David Sabine Archives - Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast

David Sabine on how corporate culture affects Agile adoption

As we explore the impact of culture in the adoption of Agile and Scrum, we must also reflect on the impact of the corporate culture. Despite the influence of national cultures, international corporations also bring their own culture which may, or may not align with the national culture.

In this episode, we look at how individuals quickly adapt to the prevailing culture, and how corporate cultures can influence disproportionately the Agile adoption process.

In this episode, we refer to the book The Corporate Culture Survival Guide by Edgar Schein.

About David Sabine

David is a Scrum trainer and an advisor to software development organizations. He is in demand among Canada’s largest enterprises including Scotiabank, Sun Life Financial, and Canada’s Federal Government. He formerly worked with DigitalOcean and Myplanet.com, among others. He’s been helping people with the ways they use Scrum since 2007.

You can link with David Sabine on LinkedIn and connect with David Sabine on Twitter.

David Sabine on the core job of the Scrum Master

When thinking about what success means for Scrum Masters, David follows the ideas in the Scrum Guide. We reflect on the Scrum Artifacts, and how the Scrum Master’s job can be summarized as increasing transparency of the Scrum Artifacts.

Featured Retrospective Format for the Week: The Lean Coffee

In The Lean Coffee, a group of people select a set of topics they want to discuss, then prioritize those topics and discuss them one-by-one, ending with an action or conclusion for each item. For David, this is a technique that helps the team be fully focused on the discussion at hand. It can be a fast-paced conversation (set a shorter time-box) or a leisure-pace conversation (longer time-box) depending on how much time you have available.

About David Sabine

You can link with David Sabine on LinkedIn and connect with David Sabine on Twitter.

David Sabine on how to survive a large Agile adoption process

When we are involved in large organization transformations there can be a sense of overwhelm. That the organization and the different groups are too large to grasp. So how do you survive a large transformation process? In this episode, we explore some of the practices that David learned through his own story when involved with a transformation in a large organization.

In this episode, we refer often to the book The Corporate Culture Survival Guide by Edgar Schein.

About David Sabine

You can link with David Sabine on LinkedIn and connect with David Sabine on Twitter.

David Sabine on how to teams get out of self-defeating patterns

When Scrum Masters try to help teams, they must be aware of the differences between what is being said by management, and what is being done in practice. In this episode, we talk about how Scrum Masters can explore the real situation (as opposed to what is being said about the situation), and how Scrum Masters can help teams get out of their own self-defeating patterns.

Featured Book of the Week: Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, Robert M. Pirsig

In Zen and the art of Motorcycle Maintenance, Robert M. Pirsig tells the story of a motorcycle trip that unites father and son. It is a book that begs us to reflect on our values. As Scrum Masters, we must also inquire into our, and the team’s values so that we can help them reflect and be coherent with those values.

About David Sabine

You can link with David Sabine on LinkedIn and connect with David Sabine on Twitter.

David Sabine on when the Scrum Masters focuses on the organization instead of the team

The Scrum Master’s role is primarily a role that serves the team. Without that presence, the teams suffer, and in this episode, we explore what might happen when the Scrum Master – eager to help the organization – focuses on the context, rather than the team.

About David Sabine

You can link with David Sabine on LinkedIn and connect with David Sabine on Twitter.