I have had the good fortune to be involved with Agile software development for close to a decade now. During that time I went from a somewhat skeptical Director of Software Development to someone who now makes his living helping others create great software by applying the Agile philosophy as an Agile Practice Director. One of the things I have noticed during this time is, as Agile (and especially Scrum) have become more mainstream, the quality of individuals calling themselves scrum masters and agile coaches has become more variable.
The problem is certainly not new or particular to Agile Scrum Masters and Coaches, However, I feel that that, given their centrality to software development teams, the fact that Agile is new to many organizations and in many cases these individuals are expected to aid in transformation, having an ineffective Scrum Master or Coach can lead to disproportionally negative effects. For example, a single inadequate developer can be a real drag to a team, an ineffective Scrum Master can be detrimental to multiple individuals and multiple teams and the same inadequacy at the Coach level can lead to wholesale bedlam for large parts (if not the entire) organization.
The problem is further exacerbated by, as I (and others) have pointed out in the past, by a weak and inadequate system of certification. It is good business to mint as many scrum masters as possible from a two-day training, but it does the outside world no service. This begs the question – in a world where every former project manager with a CSM calls themselves a scrum master and every scrum master with a few teams under their belt calls themselves a coach, how can I really assess those who have talent from those who do not?
Of course, one could use someone’s resume to assess the breadth of work. How many different teams has one worked with? How many years has one been involved with scrum? How many different organizations has one coached at? Unfortunately, individuals looking for work have a tendency to prevaricate at times so how is one to know if that time was really spent doing Agile or did I conveniently reclassify this work because it was not “entirely waterfall”?
A good deal of my current work is trying to make these kinds of judgments. If you too need to assess the ability of a scrum master or coach, let me share the question that I have found to be most effective:
What book have you read recently that has changed the way you think about Agile and the way you go about your job as a scrum master (or coach) and why?
If you are merely a paper candidate who has relied on the minimum set of qualifications (ie you have a good number of certifications) then this question is very difficult to answer. Being a scrum master or coach requires a level of passion that transcends merely implementing a small set of learned behaviors. It requires an active mind that is constantly seeking new ways of thinking,, new experiments to try, new behaviors to model – any and everything that one can do to truly be a servant leader. Passionate people always want to improve. There is no better indication than reading as a means of improving one’s ability.
The question not only shows ones ability to think critically, but it also indicates a higher level of maturity. To read something that changes ones view requires the ability to realize ones knowledge is never perfect or complete. I have to acknowledge that something I hold to be true today may not be true or that I have a true ignorance of certain things.
Agile and scrum are about continuous improvement. We should not expect our scrum masters and coaches to have all the answers any more than we can expect our teams to function perfectly. There is always room for improvement and it is the good scrum master and coach who is not only able to admit this, but also has taken the steps necessary to improve. One of the most accessible ways for this improvement is to read books and to apply this knowledge. So the next time you are asking yourself “Is this scrum master or coach any good?” perhaps you might want to ask them this simple question:
What book have you read recently that has changed the way you think about Agile and the way you go about your job as a scrum master (or coach) and why?