The Scrum Celebrities

 

Many of us know the hit song "Fame" where memorable lines such as "I'm gonna live forever", "Baby, remember my name" and "You ain't seen the best of me yet" reached millions of listeners. It's a song about a strong inner desire to not only achieve at the pinnacle of our skills, but to also get the fame and recognition from our peers and superiors. One might be forgiven for thinking the driving force behind these lyrics only reside in this dance classic written almost forty years ago. But you would be wrong.

The need for fame doesn't just exist in music or Hollywood, it engulfs the hallways of political power, the Boards of the Fortune 500, and even small Scrum teams inside many organizations.

Scrum Teams generally consist of a handful of developers, and then a Product Owner and Scrum Master to complete the team. The core value of the product increment is produced by the Development Team. They are the ones who commit to the Definition of Done (DoD), work collaboratively to design, code and test features, and finally demonstrate the finished feature/product to stakeholders. They are the nucleus of the Scrum Team.

But quite often it is not the developers who get the recognition of senior management. In most cases it is the Product Owner and sometimes the Scrum Master who get to sing the Fame song.

The Scrum Master Celebrity
  
Scrum Masters who seek the limelight go against everything that is Scrum and anything that resembles a servant-leader. I met one Scrum Master who always praised the Development Team during the Daily Scrums and Retrospectives, but in meetings with the organization and other stakeholders, often mentioned themselves and the Product Owner as the real "champions" of the project. At the very least, when stakeholders praised them during these closed-door meetings, I never saw the Scrum Master object.

Scrum Masters, more than Product Owners in my view, should do everything they can to avoid the limelight. Their focus should be on guiding the Development Team and the organization to adopt the very best Scrum practices, and to ensure the developers are working efficiently and productively by removing roadblocks. They should be humble, selfless and the last to seek praise and recognition, even if it is warranted.

The Product Owner Celebrity
 
Many people equate the Product Owner to the traditional project manager in waterfall projects. This isn't far from the truth since the Product Owner is ultimately accountable for maximizing value of the product or service. Further, they also have the closest relationship to the stakeholders than anyone else in the Scrum Team. Therefore, they are naturally exposed to the spotlight due to these dynamics.

While it is important to have a great Product Owner who can translate stakeholder value into the features and stories that populate the Product Backlog, it is also wise for them to understand that their prime responsibility of maximizing value can only ever be achieved through the product increments produced by the Development Team.
 
Most developers don't crave notoriety, but since I am yet to meet a Product Owner or Scrum Master ask the developers: "Do you want fame?", why even take the risk of shutting out those that need (and in my view should get) the most recognition for the success of the project? Of course I am not advocating asking such a question. I am simply highlighting that the answer should be inferred by their merits, not by their request or intentions.

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If the Scrum Team is going to be successful long-term, the Development Team needs to be nurtured, acknowledged and rewarded at the appropriate times. Even if they don't ask or want to be recognized, a simple gesture to shine a light on their accomplishments is not only good business, but could mean the difference between Fame and Famine.
 

Thank you for your interest in the Scrumptious blog. If you have any ideas for Scrum topics, please message me here. Until next time, remember, projects can be Scrumptious!