Why you should reduce ‘work in progress’

Little's Law: an eye-opener

Story of my life: I read a book, come across an interesting concept, Google it – and fall into a rabbit-hole of information I have never heard of before. It’s 11 PM and here I am writing about mathematical concepts and psychological principles. The conclusion is – spoiler alert – to reduce the amount of … Read more

Empiricism for Dummies

Empiricism for Dummies

Philosophy is sadly not my forté. A quick glance at the Wikipedia page on empiricism makes me instantly confuzzled. And yet it is quite important (at least for me as a Scrum Master) to have knowledge of this philosophical movement. The Scrum pillars of empiricism (transparency, inspection and adaptation) form the basis of the Scrum … Read more

Personal Development Goals in Scrum: “We are made, not born”

Personal Development Goals in Scrum

Is there a place for Personal Development Goals in Scrum? Let me give you some insight in my train of thought, and an experiment I did a while back. In my career as a Scrum Master I have helped facilitate and guide a few Sprints. Creating a valuable Increment (and achieving the Sprint Goal) is … Read more

What Makes a Good Sprint Retrospective?

Sprint Retrospective

Earlier today a colleague asked me how I facilitate a Sprint Retrospective. It was her first sprint in the role of Scrum Master and in that sense also her first Retro. Back to the theory for a moment. The Scrum Guide describes the Sprint Retrospective as follows: “The Scrum Team inspects how the last Sprint … Read more