Digging the Big Visible
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Giore and George were kind enough to spend some time with me and I’ve posted the video here. http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-8958340598642509243&hl=en If you’d like to learn more about Big Visible, please go here: http://www.bigvisible.com/ Either way, these guys are definitely worth watching… very impressive. |
While I was at the Scrum Gathering a few weeks ago I had the good fortune to attend a presentation by the guys from Big Visible. George Schlitz and Giore Morein gave a presentation about their approach to analyzing and mapping the ScrumMaster’s relationship to project team members and stakeholders. The relationship maps they demonstrated were both impressive and controversial. Based on the real life experience of Scrum Masters who have worked on projects where they were successful for the client, but ultimately, were let go because of an erosion in the stakeholders’ appreciation for and understanding of their role. Their process for analyzing the connections and value systems of the various parties on a project might seem a little bit over the top to some, but for those of us who actually spend time sitting and trying to work out diagrams that demonstrate the influence each part of the team has on the other parts, it was both re-affirming and amazing. Transcript of the Mike Cohn Interview
 The Scrum Alliance has posted a transcript of my interview with Mike Cohn from the Scrum Gathering in Chicago. http://www.scrumalliance.org/ |
Having an Impact
 A few months ago the IT&T SIG started working on a project with an Oklahoma based non-profit called Heartline. Heartline provides a number of care services in Oklahoma, including a 211 line, a 24/7 Careline, a Gatekeeper program for vulnerable older residents and a suicide prevention hotline. The IT&T SIG, along with the Oklahoma City and Tulsa Chapters of PMI put together a pool of volunteers who conducted an assessment of Heartline's call center and provided recommendations for enhancing what they have in place. This evening we presented the final results to Heartline and the work was very well received. Randy Tangco, who is the IT&T SIG Newsletter Editor, has done a great job leading this project, and each of the team members (Spryo Lecouras, David Jackson, Umesh Satija and James O’Callaghan) have given beyond the call of duty in both time and professional expertise. This project is a huge deal for the IT&T SIG. The work that the team has done is already showing a positive impact in Heartline's ability to run its' suicide hotline and other telecom based care offerings which serve 1.3 million people in Oklahoma. I'm so proud of the work this team has done...even more so because this isn't just a technology project. This is a technology project that is making it easier for Heartline to save lives. This is also our first pro-bono project and we've done it in conjunction with the Tulsa and OKC chapters. I do believe that it is specifically because of our independent status that we are able to put projects like this together and have such a massive impact. If I have any concerns about VCP, it is that it may negatively impact our ability to work on projects like Heartline. I'm not sure if any other components within PMI can say that a handful of volunteers have had as wide reaching an impact. It is definitely something we can all be proud of. Randy, Spyro, David, Umesh and James, you guys have done amazing work! On behalf of the 1.3 million Heartline customers that you have helped... THANKS! Dave |
The Mike Cohn Sessions
 Well, it has taken me about a week longer than I had hoped, but here is the podcast featuring the interview I shot with Mike Cohn a few weeks ago at the 2008 Scrum Gathering in Chicago. For those of you who are unfamiliar with Mike, he is one of the Founders of the Scrum Alliance. He current sits on the Scrum Alliance Board of Directors, he the author of a number of very popular Agile and software development books, he is a Certified Scrum Trainer and he is the man behind Mountain Goat Software. Please check back later this week to see my interview with the guys from Big Visible. |
The Scrum Gathering Continued
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On the morning of the second day I sat in for a talk given by Dan Rawsthorne called “Complex Backlogs”. One of the oddest, and most exciting moments for me (being a complete PM Geek) was sitting in the back of the hall and listening to Dan explain how he is able to calculate Earned Value (he called it Earned Business Value) on his Scrum projects. That was the point where I had to basically take every argument I had gathered into my little “agile cons” wagon and toss it all over the cliff. I spent the rest of the second morning talking to the folks I met in the halls. Doug Shimp and Sam Hazziez from 3Back and Jim Cundiff from the Scrum Alliance Board of Directors were all very receptive to the idea of developing a stronger connection between the SIG/PMI and the Scrum Alliance.
During the first session I participated in, I had a kind of panic at the fact that the topic/conversation seemed to have no specific set agenda or direction… even though that was kind of the point. I also found that when I would offer a comment, rather than being able to just offer up my tiny “pearl “of insight and then get back to my email, these folks actually wanted to engage in conversation with me about topics. I came away from the Scrum Gathering very excited about the ideas and the possibility of developing a bridge between the IT&T SIG and the Scrum Alliance. It is something I’ll be working on in the coming months, and I am hopeful it will reduce the polarization between the two groups. Video with Mike Cohn and the guys from Big Visible will be posted early in the week. |
After lunch Michael Herman moderated an Open Space session that lasted through lunch on Wednesday. I had no experience with an Open Space session but I really enjoyed it. The basic premise seems to be that the agenda is set by the people there who want to raise topics. Topics are scheduled in small groups and the people who are interested attend the topics they find appealing. If you aren’t participating or learning, you are supposed to move on. Whatever happens in the group is what is supposed to happen. The results are compiled and posted to a wiki, which is made available to the attendees. It was the most organic working session I have ever been a part of and the best part was that if something seemed to not really strike my interest, no one was offended if I just got up and moved on. I was able to take part in a number of topics and contribute in each of them. 
