Implementing Scrum without an influencer
Firstly, I have looked through the forum to see if someone else has posted something along these lines, and while I have found that there are people talking about poor Agile transitions in their respective places of work, I have not found anything specific regarding the subject I wish to talk about (with apologies if I've missed a post that does just that).
I originally posted something like this in a comment on one of the excellent blog posts on Scrum.org, but I feel that it would be better suited to speak about this and request feedback in a forum, where hopefully suggestions and pointers could be provided to help. So, to business...
I am not a leader in the organization I work for (we have a traditional organizational structure, with a top down hierarchy, built during the industrial revolution, wherein I am not a manager of any kind), and nor is my organization agile, in any way. I can see how the application of Scrum, or at the very least attempting to transition to Agile ways of working, would be enormously beneficial for the team I work on and the company as a whole. I wonder what advice might be forthcoming for someone like me (I'm sure there are others out there who are in similar situations) who would like to see positive changes made to their organization, or even at least to their team, but do not have the necessary influence in order to help effect that change.
For context, I have been a Product Owner in a previous company, and have just been made one again at my current company, having transitioned from being a Business Analyst, but I don't see how the simple act of changing my job title is going to help the organization if there isn't a sea change in the organization itself toward a more agile way of working. I have four certifications from Scrum.org, so I can be of help in this regard, if only to help my Scrum Team to be so (I feel that the entire organization would never accept any form of larger Agile transition, because they are too used to older structures and are unwilling to change to that degree). The problem is that I am the only Scrum-trained/certified employee at the entire organization (to the best of my knowledge). Managers walk around telling people that we're "agile" when it comes to product development, but they fail to provide training, or even to attempt to institute some form of structure for product to work within. Worse, when I attempt to introduce necessary events and artifacts from Scrum, I get told to stop doing these pointless exercises and simply to work with stakeholders to write user stories for the development team to work on. Lather, rinse, repeat, nothing else need be done.
Are there any suggestions you would be able to give for people who'd like to help lead change but aren't themselves in a leadership/management/influencer position? I'm becoming increasingly frustrated because I can see how this would be beneficial, but not one other person in a position of power sees it that way. I am even fearing for my job here as a result of my attempts to introduce Scrum, so literally any advice would be welcome!
...not one other person in a position of power sees it that way. I am even fearing for my job here as a result of my attempts to introduce Scrum, so literally any advice would be welcome!
The first step towards agile change is arguably the introduction of transparency. Have you been able to put transparency over things such as:
- what it means for work to be done, and fit for release
- work that is currently in progress
- the amount of work that remains
- the ability of a team to commit to and meet some sort of goal
- the impediments which stop a team from releasing work at least monthly
With that evidence, you can then ask the higher-ups what if anything they intend to do about matters. Their answer may be to fire you at that point, since you may be exposing issues that they would prefer remained hidden. Hence my advice is to concentrate on transparency first as it is dangerous enough.
Thanks, Ian, that's good advice, most of which I have already taken. I'm trying to act as the example for all to follow, but it's proving to be more difficult than I thought, because there is a real reluctance to change here, despite the fact that they're trying to use terminology and language that suggest change.