Contributors
Evelien Acun-Roos
Scrum Professional
Evelien Acun-Roos is an experienced Agile Coach at Xebia and a Professional Scrum Trainer at Scrum.org. She has a profound knowledge of Agile and Scrum and knows how to transfer that to organizations, teams, Scrum Masters, and Product Owners. Her passion for Agile centers on teams and individuals. She loves to get teams up and running and then help them continuously improve. She has helped many teams at different organizations become more Agile. Evelien loves to give training for beginning as well as experienced Scrummers. Her training courses are filled with brain-based learning activities. In her classes, she lets the learner learn instead of the teacher teach. Evelien lives in Helmond with her husband and three kids.
Use Brain Science to Make Your Scrum Events StickSi Alhir
Transformation Leader
Si Alhir is an entrepreneur, author, agility/antifragility and transformation leader, coach, consultant, and practitioner (catalyst) who partners with individuals, teams, and enterprises in integrating business, strategy, leadership, culture, execution, and technology to achieve business outcomes and growth in a disruptive world. Si has over four decades of working with startups and the Fortune 500. He is the author of The Antifragility Edge: Antifragility in Practice (LID Publishing, 2016), Achieving Impact Through Engagement: Ownership, Actions, Intentions, and Results (Self published, 2015), and Conscious Agility: Conscious Capitalism + Business Agility = Antifragility (Self published, 2013).
Scrum: Problem-Solving and the Scientific Method in PracticePeter Beck
Certified Scrum Trainer
Peter Beck is dedicated to creating companies that deliver value for their customers and employees. In 2004, he first experienced Scrum as a developer in one of the first multi-team Scrum setups in Germany. Since then, he has trained and consulted a wide range of development teams, departments, project managers, and executives in the use of Scrum. He is a Certified Scrum Trainer and cofounder and Product Owner of DasScrumTeam AG.
Scrum Is “Agile Leadership”Steve Berczuk
Agile Software Developer, Team Leader, and Author
Steve is a software developer and expert in Agile software development. A Certified Scrum Master, he has over 20 years’ experience helping teams work together effectively and has used Scrum since 2005. Steve is coauthor of the book Software Configuration Management Patterns: Effective Teamwork, Practical Integration (Addison-Wesley Professional, 2003) and is a frequent contributor to Techwell. Steve’s articles and blog can be found at http://www.berczuk.com. You can follow him on Twitter @sberczuk.
Adopt Before You AdaptHave Sprint Retrospectives and Structure Them
Kurt Bittner
Team Member at Scrum.org
Kurt Bittner has more than 30 years of experience delivering working software in short, feedback-driven cycles. He has helped a wide variety of organizations adopt Agile software delivery practices, including large banking, insurance, manufacturing, and retail organizations, as well as large government agencies. His focus is on helping organizations build strong, self-organizing, high-performance teams that deliver solutions that customers love. He is the author of four books on software development–related topics, including The Nexus Framework for Scaling Scrum (Addison-Wesley Professional, 2017).
Scrum Is Also About Improving the OrganizationGil Broza
Agile Mindset and Leadership Coach
Gil is an enterprise Agile coach, trainer, facilitator, speaker, manager, and developer with 20 years of experience in diverse environments. He owns and leads 3P Vantage, which helps organizations increase their agility and team performance with minimal risk and thrashing. Through pragmatic, modern, and respectful guidance, Gil supports leaders and development teams in customizing adaptive work principles. Gil is the author of The Agile Mind-Set (CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2015), The Human Side of Agile (3P Vantage Media, 2012) and Agile for Non-Software Teams (3P Vantage Media, 2019).
Mindset Matters Much More Than PracticesJames O. Coplien
Scrum Teacher, Coach, and Consultant
James O. Coplien is a teacher, author, and researcher, with interests ranging from programming languages and system design to organizational design and development process. The Daily Scrum came from his early process research at Bell Labs. He was co-creator of the DCI paradigm and creator of the Trygve programming language. James is a recumbent E-biker, traveler, and equestrian squire.
Communicating Prioritized Requirements Through the Product BacklogWhy There Are No User Stories at the Top of Your Product Backlog
Specialization Is for Insects
The Daily Scrum Is the Developers’ Agile Heartbeat
Thinking Big
Lisa Crispin
President, Agile Testing Fellowship
Lisa is coauthor (with Janet Gregory) of Agile Testing Condensed (Library and Archives Canada/Government of Canada, 2019); Agile Testing: A Practical Guide for Testers and Teams (Addison-Wesley Professional, 2009); and More Agile Testing: Learning Journeys for the Whole Team (Addison-Wesley Professional, 2014); a LiveLessons video course, Agile Testing Essentials; and a three-day live course, Agile Testing for the Whole Team. Lisa was voted by her peers as the “Most Influential Agile Testing Professional Person” at Agile Testing Days in 2012. Please visit https://agiletester.ca and https://agiletestingfellow.com to learn more.
Testing Is a Team SportDerek Davidson
Scrum Trainer (CST and PST) and Agile Coach
Derek is a Professional Scrum Trainer for Scrum.org and a Certified Scrum Trainer for the Scrum Alliance. Derek helps people become Product Owners, Scrum Masters, and Scrum Developers. He helps software developers work in an Agile/Scrum way and helps Scrum Teams scale. Derek also helps businesses implement Scrum. Derek writes about Scrum at http://www.webgate.ltd.uk.
Scrum Master, Not Impediment Hunter“That Won’t Work Here!”
The Sixth Scrum Value
Stijn Decneut
Trainer/Coach with a Passion for Neuroscience
Building on a strong understanding of the biological bases of human behavior, Stijn provides training, mentoring, and coaching on Agile leadership. Stijn cofounded AgileBeyond to take Agile coaching and training beyond anecdotal techniques and unsubstantiated models, building on solid, evidence-based findings from science instead. He helps organizations adopt Scrum and related Agile practices in a way that actually makes sense, because all too often, the way organizations apply techniques and frameworks doesn’t pay off, leading to frustration, and eventually disillusion.
How Human Nature Overcomplicates What Is Already ComplexHow to Design Your Scrum for A-ha! Moments
Pete Deemer
CEO of GoodAgile
Pete Deemer is a well-known figure in the Agile software community, having spent the last 25+ years leading teams building products and services at global companies. Pete served as Chairman of Scrum Alliance and is the CEO of Singapore-based firm GoodAgile, providing Agile consulting and training.
Will Scrum Work for Multi-Location Development?Arno Delhij
Agile Business Coach
Arno Delhij works as an Agile Business Coach and cofounder of the worldwide initiative, Agile in Education. He helps companies grow high-performing teams and adapt to a flexible and value-driven way of working. He has a strong passion for innovation in education. Arno coauthored the eduScrum Guide, and his latest published book is Scrum in de klas (2020).
Born to Be Agile: A Case for Scrum in the ClassroomHiren Doshi
Professional Scrum Trainer
Hiren is a Professional Scrum Trainer with Scrum.org. He authored the book, Scrum Insights for Practitioners: The Scrum Guide Companion (Practiceagile.com, 2016). He has 24 years of software development experience and has been practicing Scrum for over 13 years. He has helped companies like Tesco, EMC, BACI, BookMyShow, Shell, Schlumberger, BP, Aditya Birla Group, and many more on their Agility path. Hiren lives in Mumbai, India, with his wife, Swati, and two daughters, Aditi and Ashwini.
Five Sublime Aspects for Being a More Humane Scrum MasterJutta Eckstein
Independent
Jutta Eckstein works as an independent coach, consultant, and trainer. She has helped many teams and organizations worldwide transition to Agile. She has unique experience in applying Agile processes within medium-sized to large, distributed, mission-critical projects. She has shared her experience through several books, including Agile Software Development in the Large (Dorset House, 2004), Agile Software Development with Distributed Teams (Self published, 2018), Retrospectives for Organizational Change (Self published, 2019), Diving for Hidden Treasures: Uncovering the Cost of Delay in your Project Portfolio (Practical Ink, 2016) (with Johanna Rothman), and Company-wide Agility (Self published, 2020) (with John Buck). She is a member of the Agile Alliance (having served on the Board of Directors from 2003–2007) and a speaker, as well as co-organizer of several conferences across the world.
Sprints Are for Progress, Not to Become the New TreadmillRon Eringa
Agile Leadership Developer
Ron is driven by the vision to create workplaces where he would trust his kids to work. Ron wants to inspire people to reach their full potential. As Professional Scrum Trainer for Scrum.org since 2014, he guides teams and managers on their professional learning journeys. As Leadership Steward for Scrum.org, he helps trainers deliver a Professional Leadership experience. As an independent consultant since 2016, he helps clients and partners develop leadership at all levels in the organization. You can find more information at http://roneringa.com.
Agile Leadership and Culture DesignMarkus Gaertner
Certified Scrum Trainer
Markus Gaertner works as Organizational Design Consultant, Certified Scrum Trainer (CST), and Agile Coach for it-agile GmbH in Hamburg, Germany. Markus is the author of ATDD by Example: A Practical Guide to Acceptance Test-Driven Development (Addison-Wesley Professional, 2012) and contributes to the Softwerkskammer, the German Software Craftsmanship movement. He blogs in English frequently at http://www.shino.de/blog.
Know the Difference Between Multiple Scrum Teams and Multi-Team ScrumProduct Owner, Not an Information Barrier
“That’s Not My Job!”
Bob Galen
Agile Coach
Bob Galen is an Agile Methodologist, Practitioner, and Coach based in Cary, North Carolina. In this role, he helps guide companies and teams in their pragmatic adoption and organizational shift toward Scrum and other Agile methods. He is currently Principal Agile Coach at Vaco and President of RGCG, LLC. Bob regularly speaks at international conferences and professional groups on a broad range of topics related to Agile software development. He is the author of the books Agile Reflections: Musings Toward Becoming Seriously Agile in Software Development (RGCG, LLC, 2012), Scrum Product Ownership: Balancing Value from the Inside Out (RGCG, LLC, 2009–2013), and Three Pillars of Agile Quality and Testing: Achieving Balanced Results in Your Journey Towards Agile Quality (RGCG, LLC, 2015). He can be reached at [email protected].
Servant-Leadership Starts from WithinWhen in Trouble...Break Glass!
Are People Impediments?
Peter Goetz
Agile Coach and Trainer
Peter is a coach and trainer for Scrum and DevOps. He has more than 15 years of experience with software development in different roles and from different perspectives. As a Scrum.org licensed Professional Scrum Trainer, he supports his clients in introducing and implementing Scrum in software development projects.
Start with the Why of Your ScrumLuis Gonçalves
Managing Director
Luis Gonçalves is an entrepreneur, best-selling author, and international keynote speaker. When consulting, he works exclusively with entrepreneurs, founders, and the senior executives of seven- to eight-figure businesses on the implementation of his game-changing Organizational Mastery methodology. He has been successfully working in the software industry since 2003, and his blog, https://luis-goncalves.com, is considered a “must-read” for everyone in the software development industry.
How to Have an Effective Sprint PlanningUnderstanding the Scrum Master Role
Ellen Gottesdiener
Agile Product Coach
Ellen Gottesdiener is a Product Coach and CEO of EBG Consulting, focused on helping product and development communities produce valuable outcomes through product agility. Ellen is known in the Agile community as an instigator and innovator for collaborative practices for Agile product discovery and delivery. She integrates skilled facilitation into her product work to enable healthy teamwork and strong organizations. Ellen is the author of three books on product discovery and requirements, a frequent speaker, and works with clients globally. In her spare time, Ellen is Producer of Boston’s Agile Product Open Community and serves as Director of Agile Alliance’s Agile Product Management Initiative.
Answer This Question: “What Is Your Product?”James W. Grenning
President, Wingman Software
James Grenning trains, coaches, and consults worldwide. James’s mission is to bring modern technical and management practices to product development teams, especially in embedded systems development. He is the author of Test-Driven Development for Embedded C (Pragmatic Bookshelf, 2011). He is a coauthor of CppUTest, a popular unit test harness for embedded C and C++. He invented Planning Poker, an estimating technique used around the world, and participated in the creation of the Manifesto for Agile Software Development. His website is http://wingman-sw.com.
Agile Is More Than SprintingDaniel James Gullo
Author and Transformative Leader
Daniel is a well-known and highly regarded servant of the Agile community as well as a lifelong entrepreneur. Daniel is CEO of Apple Brook Consulting (ABC) and the founder of and chief advisor to Agile Delaware. He is a frequent reviewer, volunteer, and speaker for several organizations. He is also cofounder of AgileNEXT, the next-generation Agile talk show, and CoreAgility, a monthly publication. Daniel is a trusted advisor to staff and management of the Scrum Alliance candidates for CST and CEC. A Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (SDVOSB), Apple Brook Consulting donates to active-duty, veteran, and retired military members through its discount program on training and via other methods. Daniel is the author of Real World Agility: Practical Guidance for Agile Practitioners (Addison-Wesley Professional, 2016). Daniel is currently pursuing a PhD in Organizational Development and Change (Evidence-Based Coaching).
The Effects of Working from HomeBob Hartman
Certified Scrum Trainer and Coach, Agile For All, LLC
Bob has served in almost every role in the software industry, including developer, tester, documentation writer, trainer, product manager, project manager, business analyst, senior software engineer, development manager, and executive. Over the past 20 years, Bob has grown from being an early adopter of Agile to his current status as a Certified Scrum Trainer (CST) and Certified Enterprise Coach (CEC) and an expert in training, coaching, and mentoring in all areas of agility, including leadership agility and organizational agility. Bob is a popular speaker, having spoken at numerous major conferences, seminars, workshops, and user group meetings, where his engaging style, holistic view of development, and personal anecdotes are always well received by attendees.
The Most Important Thing Isn’t What You Think It IsDaniel Heinen
Scrum Master and University Lecturer for Large-Scale Scrum Product Development
Daniel Heinen is a Scrum Master and Agile Coach at the LeSS Huge adoption at BMW Group’s Autonomous Driving division. He also works as a Lecturer at the University of Applied Science in Munich. He believes that successful products can only be developed together, with close collaboration from customer to developer. In his vision, successful organizations foster collaborative learning to build successful solutions, also at scale. Contact Daniel at [email protected].
The Vicious Effects of Managing for UtilizationJorgen Hesselberg
Cofounder of Comparative Agility
Jorgen Hesselberg is the author of Unlocking Agility (Addison-Wesley Professional, 2018) and cofounder of Comparative Agility, a leading Agile assessment and continuous improvement platform. A proven thought leader of numerous successful enterprise transformation efforts since 2009, Jorgen provides strategic guidance, executive counsel, and coaching to some of the world’s most respected companies, both as an internal change agent and an external consultant.
Treating Defects as Treasures (the Value of Openness)Jesse Houwing
Trainer, Coach, and Tinkerer
Jesse likes to train people in Scrum and the Agile mindset in general as a means to lead them to new insights, epiphanies, and sometimes life-changing inspiration. When people share that a specific training turned out to be a career-changing event, that’s epic. That is one of Jesse’s ultimate Epic $#*! moments.
The Evergreen TreeRich Hundhausen
Scrum/DevOps Trainer and Coach
Richard Hundhausen helps teams deliver better products by understanding and leveraging Scrum and Azure DevOps. As a Professional Scrum Trainer, he knows that software is built and delivered by people and not by processes or tools. Richard lives in Boise, Idaho, USA.
Is Your Team Working as a Team?What’s in Your Sprint Plan?
Rethinking Bugs
Ralph Jocham
Change Agent at effective agile
Ralph has been active in the Agile space for more than 20 years as a programmer, Scrum Master, and Product Owner. He has been a Professional Scrum Trainer for Scrum.org since 2010 and has trained and coached thousands of people worldwide. Ralph is coauthor (with Don McGreal) of The Professional Product Owner: Leveraging Scrum as a Competitive Advantage (Addison-Wesley Professional, 2018).
Successful Projects That...FailBeware the Product Management Vacuum
Sprint Goals: The Forgotten Keys of Scrum
Mik Kersten
Founder and CEO of Tasktop
Dr. Mik Kersten is the CEO of Tasktop Technologies, creator and leader of the Eclipse Mylyn open source project, and inventor of the task-focused interface. As a research scientist at Xerox PARC, Mik implemented the first aspect-oriented programming tools for AspectJ. He created Mylyn and the task-focused interface during his PhD in Computer Science at the University of British Columbia. Mik has been an Eclipse committer since 2002, is an elected member of the Eclipse Board of Directors, and serves on the Eclipse Architecture and Planning councils. Mik’s thought leadership on task-focused collaboration makes him a popular speaker at software conferences, and he was voted a JavaOne Rock Star speaker in 2008 and 2009. Mik enjoys building tools that offload our brains and make it easier to get creative work done.
Scaling Scrum to the Entire Organization with the Flow FrameworkSjoerd Kranendonk
Agile Coach, Scrum Master, and Trainer
Sjoerd is a coach and consultant with a drive to help organizations and people find better ways of working. He does so by coaching, consulting, and training in various methods, tools, and practices for continuous improvement, always making sure to start from a good understanding of the why of things. Tools in his toolkit include Scrum, SAFe, LeSS, and other approaches that align with the Agile Manifesto and a growth mindset. Sjoerd publishes irregularly on LinkedIn and www.sjoerdly.com.
Scrum Applied in Police WorkMitch Lacey
Agile Software Practitioner
Mitch Lacey is an Agile practitioner and trainer. Mitch has been managing projects for over 15 years and is credited with many plan-driven and Agile projects. He is the author of The Scrum Field Guide (Addison-Wesley Professional, 2012–2016), a book targeting teams adopting Agile and Scrum practices. Mitch honed his Agile skills at Microsoft Corporation, where he successfully released core enterprise services. Mitch’s first Agile team at Microsoft was coached by Ward Cunningham, Jim Newkirk, and David Anderson.
Put Customer Focus at the Top of Your Decision-Making StackLen Lagestee
Organizational Change Coach
Len Lagestee is an organizational change coach and blogger at www.illustratedagile.com. As a coach, Len interacts with large organizations to connect people, revolutionize leadership, deliver results, and humanize the workforce.
Becoming a Radiating TeamThe Five Stages of Product Backlog Item Sizing
Anatomy of an Impediment
Jasper Lamers
Agile Consultant and Cultural Anthropologist
Jasper holds a master’s degree in Cultural Anthropology. Although he ended up working in software development, he never lost his deep interest in the people aspect of work. Having worked in various roles between ICT and business, Jasper is an experienced, enthusiastic, and creative coach and trainer. Jasper is a hobby musician and video maker.
Is There Anything to Learn from Football Hooligans?The Power of Play in a Safe (but Not Too Safe) Environment
Scrum Events Are Rituals to Ensure Good Harvest
Mark Levison
Certified Scrum Trainer
Mark is now an author, Certified Scrum Trainer, and consultant with Agile Pain Relief Consulting. He has introduced Scrum, Lean, and other Agile methods to a number of organizations, including Government of Canada departments, major financial and insurance institutions, and software companies, as well as individuals across Canada. He also does consulting work with organizations seeking to evolve.
Sprint Backlogs Deserve a Life Beyond Your Electronic ToolSprint Goals Provide Purpose (Beyond Merely Completing Work Lists)
Marc Loeffler
Passionate Business Agility Coach
Marc Loeffler is a renowned keynote speaker, author, and Agile coach. Before getting in touch with Agile methods and principles in 2006, he was working as a traditional project manager for companies like Volkswagen AG and Siemens AG. His passion is to help teams implementing Agile frameworks and to transform our world of work. Marc has a passion for helping teams that are struggling with Agile transitions and overcoming dysfunctional behavior. He loves to generate new insights by approaching common problems from the other side and trying to make havoc of the process deliberately. Marc is the author of Improving Agile Retrospectives (Addison-Wesley Professional, 2017).
Five Things Nobody Tells You About ScrumChris Lukassen
Product Samurai
Chris has been involved in various projects, from coding real-time operating systems to running nine teams in a multimillion-Euro product development, from garage startups to global giants like TomTom and Saab, from utter failure to CES award-winning products. His mission is to teach people how they can create products in such a way that they can never imagine going back.
Patricia’s Product Management PredicamentThe Gentle Way of Change
Don McGreal
VP of Learning Solutions at Improving
Don is a hands-on Agile consultant, instructor, and Professional Scrum Trainer for Scrum.org. He has authored and taught classes for thousands of software professionals around the globe. He is also cofounder of TastyCupcakes.org, a comprehensive collection of games and exercises for accelerating the adoption of Agile principles. Don is coauthor of The Professional Product Owner: Leveraging Scrum as a Competitive Advantage (Addison-Wesley Professional, 2018, with Ralph Jocham).
Successful Projects That...FailBeware the Product Management Vacuum
Sprint Goals: The Forgotten Keys of Scrum
Todd M. Miller
Professional Scrum Trainer
Todd has experience as a Scrum Master, Product Owner, Developer, and Agile coach on a variety of technical and creative projects across a multitude of industries. He currently coaches and trains enterprises and teams across the United States on the Scrum framework, enterprise Agile transformation, and professional software development. Todd is the coauthor of Fixing Your Scrum: Practical Solutions to Common Scrum Problems (Pragmatic Bookshelf, 2020, with Ryan Ripley).
Regularly Revert to the Simplest Thing That Might WorkEric Naiburg
Vice President of Marketing and Operations, Scrum.org
Eric is coauthor of UML for Database Design (Addison-Wesley Professional, 2001) and UML for Mere Mortals (Addison-Wesley Professional, 2004). Eric is currently responsible for all aspects of marketing, support, outbound communications, and operations for Scrum.org. Previously, he held the role of Director of Marketing for INetU (now ViaWest). Before INetU, Eric was Program Director at IBM and Rational Software, responsible for application life cycle management (ALM), DevOps, and Agile solutions. Eric has held product management and marketing roles with other organizations, including Ivar Jacobson Consulting, CAST Software, and Logic Works Inc. (acquired by Platinum Technologies and CA), as well as Product Manager for Erwin.
How We Used Scrum to Work with an External AgencyJudy Neher
Certified Scrum Trainer
Judy Neher is a Certified Scrum Trainer from Indiana, USA. She has coached and trained Agile and Scrum in the government space for decades and was invited to work with government security professionals to help them become Agile.
Introducing Abuser StoriesAlan O’Callaghan
CST, Principal Product Owner, Emerald Hill Limited
Allan O’Callaghan has been a Scrum practitioner for over 20 years. He is a Certified Scrum Trainer with Scrum Alliance and a member of the Scrum Patterns Group.
Put Business Value Front and CenterThe “MetaScrum” Pattern to Drive Agile Transformation
Stephanie Ockerman
Professional Scrum Trainer and Author, AgileSocks.com
Stephanie Ockerman is the founder of Agile Socks LLC, an Agile training and coaching business whose mission is to help people build amazing things together so that we can all thrive in an unpredictable and complex world. She brings more than 15 years of experience supporting teams and organizations in delivering valuable products and services as a Scrum Master, trainer, and coach. She is coauthor of the book, Mastering Professional Scrum (Addison-Wesley Professional, 2019, with Simon Reindl), and she blogs regularly at www.AgileSocks.com.
The Scrum Master’s Most Important ToolPaul Oldfield
Team Member at Youmanage
Paul graduated in Botany in 1978, providing him with a sound scientific basis for coping with very complex systems. Paul moved to computing for paid work, starting in research work, where waterfall development was not feasible. Paul grew his own ways of working that he found later on had a lot in common with the early Agile approaches. Paul now works with Youmanage.co.uk, a small organization that is currently growing out of startup status.
Networks and RespectFabio Panzavolta
Professional Scrum Trainer and Owner of Collective Genius
Fabio started his career as a software engineer in 2001. After years of working as a project manager and applying traditional project management, he discovered and embraced Scrum, a way of working that perfectly fits his mindset. Fabio is a Professional Scrum Trainer with Scrum.org and the founder and owner of Collective Genius, a service company that helps people and companies deliver better products with Scrum. By the way, Fabio loves to hear from you if you like motorbikes as well.
Scrum and Organizational Design in PracticeJeff Patton
Product Design and Process Coach
Jeff Patton helps companies adopt a way of working that’s focused on building great products, not just building stuff faster. Jeff blends a mixture of Agile thinking, Lean and Lean Startup Thinking, and UX design and Design Thinking to end up with a holistic, product-centric way of working. Jeff is the author of the bestselling book User Story Mapping (O’Reilly, 2014), which describes a simple, holistic approach to using stories in Agile development without losing sight of the big picture.
Mind Your Outcomes. Pay Attention to Value.Marcus Raitner
Corporate Jester and Agile Coach
Marcus is convinced that elephants can dance. Since 2015, he’s been accompanying the BMW Group IT on its journey to an Agile organization as an Agile coach and Agile transformation agent. After receiving his doctorate in computer science at the University of Passau, Marcus started as a project manager at msg systems, a large IT service provider. In 2010, he started from scratch and joined esc Solutions, a small startup with a focus on project management and coaching. Marcus is the author of Manifesto for Human(e) Leadership: Six Theses for New Leadership in the Age of Digitalization (Self published, 2020). Marcus regularly writes about leadership, digitization, new work, agility, and much more in this blog, “Führung erfahren!”.
Three Common Misconceptions About User StoriesThe Court Jester at the Touchline
The Trinity of Agile Leadership
Konstantin Razumovsky
Agile Coach and Professional Scrum Trainer
Konstantin is an Agile practitioner from Minsk, Belarus. He combines training activities with practical work for organizations and teams that want to benefit from using Lean and Agile principles. Konstantin has a background in Java Development and also worked as Project Manager, Scrum Master, and Agile Coach. He believes in teams and considers them to be the true source of most great things in product development.
And Then a Miracle OccursSimon Reindl
Professional Scrum Trainer
Simon is an experienced coach, speaker, author, trainer, and technologist with over 20 years’ experience helping people adopt new technologies and realize business value. He has experience in a wide range of business domains in both the public and private sectors around the world. His passion is helping teams and organizations deliver better value by building products that delight the customer. He does this by engaging with the people, facilitating their understanding, and helping improve their performance. Simon is coauthor of the book, Mastering Professional Scrum (Addison-Wesley Professional, 2019, with Stephanie Ockerman).
How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Start Using ScrumKonstantin Ribel
Scrum Master and LeSS-Friendly Scrum Trainer
Konstantin Ribel is a Scrum Master and the first fomenter of the LeSS Huge adoption at BMW Group’s Autonomous Driving division. He is convinced that today’s organizations need a radical structural change to shift mindsets and unleash collective intelligence. His vision is to foster organizations where human intelligence and efforts are highly respected. Contact Konstantin at [email protected] and konstantin-ribel.com.
The Vicious Effects of Managing for UtilizationRyan Ripley
Professional Scrum Trainer
A professional Scrum trainer with Scrum.org, Ryan Ripley has worked as a software developer, manager, director, and Scrum Master at various Fortune 500 companies in the medical device, wholesale, and financial services industries. He is host of Agile for Humans, the top Agile podcast on iTunes. Ryan is coauthor of Fixing Your Scrum: Practical Solutions to Common Scrum Problems (Pragmatic Bookshelf, 2020, with Todd Miller). Ryan lives in Indiana with his wife, Kristin, and three children. He blogs at www.ryanripley.com and is on Twitter @ryanripley.
How I Learned That It’s Not About Me, the Scrum MasterLinda Rising
Computer Software Consultant and Professional
Linda Rising is an independent consultant who lives near Nashville, Tennessee. Linda has a PhD in object-based design metrics from Arizona State University. Her background includes university teaching as well as work in telecommunications, avionics, and tactical weapons systems. She is an internationally known presenter on topics related to Agile development, patterns, retrospectives, the change process, and the connection between the latest neuroscience and software development. Linda is the author of numerous articles and five books.
The Power of Standing UpRafael Sabbagh
Certified Scrum Trainer (CST), Accredited Kanban Trainer (AKT)
Rafael Sabbagh is the cofounder of Knowledge21, where he has been working in Agile transformations of companies ranging from startups to multinationals since the mid-2000s. He has over two decades of experience with enterprise IT projects, product development, and software development methods and techniques. As a Certified Scrum Trainer (CST), an Accredited Kanban Trainer (AKT), and a member of the Scrum Alliance Board of Directors from 2015 to 2017, Rafael has done work in more than 20 countries and has spoken at several Agile events worldwide.
Scrum: Giving the Steering Wheel Back to BusinessThe Purpose of Sprint Review Is to Gather Feedback—Period
The Origins of Scrum Might Not Be What You Think They Are
Sanjay Saini
Professional Scrum Trainer and Founder of AgileWoW
Sanjay has been working for more than 20 years in the IT industry across different domains, including banking, manufacturing, and energy. Sanjay lives Integrity, Think Customer, Ignite Passion, Take Accountability, Promote Innovation, and Achieve Greatness. He is a Professional Scrum Trainer from Scrum.org.
A Demo Is Not Enough—Go and Deploy for Better FeedbackUwe Schirmer
Agile Coach
Uwe is a coach and trainer for Scrum and for Agile Requirements Engineering. He has more than 20 years’ experience in different roles and domains of IT. He tries to convey a holistic view of the software development life cycle and helps his customers build up and repair teams and invent or rethink their processes and approaches from requirements to production and beyond.
Start with the Why of Your ScrumTeams Are More Than Collections of Technical Skills
Andreas Schliep
Executive Partner at DasScrumTeam AG
Andreas Schliep started one of the first multi-team Scrum adaptations in Germany back in 2004. Since then, he has helped individuals and organizations as Scrum Master, coach, and trainer. He holds various Certified Scrum certifications from the Scrum Alliance and is cofounder and Scrum Master of DasScrumTeam AG.
Scrum Is “Agile Leadership”Robbin Schuurman
Product Leader, Professional Scrum Trainer, and Author
Robbin is a product leader, Professional Scrum Trainer, and passionate golfer. Robbin is coauthor of the practical book, 50 Tinten Nee: Effectief stakeholdermanagement voor de Product Owner (Boom Uitgevers, 2019, with Willem Vermaak). Robbin is on a mission to improve the profession of product management.
Mastering the Art of “No” to Maximize ValueKen Schwaber
Co-creator of Scrum and Founder of Scrum.org
Ken Schwaber is a veteran of the software development industry (from bottle washer to boss). He co-developed the Scrum process with Jeff Sutherland in the early 1990s to help organizations struggling with complex development projects. One of the signatories to the Agile Manifesto in 2001, he subsequently founded the Agile Alliance and Scrum Alliance. He left the Scrum Alliance to found Scrum.org in 2009. Ken has written several books about Scrum. He lives in Lexington, Massachusetts.
Scrum Is Simple. Just Use It As Is.Anu Smalley
President, Capala Consulting Group
Anu Smalley is a Certified Scrum Trainer and the founder of Capala Consulting Group. Prior to her focus on Agile coaching and training, Anu was a successful Product Owner within large organizations.
Product Backlog Refinement Is an Important Team ActivityZuzana Šochová
Agile Coach and Certified Scrum Trainer
Zuzana “Zuzi” Šochová is an independent Agile Coach and trainer and a Certified Scrum Trainer with the Scrum Alliance with more than 15 years’ experience. She has implemented Agile transformations and implementations in many companies and teams around the world. By creating and sustaining Agile leadership, she believes the worlds of work and life can be happier and more successful. She is the founder of the Czech Agile Association and the AgilePrague conference, a member of the Scrum Alliance Board of Directors, and author of The Great ScrumMaster: #ScrumMasterWay (Addison-Wesley Professional, 2017). She can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @zuzuzka.
Guiding Scrum Masters on Their Never-Ending Journey with the #ScrumMasterWay ConceptMichael K. Spayd
Chief Sage, Collective Edge Coaching
Michael is wired for transformation: you, me, us, all of us. Michael started as an Agile coach working on an enterprise transformation way back in 2001. He was involved in a number of large transformations, bringing in models and thinking from his world of organizational development, change, culture, leadership, and professional coaching. In 2010, Michael cofounded the Agile Coaching Institute with Lyssa Adkins to transform the Agile coaching profession. Having made good progress, it was sold in 2017. Michael cofounded Trans4mation with Michele Madore in 2016 to transform Agile transformations. They coauthored the book, Agile Transformation: Using the Integral Agile Transformation Framework to Think and Lead Differently (Addison-Wesley Professional, 2020). Michael has launched a new organizational platform in 2020: The Collective Edge, LLC.
What It Means to Self-OrganizeDavid Starr
Professional Software Craftsman
David Starr is a professional software craftsman committed to improving agility, collaboration, and technical excellence in software development teams. He is currently a Principal Solutions Architect at Microsoft, is the founder of Elegant Code Solutions, has served in numerous leadership roles, and has been an early and consistent advocate for Agile development. He helped in creating some Scrum.org curriculum.
Automating AgilityGunther Verheyen
independent Scrum Caretaker
Gunther Verheyen is a seasoned Scrum practitioner (since 2003). As a consultant, Gunther had the pleasure of employing Scrum with several teams in diverse circumstances and business domains before becoming the inspiration behind some large-scale Scrum adoptions. After partnering exclusively with Ken Schwaber, Scrum co-creator, and Scrum.org, he is continuing his journey of Scrum as an independent Scrum Caretaker. Gunther is the author of Scrum – A Pocket Guide: A Smart Travel Companion (Van Haren Publishing, 2013, 2019).
What Will You Define as “Done”?Scrum Is More About Behavior Than It Is About Process
Willem Vermaak
Product Management Consultant
Willem is passionate about handing people a fishing rod. He does not seek quick solutions, but wants to train, guide, coach, and mentor people so that they can go out and win. Willem’s objective is to help product people deliver the most valuable products, both for their users and for the company. Willem is coauthor of the practical book, 50 Tinten Nee: Effectief stakeholdermanagement voor de Product Owner (Boom Uitgevers, 2019, with Robbin Schuurman).
Mastering the Art of “No” to Maximize ValueStacia Viscardi
CEO, AgileEvolution, Inc.
Stacia Heimgartner Viscardi has been practicing Agile and Lean techniques since 2003. Over the years, she has traveled to 23 different countries to teach and coach a variety of companies to help them think about and practice better ways of working. She has been a CST with the ScrumAlliance since 2006 and recently became part of the leadership team of the Open Leadership Network. Stacia coauthored The Software Project Manager’s Bridge to Agility (Addison-Wesley Professional, 2008) with Michele Sliger and authored The Professional ScrumMaster’s Handbook (Packt Publishing, 2013). Her current work in progress is Failagility: The Business of Imperfection. When she is not teaching or coaching, Stacia can usually be found in a barn, smiling while failing at dressage with her horse, Figo.
Actually, It’s Not Really About ScrumBas Vodde
LeSS Co-creator and Product Development Coach
Bas Vodde is a coach, programmer, trainer, and author related to modern Agile and Lean product development. He is the creator of the LeSS (Large-Scale Scrum) framework and is the author of Large-Scale Scrum: More with LeSS, Scaling Agile and Lean Development, and Practices for Scaling Agile and Lean Development (all from Addison-Wesley Professional, all together with his good friend Craig Larman). When he coaches organizations, he likes to have a holistic, system-wide view by working on three levels: 1) organizational, 2) team, and 3) individual/technical practices. In his spare time, he is a maintainer of the CppUTest unit test framework. Bas works for Odd-e, a company that supports organizations in improving their product development.
Digital Tools Considered Harmful: Sprint BacklogDigital Tools Considered Harmful: Jira
The Scrum Master as a Technical Coach
Actively Doing Nothing (Is Actually Hard Work)
Bob Warfield
CEO of CNCCookbook, Inc.
Bob is a serial entrepreneur with broad industry experience, including CNC manufacturing, social, cloud, big data, SaaS, desktop, and enterprise software in organizations ranging from startups to publicly traded, $500M/year companies. Bob feels comfortable as CEO, Founder, CTO, and VP Engineering. Bob is currently having the best time ever running CNCCookbook, the CNC manufacturing industry’s most popular blog and a haven for professional CNC’ers and DIY makers alike.
The “Standing Meeting”Geoff Watts
Agile Leadership Coach
Geoff Watts was one of the first Certified Scrum Masters, Certified Scrum Coaches, and Certified Scrum Trainers in the world. He is the author of best-selling books, Scrum Mastery (Inspect & Adapt Ltd, 2013), Product Mastery (Inspect & Adapt Ltd, 2017), and The Coach’s Casebook (Inspect & Adapt Ltd, 2015). His latest available book is Team Mastery (Inspect & Adapt Ltd, 2020). Geoff coaches individuals and teams toward self-mastery for the benefit of themselves and others.
The Scrum Master as CoachDave West
CEO, Scrum.org
Dave West is the Product Owner and CEO at Scrum.org. He is a frequent keynote speaker and is a widely published author of articles. He also is the coauthor of two books, The Nexus Framework for Scaling Scrum (Addison-Wesley Professional, 2017) and Head First Object-Oriented Analysis and Design (O’Reilly, 2006). He led the development of the Rational Unified Process (RUP) and then worked with Ivar Jacobson in running the North American business for IJI. He then managed the software delivery practice at Forrester Research, where he was VP and Research Director. Prior to joining Scrum.org, he was Chief Product Officer at Tasktop, where he was responsible for product management, engineering, and architecture.
The Sprint Review Is Not a Phase-GateWilly Wijnands
Passionate Science Teacher and Founder of eduScrum
Willy Wijnands is a passionate science teacher at the Ashram College in Alphen aan de Rijn (the Netherlands) and an Aikido teacher. He is the initiator and founder of eduScrum and cofounder of the worldwide initiative, Agile in Education. He has coauthored the eduScrum Guide and Scrum in Actie (Business Contact, 2015). He contributed to the book Agile and Lean Concepts for Teaching and Learning (Springer, 2018). Since 2011, Willy has trained more than 900 teachers in eduScrum worldwide and facilitated over 2,000 students in using eduScrum at the Ashram College. Find more information about eduScrum at https://oreil.ly/MbERJ.
Agile in Education with eduScrum