Published by Addison-Wesley Professional (March 15, 2021) © 2021
Johannes Schartau | Christiaan Verwijs | Barry Overeem
Escape “Zombie Scrum” and Get Real Value from Agile!
Millions of professionals use Scrum. It is the #1 approach to agile software development in the world. Even so, by some estimates, over 70% of Scrum adoptions fall flat. Developers find themselves using “Zombie Scrum” processes that look like Scrum, but are slow, lifeless, and joyless. Scrum is just not working for them.
Zombie Scrum Survival Guide reveals why Scrum runs aground and shows how to supercharge your Scrum outcomes, while having a lot more fun along the way. Humorous, visual, and extremely relatable, it offers practical approaches, exercises, and tools for escaping Zombie Scrum. Even if you are surrounded by skeptics, this book will be the antidote to help you build more of what users need, ship faster, improve more continuously, interact more successfully in any team, and feel a whole lot better about what you are doing. Suddenly, one day soon, you will remember: that is why we adopted Scrum in the first place!
Register your book for convenient access to downloads, updates, and/or corrections as they become available. See inside book for details.
“Professional Scrum and Zombie Scrum are mortal enemies in eternal combat. If you relax your guard, Zombie Scrum comes back. This guide helps you stay on your guard, providing very practical tips for identifying when you have become a Zombie and how to stop this from happening. A must-have for any Zombie Scrum hunter.”
--Dave West, CEO, Scrum.org
“Barry, Christiaan, and Johannes have done a magnificent job of accumulating successful experiences and sharing their inspiring stories in this very practical book. They don't shy away from telling it like it is, which is why their proposals are always as useful as they are grounded in reality.”
--Henri Lipmanowicz, cofounder, Liberating Structures
Zombie Scrum Survival Guide reveals why Scrum runs aground and shows how to supercharge your Scrum outcomes, while having a lot more fun along the way. Humorous, visual, and extremely relatable, it offers practical approaches, exercises, and tools for escaping Zombie Scrum. Even if you are surrounded by skeptics, this book will be the antidote to help you build more of what users need, ship faster, improve more continuously, interact more successfully in any team, and feel a whole lot better about what you are doing. Suddenly, one day soon, you will remember: that is why we adopted Scrum in the first place!
- Learn how Zombie Scrum infects you, why it spreads, and how to inoculate yourself
- Get closer to your stakeholders, and wake up to their understanding of value
- Discover why Zombie teams can't learn, and what to do about it
- Clear away the specific obstacles to real continuous improvement
- Make self-managed teams real so people can behave like humans, not Zombies
Register your book for convenient access to downloads, updates, and/or corrections as they become available. See inside book for details.
Foreword by Dave West xiii
Foreword by Henri Lipmanowicz xvii
Acknowledgments xix
About the Authors xxi
Chapter 1: Getting Started 1
Purpose of This Book 4
Do You Need This Book? 5
How This Book Is Organized 6
No Time to Lose: Off You Go! 8
Chapter 2: First Aid Kit 11
Part I: (Zombie) Scrum 13
Chapter 3: A Primer on Zombie Scrum 15
The State of Scrum 17
Zombie Scrum 18
Is There Hope for Zombie Scrum? 24
Experiment: Diagnose Your Team Together 25
Now What? 29
Chapter 4: The Purpose of Scrum 31
It's All about Complex Adaptive Problems 32
Problems 33
Complex, Adaptive Problems 34
Complexity, Uncertainty, and Risk 35
Empiricism and Process Control Theory 36
Empiricism and the Scrum Framework 37
What the Scrum Framework Makes Possible 38
Scrum: An Evolving Set of Minimal Boundaries to Work Empirically 39
Zombie Scrum and the Efficiency Mindset 40
What about Simple Problems? 42
Now What? 44
Part II: Build What Stakeholders Need 45
Chapter 5: Symptoms and Causes 47
Why Bother Involving Stakeholders? 49
Who Are the Stakeholders, Actually? 50
Why Are We Not Involving Stakeholders? 52
Healthy Scrum 68
Now What? 71
Chapter 6: Experiments 73
Experiments: Getting to Know Your Stakeholders 74
Experiments: Involving Stakeholders in Product Development 81
Experiments: Keeping Your Focus on What Is Valuable 88
Now What? 96
Part III: Ship It Fast 97
Chapter 7: Symptoms and Causes 99
The Benefits of Shipping Fast 102
The Bottom Line: Not Shipping Fast Is a Sign of Zombie Scrum 105
Healthy Scrum 116
Now What? 121
Chapter 8: Experiments 123
Experiments to Create Transparency and Urgency 124
Experiments for Starting Shipping More Often 131
Experiments for Optimizing Flow 141
Now What? 150
Part IV: Improve Continuously 153
Chapter 9: Symptoms and Causes 155
Why Bother Improving Continuously? 157
Why Are We Not Improving Continuously? 163
Healthy Scrum 179
Now What? 182
Chapter 10: Experiments 183
Experiments for Encouraging Deep Learning 183
Experiments for Making Improvements Tangible 190
Experiments for Gathering New Information 195
Experiments to Create a Learning Environment 200
Now What? 204
Part V: Self-Organize 205
Chapter 11: Symptoms and Causes 207
Why Bother Self-Organizing? 209
Why Are We Not Self-Organizing? 217
Healthy Scrum: What Self-Organization Looks Like 234
Now What? 238
Chapter 12: Experiments 239
Experiments to Increase Autonomy 239
Experiments to Encourage Self-Organization 246
Experiments to Promote Self-Alignment 254
Find Local Solutions 259
Now What? 263
Chapter 13: The Road to Recovery 265
A Global Movement 266
What If Nothing Helps? 267
More Resources 268
Closing Words 268
Index 271
Foreword by Henri Lipmanowicz xvii
Acknowledgments xix
About the Authors xxi
Chapter 1: Getting Started 1
Purpose of This Book 4
Do You Need This Book? 5
How This Book Is Organized 6
No Time to Lose: Off You Go! 8
Chapter 2: First Aid Kit 11
Part I: (Zombie) Scrum 13
Chapter 3: A Primer on Zombie Scrum 15
The State of Scrum 17
Zombie Scrum 18
Is There Hope for Zombie Scrum? 24
Experiment: Diagnose Your Team Together 25
Now What? 29
Chapter 4: The Purpose of Scrum 31
It's All about Complex Adaptive Problems 32
Problems 33
Complex, Adaptive Problems 34
Complexity, Uncertainty, and Risk 35
Empiricism and Process Control Theory 36
Empiricism and the Scrum Framework 37
What the Scrum Framework Makes Possible 38
Scrum: An Evolving Set of Minimal Boundaries to Work Empirically 39
Zombie Scrum and the Efficiency Mindset 40
What about Simple Problems? 42
Now What? 44
Part II: Build What Stakeholders Need 45
Chapter 5: Symptoms and Causes 47
Why Bother Involving Stakeholders? 49
Who Are the Stakeholders, Actually? 50
Why Are We Not Involving Stakeholders? 52
Healthy Scrum 68
Now What? 71
Chapter 6: Experiments 73
Experiments: Getting to Know Your Stakeholders 74
Experiments: Involving Stakeholders in Product Development 81
Experiments: Keeping Your Focus on What Is Valuable 88
Now What? 96
Part III: Ship It Fast 97
Chapter 7: Symptoms and Causes 99
The Benefits of Shipping Fast 102
The Bottom Line: Not Shipping Fast Is a Sign of Zombie Scrum 105
Healthy Scrum 116
Now What? 121
Chapter 8: Experiments 123
Experiments to Create Transparency and Urgency 124
Experiments for Starting Shipping More Often 131
Experiments for Optimizing Flow 141
Now What? 150
Part IV: Improve Continuously 153
Chapter 9: Symptoms and Causes 155
Why Bother Improving Continuously? 157
Why Are We Not Improving Continuously? 163
Healthy Scrum 179
Now What? 182
Chapter 10: Experiments 183
Experiments for Encouraging Deep Learning 183
Experiments for Making Improvements Tangible 190
Experiments for Gathering New Information 195
Experiments to Create a Learning Environment 200
Now What? 204
Part V: Self-Organize 205
Chapter 11: Symptoms and Causes 207
Why Bother Self-Organizing? 209
Why Are We Not Self-Organizing? 217
Healthy Scrum: What Self-Organization Looks Like 234
Now What? 238
Chapter 12: Experiments 239
Experiments to Increase Autonomy 239
Experiments to Encourage Self-Organization 246
Experiments to Promote Self-Alignment 254
Find Local Solutions 259
Now What? 263
Chapter 13: The Road to Recovery 265
A Global Movement 266
What If Nothing Helps? 267
More Resources 268
Closing Words 268
Index 271