Rebel Scum! The Scrum Resistance
If you’ve never been to an Agile conference, the likelihood that you’ll see a Star Wars reference in a presentation is fairly high. Inevitably, there’ll be a slide of Yoda in someone’s PowerPoint as a metaphor for the ideal Scrum Master (though I contend that Mr. Miyagi should be the model).
People love giving shout outs to Star Wars, and why not? The Rebel Alliance draws parallels for change agents fighting the system, and sticking it to the man. The analogy is relevant, but unfortunately, the Waterfall faithful don’t see Agile Coaches as a wise, old Jedi master. From where they sit, Scrum Masters aren’t Luke, or Rey, tryna topple a fanatical empire. The sad truth is that they’re the Resistance, and they view us as the Galactic Empire.
Our desire to help companies find better ways to build software isn’t bolstered by domineering Scrum Lords who see themselves as rule enforcers, and browbeat those resistant to change, treating them like rebel scum. But in the Star Wars universe, if we are seen as the Empire, Scrum Masters wouldn’t be Darth Vader. If we’re being honest, Scrum Masters are more like Storm Troopers piloting Tie Fighters down the meridian trench, tryna keep the rebels from blowing up the Death Star (a.k.a. Scrum).
When we arrive, tryna tear down the command-and-control system that’s been in place for years, and “worked in the past,” people resist. No doubt you’ve heard the phrase, “change is hard.” Psychologists, and neuroscientists have figured out why, especially when folks are set in their ways. Creating new behaviors requires buy-in, and repetition, but the brain falls back on what it knows, and chooses the path of least resistance.
Resistance comes in many forms. Some of these phrases may sound familiar:
- “Scrum is cool in theory, but it’ll never work in our environment.”
- “With all the meetings you have to attend, Scrum comes with a lot of extra overhead.”
- “You don’t document anything in Scrum. It’s chaos.”
- “Allowing developers make decisions about process? Scrum is like letting the inmates run the asylum.”
Where does this come from? For one, we have an image problem. I can’t help but think of what Martin Fowler said at Agile Australia 2018. He talked about the “Agile Industrial Complex," which sounds an awful lot like the Galactic Empire. He’s not the first to call out the dysfunction either. Ron Jeffries brought up Dark Scrum. Barry Overeem, and Christiaan Verwijs fight Zombie Scrum on the reg. Sjoerd Nijland, and Willem-Jan Ageling often provide a swift Kick in the ScrumBut. These are only a few examples, but we need to deal with these anti-patterns. Maybe it’s high time we channel Olivia Pope, and handle it.
From top to bottom, every organization can fundamentally benefit by pressing pause, and come to a shared understanding on what Scrum is, and agree to follow a common playbook. Fortunately, we already have one: The Scrum Guide. Why get consensus? Because when you ask folks “What does a Scrum Master do?,” you’d be surprised by the answers.
My go to movie reference is The Karate Kid. Remember how Daniel got all bent out of shape because Mr. Miyagi told him to paint the fence, and wash his car, wax on-wax off? Daniel didn’t wanna do some old dude’s chores; he wanted to learn Karate. But at some point, he realized that’d he’d been taught the fundamentals from the beginning. In the end, he used that knowledge to beat down the best that Cobra Kai threw at him.
So, let’s teach like that, and clean up our ecosystem. Teach, not preach. Let’s ensure that everyone fundamentally understands what it means to follow the ways of Scrum. A Scrum Master’s job isn’t to regurgitate a list of plays from a playbook, insisting that they be rigorously followed. We should be fostering an environment where resistance is OK, and where those objections are addressed. Arm people with knowledge, and come together with a shared understanding.
If we work together to topple the Agile Industrial Complex, hopefully, some day the rebels will stop seeing Scrum as the Death Star looming on the horizon.