My first Scrum Gathering was a great time! I met so many interesting, smart, and kind people from the Agile community from all over the world. While there were big names who have contributed and helped grow the community over the years, a majority of attendants were like me: first-timers. According to Scrum Alliance, 55% of this year’s crowd have never attended a Scrum Gathering. This is in line with the major growth spurt Agile has experienced in the last five years.
Not only has Agile grown upward in terms of adoption within the software vertical, it has also grown outward into other industries. For example, one of the best, inspirational, and gratifying sessions I attended was “Gen Z: Learning to be Agile” by Blueprint Education.
The Blueprint Education group explained how they are using Agile methodology and values to improve education–how kids learn. Not only are we using Agile to shape the leadership of today, we are starting to use Agile to support the leaders of tomorrow. Inspiring stuff!
There were also sessions on Agile Marketing, a topic that has interested me for a bit now. It’s definitely becoming the buzzword in the marketing industry.
Do sessions and attendance of #SGFLA attendance and sessions allude to any growing pains?
It’s hard to say without knowing the final numbers or looking at reviews, but it wasn’t hard to hear the pain in conversations that happened in the hallways, sessions, and lunch tables. The ease of implementation is not proportional to the want and need when it comes to Agile transformation or adoption. Adopting a new way working is hard, regardless of how much you want it. The community also struggles with the implementation of practices. One of the top 5 topics covered in the coaching session is user stories.
My biggest takeaway from the conference? How welcoming the Agile community is. For a novice like myself, having a giant support system full of kind intelligent people is clutch. THANK YOU.
We have uploaded David’s Agile adoption anti-patterns on SlideShare for your convenience. If you signed up to receive the accompanying white paper, sit tight! It’s in production. Doc List will be sending his facilitation cards deck for those who requested them.
Until next time, Scrum Gatherers!