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The biggest problem that I have experienced with Scrum are the Scrum Masters. They play such a central role in Scrum. I have twice experienced that the role of

The biggest problem that I have experienced with Scrum are the Scrum Masters. They play such a central role in Scrum. I have twice experienced that the role of Scrum Master was given to a 'junior' software developer who had ambitions for becoming a manager. In both case, I left the company. In my opinion, Scrum can only work when you have a Scrum Master that is there 100% for the team. A person who has a sixth sense for friction within the team, either with developers struggling with themselves, among eachother or with people outside the team, and someone that knows what to do about the cause of the friction. And these Scrum Masters should be given enough power to also change things in the organisation. I think that organisation that want to embrace Scrum, often do this for the wrong reasons and do not assign the right persons for the roles of Scrum Master and/or limit their authorithy rendering them ineffective.

sumtechguy 3y ago
My biggest issue with it is how easy it is to derail 'agile' with process and ceremonies. One project I went from 5-10 mins to make a story and maybe another 5-10 mins to manage it over the next few weeks. To each story taking 3-4 days of management and fiddling each required field in Jira then another 1-2 planning sessions to get the thing moved across the lanes.
horsawlarway 3y ago
I see "scrum master" as similar to "president" in the sense that anyone who wants the position should be kept as far away as possible. It's a position very similar to "engineering architect" where you're given a huge amount of leeway to impose rules and process, but you have almost zero accountability. The absolute worst are the "certified scrum masters" who are utterly bought in on whatever bogus "one true scrum process!" bullshit they've paid money to be certified in from a scummy for-profit company. I avoid these people like the plague - they kill companies. In general - you can do quite a bit of "scrum" without any scrum master at all. Share early and often, adjust based on what else you're seeing shared and customer feedback, treat the people around you with respect, be accountable for the respect others are giving you. No scrum master needed.

sumtechguy 3y ago

My biggest issue with it is how easy it is to derail 'agile' with process and ceremonies. One project I went from 5-10 mins to make a story and maybe another 5-10 mins to manage it over the next few weeks. To each story taking 3-4 days of management and fiddling each required field in Jira then another 1-2 planning sessions to get the thing moved across the lanes.

horsawlarway 3y ago

I see "scrum master" as similar to "president" in the sense that anyone who wants the position should be kept as far away as possible. It's a position very similar to "engineering architect" where you're given a huge amount of leeway to impose rules and process, but you have almost zero accountability. The absolute worst are the "certified scrum masters" who are utterly bought in on whatever bogus "one true scrum process!" bullshit they've paid money to be certified in from a scummy for-profit company. I avoid these people like the plague - they kill companies. In general - you can do quite a bit of "scrum" without any scrum master at all. Share early and often, adjust based on what else you're seeing shared and customer feedback, treat the people around you with respect, be accountable for the respect others are giving you. No scrum master needed.