Project Management

A Hollywood-Style Move From PM to Scrum Master

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Categories: Agile


"As your mother tells you, and my mother certainly told me, it is important, she always used to say, always to try new things." 
-- Sir Philip Anthony Hopkins as Hannibal Lecter (The Silence of the Lambs, 1991)

Cinephiles and regular movie-goers know who Sir Philip Anthony Hopkins is. Sir Anthony is a Welsh actor of film, stage and television, considered to be one of the greatest living actors.

Your journey as a project management practitioner may be similar to Sir Anthony's journey as an actor. You may have to play different roles in projects and might gained recognition for your work. As your journey continues, you may be looking for the next stop that may lead you to explore other project management disciplines, like agile -- and, in particular, the role of an agile scrum master.

From Stage to Movie Set

Versatility is a virtue of all great actors. Though Sir Anthony has experience as a stage actor, acting for a film is quite different. As a stage actor, Sir Anthony had to undergo many rehearsal hours, and experienced a specific, tight-knit team of actors and staff. Lighting and environment are essential for the performance and there is no room for error in every live show. A theatrical play delivers a well-defined "product" that may resemble what agilists call a "traditional project" under waterfall methodology. As a project manager, you "manage the stage" of the project, meeting the stakeholders' pre-defined requirements and applying your skills supported by the project team. Your project will deliver the product or service it was intended for.

But on the film set, Sir Anthony likely needed to be more flexible, since a scene may require several takes until the director is pleased. The film set is more dynamic: different locations; a different type of crew; the addition or removal of stunts, etc. The phases of a motion picture-making -- pre-production, principal cinematography and post-production -- are similar to sprints in an agile environment.

Sir Anthony makes transferring acting skills from stage to the film set seem easy. But like him, you also have transferrable skills: you can communicate, influence, orchestrate and remove roadblocks. You can use these talents to help you adjust to the new project environment.

From Hannibal to Odin

While Sir Anthony has occupied diverse roles -- from Richard Nixon (Nixon, 1995) to Odin (Thor, 2011) -- he's been successful because he's always prepared properly, trained to correctly represent the character and depended on his foundation as an actor (whatever the media).

As a project practitioner, you are likely familiar with PMI's A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK® Guide)--Fifth Edition, tools and techniques; best practices; and project methodology of the company or customer you work for. Those elements complement your preparation and training as a project manager -- and lay the foundation to explore and learn new methodologies like agile.

What is your experience as a project management practitioner transitioning to scrum master?

Posted by Conrado Morlan on: September 03, 2014 10:25 PM | Permalink

Comments (2)

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Alaa Hussein Program Manager| MEMECS Baghdad, Iraq
very interesting article, thanks.

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Shanos Kunhahamu Product Manager, Mobile Wallet| First Abu Dhabi Bank Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Thank you for bringing the analogy. Great read.

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