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> "Scrum is great for teams composed of new developers who don't yet know how to work together, or teams at companies with poor culture." Hmm. I think your tak

> "Scrum is great for teams composed of new developers who don't yet know how to work together, or teams at companies with poor culture." Hmm. I think your take is a bit like saying "Baths are only for dirty people. People who stay clean don't need baths."

imbnwa 4y ago
I mean a dog is loyal, can be trained to do what you say but short-haired cats don't actually need baths like dogs do simply cause they take autonomous initiative on grooming and self-care
derefr 4y ago
More like: long-haired domestic dogs require someone to regularly groom their hair for them. They don’t have the instinct required to drive them to groom themselves as much as they need, so a long-haired dog left to their own devices outdoors will end up with hair mats and ticks they can’t reach to scratch off. Long-haired cats do not need the help of a human groomer to avoid these things, because they do have the instinct to chew off excess/itchy/matted hair. Scrum masters — backlog / kanban board groomers — are for junior devs, who haven’t yet developed any sense for what an approachable task size is; what their comparative advantage is vs others on their team; etc. Senior devs do have that experience — and it’s surprisingly portable between teams/orgs.
namdnay 4y ago
The analogy I usually use is “a Michelin-starred restaurant doesn’t have laminated recipes on the kitchen wall. A McDonalds does. Both of these are a good thing, depending on who you’re working with and what you’re trying to achieve”
- zarkov99 4y ago
  That is a fantastic analogy, it captures exactly the pros and cons and the context dependency of methodologies.
- sanderjd 4y ago
  Good analogy! Here's the problem though: how to you hire for a "McDonalds". It seems good to be self aware about whether you're running a McDonalds or a Michelin star restaurant, but can you be honest about that with candidates and still hire people?
- SoftTalker 4y ago
  It's funny. Many years ago I did work at a McDonald's, but the manager of that store refused to allow those types of posters on the walls. He said it looked bad, he wanted clean white tile and stainless steel to be what the customers saw, not a bunch of laminated posters. He always argued with the regional manager about it during store inspections. But since this McDonald's made a lot of money, and everyone was actually preparing the food correctly, the store manager generally got his way.

imbnwa 4y ago

I mean a dog is loyal, can be trained to do what you say but short-haired cats don't actually need baths like dogs do simply cause they take autonomous initiative on grooming and self-care

derefr 4y ago

More like: long-haired domestic dogs require someone to regularly groom their hair for them. They don’t have the instinct required to drive them to groom themselves as much as they need, so a long-haired dog left to their own devices outdoors will end up with hair mats and ticks they can’t reach to scratch off. Long-haired cats do not need the help of a human groomer to avoid these things, because they do have the instinct to chew off excess/itchy/matted hair. Scrum masters — backlog / kanban board groomers — are for junior devs, who haven’t yet developed any sense for what an approachable task size is; what their comparative advantage is vs others on their team; etc. Senior devs do have that experience — and it’s surprisingly portable between teams/orgs.

namdnay 4y ago

The analogy I usually use is “a Michelin-starred restaurant doesn’t have laminated recipes on the kitchen wall. A McDonalds does. Both of these are a good thing, depending on who you’re working with and what you’re trying to achieve”

zarkov99 4y ago
That is a fantastic analogy, it captures exactly the pros and cons and the context dependency of methodologies.
sanderjd 4y ago
Good analogy! Here's the problem though: how to you hire for a "McDonalds". It seems good to be self aware about whether you're running a McDonalds or a Michelin star restaurant, but can you be honest about that with candidates and still hire people?
SoftTalker 4y ago
It's funny. Many years ago I did work at a McDonald's, but the manager of that store refused to allow those types of posters on the walls. He said it looked bad, he wanted clean white tile and stainless steel to be what the customers saw, not a bunch of laminated posters. He always argued with the regional manager about it during store inspections. But since this McDonald's made a lot of money, and everyone was actually preparing the food correctly, the store manager generally got his way.