Read the following and see what you think. Most readers will recognize Jeff Sutherland as the co-creator of Scrum.
I hope this will start a lively discussion...
In scrumdevelopment@yahoogroups.com, Jeff Sutherland wrote on 8/22:
"You might tell the skeptics that a Scrum Master is like the quarterback
on a football team. Their performance as a company depends on them. A
good quarterback is not allowed to play other positions. They might
get hurt and disabled. There is a company analogy to this.
Of course, a good Scrum Master is more like a Rugby team captain which
they would not understand unless they were Rugby fans. The best Rugby
captains are truly heroic and are legends in their time. The fans
worship the ground they walk on because their teams win big. They also
get paid big bucks.
Tell them to get over being a losing company and find a few good Scrum Masters."
Jeff also wrote on 8/23:
"What I experience when working with teams in various companies is that
we tell people that the Scrum Master is a facilitator and has no
authority and at the same time the issue for the Scrum Master is
leadership. This is an attempt to break the directive management
micro-controller mentality. However, we are often weak in communicating
the leadership aspect. A story might help on this.
I marched behind General Douglas because I was Training Officer of the company that consistently was
the best marching company in the West Point Corps of cadets. As
Training Officer I had no authority and before I was put in the job
they were one of the worst marching companies in the Corps. All of
what I did had to be done through moral suasion and coaching.
In the process, I got to know a lot about General MacArthur because he
was alive and a force at the Military Academy during all the years I
was a cadet.
There is a well-known story that during World War II
there was a critical hill in the Pacific Theatre that had to be taken.
Several platoons had been sent up the hill and all had been killed.
General MacArthur, a five star general and commander of the Pacific
Theatre went down to meet the 2nd Lieutenant that had the next platoon
that would be set up to take out the target. He told the most junior
of officers that he had complete confidence in him and would give him
all the support he knew how to give. He told the Lieutenant that he
knew that it was difficult and that many had died but that he
respected the junior officer so much he was going to decorate him
before the battle. He took off his own Silver Star from his chest and
pinned it on the Lieutenant, saluted, and left the field of battle.
(This is exactly how senior Japanese executives set up a Scrum and
this example may give you the feeling that the Japanese teams have
when given their mission.)
The Lieutenant then talked with the troops and told them how important
the mission was, that many had died, but that the General had complete
confidence in them, and would give them all the support that he could
possibly give to the team to help them.
When the time came, the Lieutenant led the men up the hill. He was the
first into hand to hand combat and the team was inspired to follow
him. While many died, many survived and they took the field of battle.
The great Captains of Rugby teams have the same spirit. They are first
into the fray and they take the heaviest blows. Their example inspires
the team to higher levels of function.
The analogy to the ScrumMaster is that the ScrumMaster must mediate
between the team and the other parts of the company, while at the same
time making contributions in their field of expertise. They must
eliminate impediments and to do so must change company culture. To do
this requires leading the charge and taking many blows for the team,
particular from people outside of the team who do not understand what
they are doing or have agendas that will undermine team performance.
(Always remembering that a dead ScrumMaster is a useless ScrumMaster.)
When the team is successful they say the team did it. However, as
everyone knows, you don't win the Superbowl without a great
quarterback. Yet rarely does the quarterback score the winning
touchdown. It is superb offense and defense and running backs that
deliver the bacon.
This is the winning spirit of Scrum and if the ScrumMaster is too laid
back or uninvolved then performance suffers. It is not to take charge,
but to lead the charge once the team has committed to take the field
of endeavor."
See also this from Mike Cohn on 8/15:
"We should do what the team thinks is right but should often guide them
toward right decisions based on past experience. Why, for example, let a
team make a big mistake? We wouldn't let the team go to weekly standup
meetings all in the name of self-organization."
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