Scaling Scrum. Is it possible to scale up and keep up with agile manifesto principles and Scrum values? What fractals and scaling Scrum have in common? Is it possible to have more that 6+-3 developers on a team? And what has Nexus to do with scaling Scrum?

1. Scaling Scrum
1.00.06 bnd
Tomek Włodarek
© 2015 Tomek Włodarek. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution–
NonCommercial–NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License (by-nc-nd).

2. © 2015 Tomek Włodarek. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution–
NonCommercial–NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License (by-nc-nd).

3. Scaling Scrum
Tomek WłodarekIf a problem cannot be solved, enlarge it.
–Dwight D. Eisenhower
”
“
© 2015 Tomek Włodarek. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution–
NonCommercial–NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License (by-nc-nd).

4. how long have you
been doing Scrum?
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NonCommercial–NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License (by-nc-nd).

5. more than 5 years
more than 3 years
more than a year
failed or not interested
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NonCommercial–NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License (by-nc-nd).

6. o’rly?
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NonCommercial–NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License (by-nc-nd).

7. how long have you
been using Scrum?
© 2015 Tomek Włodarek. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution–
NonCommercial–NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License (by-nc-nd).

8. discovery framework
© 2012 Tomasz Włodarek. Pragmatyczne metody wytwarzania oprogramowania. Materiał
udostępniany na licencji Creative Commons (by-nc-nd).
Scrum is just a simple framework that will
identify everything in an organization that gets
in the way of optimally building software.
Scrum exposes every cultural dysfunction that
impedes developing software.
–K. Schwaber, J. Sutherland
Software in 30 Days: How Agile Managers Beat the Odds, Delight Their Customers,
And Leave Competitors In the Dust
”
“

9. stam·pede/stʌmˈpiːd/
1. /masowy pęd/
A sudden frenzied rush of panic–stricken animals.
2. /uciekać w popłochu/
To flee in a headlong rush.
© 2015 Tomek Włodarek. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution–
NonCommercial–NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License (by-nc-nd).

10. © 2015 Tomek Włodarek. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution–
NonCommercial–NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License (by-nc-nd).

11. scale·pede/skʌlˈpiːd/
1. /masowy pęd/
A sudden frenzied rush of panic–stricken companies to
scale Scrum because they need more software, now.
2. /uciekać w popłochu/
To flee in a headlong rush to prescribed methods
because scaling Scrum is difficult.
© 2015 Tomek Włodarek. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution–
NonCommercial–NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License (by-nc-nd).

12. scale·pede/skʌlˈpiːd/
1. /masowy pęd/
A sudden frenzied rush of panic–stricken companies to
scale Scrum because they need more software, now.
2. /uciekać w popłochu/
To flee in a headlong rush to prescribed methods
intellectual fads because scaling Scrum is difficult.
© 2015 Tomek Włodarek. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution–
NonCommercial–NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License (by-nc-nd).

13. © 2015 Tomek Włodarek. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution–
NonCommercial–NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License (by-nc-nd).

14. what is scaling Scrum?
© 2015 Tomek Włodarek. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution–
NonCommercial–NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License (by-nc-nd).

15. organizational transformation towards Scrum?
single team working on several projects?
multiple teams working on unrelated products?
multiple teams working on unrelated products
but using a shared code base?
multiple teams working on a product bundle?
© 2015 Tomek Włodarek. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution–
NonCommercial–NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License (by-nc-nd).

16. scaling Scrum is…
© 2015 Tomek Włodarek. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution–
NonCommercial–NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License (by-nc-nd).

17. … any implementation of Scrum where multiple
Scrum teams build one product
… any implementation of Scrum where multiple
Scrum teams build a product bundle/suite
(multiple related products)
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NonCommercial–NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License (by-nc-nd).

18. how many people have you
involved?
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NonCommercial–NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License (by-nc-nd).

19. less than 50? (lucky bastards)
50 to 150?
150 to 500?
500 to 1000?
more than a 1000? (OMFG)
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NonCommercial–NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License (by-nc-nd).

20. © 2015 Tomek Włodarek. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution–
NonCommercial–NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License (by-nc-nd).

21. © 2015 Tomek Włodarek. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution–
NonCommercial–NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License (by-nc-nd).
why to scale Scrum?

22. promising results with single teams here and
there
desire to gain similar benefits from larger groups
to have more work done faster
© 2015 Tomek Włodarek. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution–
NonCommercial–NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License (by-nc-nd).

23. (when it is assumed that a phenomenon functions
linearly, overlooking important factors that may
produce non-linearity; nothing is linear in the software
development world – complex adaptive systems aren’t
causal)
© 2015 Tomek Włodarek. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution–
NonCommercial–NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License (by-nc-nd).
linear fallacy

24. what are the two biggest
hurdles when scaling Scrum?
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NonCommercial–NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License (by-nc-nd).

25. communication
dependencies
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NonCommercial–NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License (by-nc-nd).

26. what causes most scaling
efforts fail?
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NonCommercial–NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License (by-nc-nd).

27. communication
dependencies
© 2015 Tomek Włodarek. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution–
NonCommercial–NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License (by-nc-nd).

28. © 2015 Tomek Włodarek. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution–
NonCommercial–NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License (by-nc-nd).

29. © 2015 Tomek Włodarek. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution–
NonCommercial–NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License (by-nc-nd).
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”
“ [for most of us] it’s a cognitive challenge
to keep track of more [than 150] people.
–Robin Dunbar
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ppLFce5uZ3I
https://stevelekson.files.wordpress.com/2011/08/dunbar-neocortex-size-and-group-size.pdf
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30. © 2015 Tomek Włodarek. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution–
NonCommercial–NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License (by-nc-nd).
”
“ [for most of us] it’s a cognitive challenge
to keep track of more [than 150] people.
–Robin Dunbar
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ppLFce5uZ3I
https://stevelekson.files.wordpress.com/2011/08/dunbar-neocortex-size-and-group-size.pdf

31. Any organization that designs a system will
inevitably produce a design whose structure is a
copy of the organization’s communication
structure.
–Melvin Conway
http://www.melconway.com/research/committees.html
http://hbswk.hbs.edu/item/5894.html
© 2015 Tomek Włodarek. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution–
NonCommercial–NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License (by-nc-nd).
”
“

32. © 2015 Tomek Włodarek. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution–
NonCommercial–NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License (by-nc-nd).
(opposite is also true: teams structure tends to lean
towards existing system architecture in an attempt to
“optimize skillset” and to reach fictitious 100%
resource utilization)

33. dependencies: internal, external, business
domains, product lines, PBIs, someone’s
presence (or absence), relationships,
processes, workflows, priviledges, access
rights, specialities, competencies, knowledge,
source code quality and ownership, code
repositories, versions merging, real or
perceived module boundaries, frameworks,
layers, components, systems, DBs, tools, …
© 2015 Tomek Włodarek. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution–
NonCommercial–NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License (by-nc-nd).

34. Dependencies
are fucking evil.* scrumvival.com/20130620

35. so, how to scale Scrum?
© 2015 Tomek Włodarek. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution–
NonCommercial–NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License (by-nc-nd).

36. don’t
”
“Scaling Agile methods is the last thing you should
do. A better approach is to try to scale down your
project.
–Martin Fowler
http://martinfowler.com/bliki/LargeAgileProjects.html
© 2015 Tomek Włodarek. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution–
NonCommercial–NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License (by-nc-nd).

37. problems scale (much)
easier than solutions
(don’t scale up if you struggle with Scrum at a team
level; you will end up with even bigger mess)
© 2015 Tomek Włodarek. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution–
NonCommercial–NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License (by-nc-nd).

38. think of alternatives
”
“ Before every action ask yourself. Will this bring
more monkeys on my back? Will the result of my
action be a blessing or a heavy burden?
–Alfred Armand Montapert
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NonCommercial–NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License (by-nc-nd).

39. do better Scrum at a team level
build up current teams’ capabilities (skills,
motivation, relationships, practices and tools)
focus on value, produce less software
scale the scope/project/product down
…
…
© 2015 Tomek Włodarek. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution–
NonCommercial–NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License (by-nc-nd).

40. Nexus
6±3 Scrum Teams

41. © 2015 Tomek Włodarek. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution–
NonCommercial–NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License (by-nc-nd).

42. (additive framework; Scrum foundations, principles and
values; opens communication; widens and deepens
inspect and adapt mechanisms; fosters continued
transparency; relies on bottom-up intelligence)
© 2015 Tomek Włodarek. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution–
NonCommercial–NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License (by-nc-nd).
überscrum

43. © 2015 Tomek Włodarek. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution–
NonCommercial–NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License (by-nc-nd).
1 Product = 1 Backlog
(and possibly 1 Product Owner to run them all)
hint #1

44. © 2015 Tomek Włodarek. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution–
NonCommercial–NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License (by-nc-nd).
software is invisible
(thank goodness outcomes of running software are visible)
hint #2

45. © 2015 Tomek Włodarek. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution–
NonCommercial–NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License (by-nc-nd).
enable integration
(think beyond technical e.g. communication, relationships,
cultural, environmental)
hint #3

46. integrate work across all levels early and often
build and inspect integrated increments early
and often
identify and remove dependencies early and
often
strive for technical excellence (practices,
architecture, quality)
© 2015 Tomek Włodarek. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution–
NonCommercial–NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License (by-nc-nd).

47. Dependencies
are fucking evil.* scrumvival.com/20130620

48. © 2015 Tomek Włodarek. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution–
NonCommercial–NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License (by-nc-nd).
don’t share PBIs
(refine, reframe, regroup)
hint #4

49. © 2015 Tomek Włodarek. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution–
NonCommercial–NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License (by-nc-nd).
let there be slack
hint #5

50. © 2015 Tomek Włodarek. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution–
NonCommercial–NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License (by-nc-nd).

51. © 2015 Tomek Włodarek. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution–
NonCommercial–NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License (by-nc-nd).

52. Nexus+
6±3 Nexuses
© 2015 Tomek Włodarek. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution–
NonCommercial–NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License (by-nc-nd).

53. o’rly?
© 2015 Tomek Włodarek. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution–
NonCommercial–NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License (by-nc-nd).

54. thank you! questions?
tomek@poddrzewem.pl
twitter: @poddrzewem
http://www.linkedin.com/in/wlodarek
http://www.poddrzewem.pl
https://www.scrum.org/Resources/What-is-Scaled-Scrum
http://www.scrumvival.com