the team's physician helping the team not only to practice Scrum but also ensuring that the team members understand why Scrum dictates various ceremonies and behaviors. Lastly, and from a performance standpoint most importantly, a really good Scrum

Because one of my passions is understanding team development, helping teams to grow, be more efficient and to better understand and implement Scrum I have a friend that calls me the Agile Rabbi. To me this brings to mind a very interesting image of a rabbi. Take your typical rabbi, you decide what that looks like, add a Dr. Who scarf from the Tom Baker days as my prayer shawl (I wear a scarf like that in the cold winter months). The Agile Rabbi - (c) Noah Brody 2018 I have certificates from both Scrum.org and the Scrum Alliance and I have been practicing and mentoring people in the ways of Scrum for over 10 years. So I do have a background in agility, specifically Scrum. I am not a rabbi and not able to give rulings on religious matters, Scrum isn't a religion, although I have seen people try to implement it as one. So let me take a few minutes for of your time, not long - I don't want you falling asleep during my first sermon, so I will try to keep it short. ( It