Is this Scrum Empiricism elevator pitch description *too* concise?
Hi,
I'm preparing an entry-level walkthrough to summarize the key concepts of the Scrum guide to a small group of very inexperienced (and very busy) people in the organization I'm currently servicing. My goal in this pitch is not to explain or convince, but to summarize.
The shortest way I can come up with to summarize the bit about empiricism is:
"Empiricism requires three things. Transparancy: maximal clarity in everyone's information. Inspection: get to well-founded and trustworthy conclusions based on that transparency. Adaptation: make changes to your product and process based on those conclusions. Aiming for maximal transparency enables continuous improvement while building on those pillars."
My belief is that it still matches the "spirit" of empiricism in the context of the Scrum Guide (even though I know a lot more convincing will be necessary later) . I'm looking for feedback on that belief. Thanks!
Although empiricism is a foundation of Scrum, it doesn't explain the benefits of Scrum.
Transparency is more about ensuring those responsible of the outcome have enough visibility of detail and the process thereof (trick is identifying who beyond those doing the work are also responsible for the outcome).
Scrum is a process framework. It consumes your existing processes and helps you identify areas that need improving. It is used to help solve complex problems/solutions by obtaining feedback on useable ready to be released increments of functionality. To obtain this, teams must be able to apply the Scrum Values (Courage, Openness, Respect, Focus, and Commitment). They must also be able to self-organize and be cross-functional.
By supplying the environment needed for teams of motivated individuals to be creative, you will obtain a development strategy that gets all sides (Product, Development, Stakeholders) talking and working together to balance:
- Building the right thing
- Building the thing right
- Building the thing fast
Thanks. But maybe I wasn't clear.
> Although empiricism is a foundation of Scrum, it doesn't explain the benefits of Scrum.
I know. My quote above is an attempt to summarize the *empiricism* paragraph in the scrum guide. In this situation I'm not looking to explain why employing empiricism is a good thing in delivering high quality products (I'm actually hoping for questions about that after I feed them the summary :) ).
Yes, I think your elevator pitch is too concise. Why not go with the simple explanation directly from the Scrum Guide with a small add on?
"Empiricism asserts that knowledge comes from experience and making decisions based on what is known. Scrum embodies this through Transparency, Inspection, and Adaptation."
Remember, an elevator pitch shouldn't explain everything but should pique the interest of the intended party so they ask more question either right then or at a later date.