Comments on: Addition and Subtraction in Scrum

By: Scrum 4 You — What to remove from Scrum?

Scrum 4 You — What to remove from Scrum? — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 15:51:05 +0000

[...] “There are two ways of “embellishing” Scrum; one is to add things, the other is to remove things. Both need to be handled with care. I tend to agree that the simplicity of Scrum is its strength and I’m wary when people say we need to add roles or define the process more clearly.” more… [...]

By: Bob Smiley

Bob Smiley — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 18:03:54 +0000

I’m reminded of a famous quote by someone like Einstein (but I’m not sure it was really him, it may have been someone else):

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“Make the system as simple as possible, but no simpler!”
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By: Bob Smiley

Bob Smiley — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 18:01:59 +0000

Well done. There are a lot of ways people try to “embellish,” and your point about masking dysfunctions hits right on the mark.

One other big way of “embellishment” is to add tools.

Tools are good if they are the right tool for the job, but often with Scrum we try to add tools before we know how to do the job well. I think this fits into Dave’s reference of “it’s just too simple…” Our human nature tends to want to add complexity to anything simple. If it’s simple, it must not be good enough!

By: Wolfgang Schulze-Zachau

Wolfgang Schulze-Zachau — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 09:57:15 +0000

We have dropped the tracking of remaining hours and replaced it with 3 states: INIT, WIP, DONE. We only do one initial estimation of task sizes, when the sprint backlog is created.
The excel spreadsheet used for the burndown chart shows two stacked lines for the sum of (initially estimated) hours in the states WIP and INIT. Works wonderfully and is very efficient.
And I couldn’t agree more with Tobias. Shu-Ha-Ri. Learn, Apply, Transcend. And well written.
Wolfgang

By: Boris Gloger

Boris Gloger — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 21:35:46 +0000

Tobias, I like the way you try to make clear, that we need to sharpen the way we do Scrum, by removing and by adding new ideas. I wish I could write so clear as you. Boris

By: Brian Bailey

Brian Bailey — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 17:37:32 +0000

Excellent post. I’ve enjoyed the rest of your blog as well.

I’m growing increasingly convinced of the benefits of story points, as well as not estimating and tracking hours for individual tasks. My question is how do you measure the remaining work throughout a sprint? Another way to put it is, what does the burndown chart look like in this scenario?

Obviously the daily stand-up will give a good overview of how things are going, but I do appreciate how a quick glance at a spreadsheet or chart can show that what we’ve committed to may not be achievable.

By: Ken Schwaber

Ken Schwaber — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 16:52:18 +0000

Well said. My favorite is the team that doesn’t need daily scrums, because they are just “administrative overhead.” They rarely can answer the question, “How are you doing on meeting your Sprint committments, and what can you do to optimize your chances of delivering as much as possible of what you committed to. Show me.”
Ken