Thanksgiving Scrum 2020
Dear Scrum,
In this season of giving thanks, we thought we’d take a few moments to thank you for all you do for us, your loyal agile fans, throughout the year.
Thank you for recognizing that we are more than People doing Work. We are a Team developing a Product. Sometimes this requires a rather tangible mental shift amongst our Development Team, our Scrum Team our Stakeholders and our Business Owners. But once we’ve made that shift, things just seem to work a whole lot better.
Thank you for helping us make the right product for the right customer at the right time. Through every Story and every Sprint, you helped us do this by guiding us to communicate better. And by better, we mean more clearly and more effectively. You helped us ask the right questions, listen to each other and listen to our customers. And, in the end, our work made more sense and, whaddya know, it was done right.
Thank you for reminding us that Reality Trumps Expectations. There are times that we, as a Scrum Team, forget this. You, time and time again, gently remind us that when reality and expectations don’t jive, it’s the expectations that have to change. That’s a biggee.
Thank you for allowing our PO to always have our back. Our PO is our one point of formal contact with our Stakeholders. But she’s so much more than that. You, in all your Scrummy glory, hold our PO accountable for our Team’s results and the team provides transparency to inform decisions. So our PO is completely consumed with clarifying murkiness, negotiating delivery dates and making it all work for us. Our PO’s invested in our success and that feels really good.
Thank you for encouraging us to be more transparent. We know that transparency is one of those overused buzzwords right now, but the reality is, it’s pretty darn important for teamwork. Take our Daily Standups. Our team is more in sync with what’s up and we’re more eager to help each other out because we simply know what’s going on. That’s priceless.
Thank you for giving us perspective. Some of our sprints this year have been, well, tough ones. Your Retrospectives have made us smarter for it. You made us think about the good and the bad. You helped us identify what we learned so we can repeat the good stuff and not relive the bad next time ‘round. Seriously valuable stuff.
Lastly, thank you for encouraging us to have fun in what we do. It’s pretty amazing when you think about it, but your simple framework has helped us swarm, create momentum and build excitement. It’s helped us value the brainpower and innovation around us. Its helped us take real ownership and pride in our work. And, it’s allowed us to sincerely celebrate our victories.
You’ve earned our thanks, Scrum.
As Always, Stay Agile and
Have a Happy Thanksgiving Scrum Style!