Foreword

I recently was talking to an executive about their agile transition. He described a series of great successes and disappointing failures. As we talked about these situations, picking at the “why?”, the “what”, and the “how could we have done better?” I was struck by a single truth: The failures were never about the Scrum Team or Teams; the failures were always about the friction created by agile teams within an existing, industrial-minded organization. And many of these failures were ultimately about leadership and the missteps they made as they tried to navigate the disconnect between these two paradigms.

One story, in particular, stood out to me. The story was about a Sprint Review that did not go well. The Sprint Goal was poorly formed, the team did not really understand what they were trying to deliver on, and the most important stakeholders and management were invited and actually showed up. The Sprint Review did what it was meant to do: It exposed the challenges the team faced and highlighted their misunderstanding, but it also showed how lacking the whole organization was in support of the ultimate Product Goal. It was not a fun or pleasant event. And everyone not only felt upset afterward but also questioned their contribution and work during the Sprint.

What happened next, however, was worse. The senior leader involved came after the Scrum Team both as a group and individually. He told them that “he never wanted to be embarrassed like that again,” and that “many of them need to think about their career choices.” He asked for them not to engage with senior stakeholders and to allow him to manage all interactions with those stakeholders. In that one response, he not only destroyed any motivation the Scrum Team had but also their desire to use an empirical process, to be agile.

You can guess what happened in the next Sprint Review. Everything was “great,” no senior stakeholders were invited, and it really was just a progress report for the senior leader who was present. The project slowly disappeared as the Scrum Team members found other projects that were more important.

This example is extreme, but in many subtle ways, this happens frequently as the leadership in an organization tries to protect their image, or ensure that everything is working the way they want. And it makes sense. Traditional approaches encourage structured communication channels and the importance of political capital. They encourage everything green or amber on your executive dashboard. It is easy to see what that senior leader did wrong when talking about that particular Sprint Review, but how does an agile leader do things right? What does it take to be an agile leader?

When I talk to managers and executives at large organizations, I am often asked, “The Scrum Guide has no role for me. What do I do now?” This one question is actually two questions. The first question is, what is the practical reality of the impact of Scrum on their situation. What happens to their existing responsibilities and accountabilities, and what does that mean for the Scrum Team and the problem they are solving. The second question is much deeper. What is the role of leadership, and what is leadership in the postindustrial world?

This book actually provides materials for both questions. By drawing on their vast experience, Ron, Kurt, and Laurens have described the reality of many situations, teasing out the practical tips and patterns for good leadership. They provide guidance on how a leader can help shape the environment for agile teams to succeed. They cover some hard topics, including the importance of purpose and mission, how to change to an outcome-focused rather than output-focused organization, the power of servant leadership, and even the thorny topic of the value of leadership. Many of the lessons they describe resonate with me from my own experience and what I observe in others. The narrative style of the book makes it easy to read, and I am sure that there will be many times that you see yourself in Doreen and the friction that is created between the agile and traditional approaches to value.

Ron, Kurt, and Laurens have written a book that tells a story about how traditional, industrial organizations need to change to take advantage of and survive the digital age. They focus on leaders and the harsh reality that many of the truths that traditional management encourages need to be rethought when change is the norm, opportunity is everywhere, and disaster is just around the corner.

I hope you enjoy reading this book as much as I did and that you take a few things with you as you try and change the world and thrive in that change.

—Dave West

CEO, Scrum.org