The time I was schooled by a real Scrum expert - and what we’re probably all getting wrong

I became a scrum master in 2009, but didn’t officially get certified until a few years later. A two day class and a test (that didn’t count as the instructor said), and I had my shiny new piece of paper. It didn’t prove anything, but it did launch the inquisitive curious less judgemental side of Colleen. The one that I always wanted to be, yet felt as though the society of work wouldn’t welcome. Many folks think I know a lot about agile. I certainly hope they’re right.

Me, I just hope I’m not speaking from Mt Stupid most days. Learning makes me realize how much more I don’t know. And boy I learned a few things I didn’t know last week. Scrum wasn’t actually based on Rugby at all.

i learned that I do know enough to score a 7 out of 8 on the pre-session quiz. I had to really think about several of the questions. They were deliberately worded. Perhaps even confusingly worded? So I was proud to hear most scored a 5.

Then I got schooled. My knowledge of Scrum is incomplete. So is yours. Scrum is all about everyone on the team working together, with overlapping like Sashimi. It was never meant to speed up teams, it was designed to uncover the right product by the application of patterns, and new ways of working and thinking.

I have just scratched the surface. I hope I get a chance to learn more. I’m so grateful for what I learned!