Sumeet Madan

Like other PSTs, I was recently approached by few agilists to help them with PSPO-I certification. Here is one such conversation - LinkedIn Connection: Hi Sumeet, I came across your profile on LinkedIn when looking for help with PSPO-I certification. Me: Sure, how can I help you? LinkedIn Connection: I have been practicing agile for the past 6 years. I want to build a career in Product Ownership. After my research, I concluded that scrum.org PSPO track was the path that aligns with my vision. I have gone through the online tutorial, free trainings, the scrum guide and a few books. I then purchased the PSPO-I assessment at scrum.org by investing USD 200 and then did the assessment but unfortunately, I was not able to score the required score in order to gain the PSPO-I credentials. So, I was back at my desk slogging, poured through more books, studied and took the assessment again by putting USD 200 for the assessment code but I was not lucky to get through second time also. Now, I don’t want to waste more money and need your help. Me: Sure, but how can I help you? What are you expecting from me? LinkedIn Connection: I would like to enroll for your next PSPO class, but can you ensure that I will clear the PSPO-I assessment? I have already lost USD 400 and don’t want to waste more money. Me: Why didn’t you attend the training in the first place? LinkedIn Connection: The training cost was INR 23K (USD 300) but the assessment was only USD 200 and I thought I would save around USD 100 i.e. INR 7.5K Me: Were you aware of the benefits of attending a scrum.org training from a PST that tt included 2 free attempts (in case you miss the required score in 1st attempt then second attempt is free) and 40% additional discount on the PSPO-II assessment? So the maths goes like this - 1st free attempt: USD 200 2nd free attempt: USD 200 (if the candidate is not able to get the required score for PSPO-I credentials) 40% discount for the PSPO-II assessment (40% of USD 250): USD 100 Total gain of attending PSPO-I with Professional Scrum Trainer (PST) from scrum.org: USD 500 (INR 38K) Not sure if one needs a special degree in mathematics to understand this simple math. LinkedIn Connection: Yes, I knew it but I thought I have the knowledge and confidence to crack the assessment. Me: I am by no means doubting your knowledge or your confidence, but I am struggling to understand the way you did your math of saving USD 100, and interestingly I also noticed the change in your language when referring to the money that you spent. You started with investment than putting to wasting money. LinkedIn Connection: I had purchased online sample exams and few of the practice tests, a lot of people referred to those and cleared, but I was not lucky and now I don’t want to take any chance and I want to attend the training. I am however really low on confidence plus I am not having much funds to put, so if you can give me some discount and also if you can give me a 100% pass guarantee? Please? Me: NOTE: I am not trying to put down people who have gained knowledge from their experience and then did the self-study and cleared many exams without any formal training. In fact, I really appreciate their knowledge, but we still have people who still go with penny wise pound foolish approach...

When we talk about Scrum for complex Product Development, it starts from Vision and Product Backlog.

The Professional Scrum Master (PSM) workshop has a module that talks about the Definition of "Done" (DoD) and Technical Debt.

Software and online-services companies are undergoing quick implementation of the Scrum framework in their Products. Scrum is a process framework that enables deliver complex products iteratively and incrementally while controlling the risk.