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The Origins of Scrum Might Not Be What You Think They Are (Wisdom from Rafael Sabbagh)

In the summer of 2019 I got in touch with O’Reilly Media about their ambition to add a book about Scrum to their “97 Things” series. Drained as I was after a mission as Scrum Enterprise Coach at a large organization it was a great way to re-energize and practice some writing again (as I had sacrificed that to fully focus on my customer). Having no other plans for that time being, I could completely focus on my work as curator: contacting people, collecting ideas for essays, reviewing potential essays, suggesting potential edits, ordering and categorizing them, reviewing the manuscript and the cover.

As the title of the series suggests, the idea was to collect 97 essays in the book, to be provided by people from around the world. O’Reilly and I compiled and merged our lists of potential authors and in August 2019 I started contacting them as potential contributors. We did not invite people to contribute because of their titles, ranks, or positions. We invited them because we believed they had valuable insights to share with fellow practitioners.

I ended up contacting 129 people, of which:

  • 22 People never responded (although being contacted at least 2 and sometimes even 3 times)
  • 38 People eventually said ‘no’ (often after having been contacted a few times).
  • 69 People ultimately delivered one or more essays that made it into the book, where:
    • 2 People contributed 4 Things.
    • 8 People contributed 3 Things.
    • 7 People contributed 2 Things.
    • 52 People contributed 1 Thing or co-authored a Thing.

I thank every single contributing author and am glad they all ended up with their picture on the cover:

I thoroughly enjoyed the work on the book. As contributions came in gradually and I had no other plans, I was able to keep up and respond swiftly to the authors. Some proposals were incredibly well crafted (needing almost no work from me). Others were more like raw brain-dumps (requiring a lot of work). Others were somewhere in between. One of the most insightful experiences was working with O’Reilly’s editors on the final manuscript, specifically about the use of English and formatting of titles, text, references, etc. As I had no other plans and my focus was nearly completely on the book, I broke some O’Reilly world records of cycle time (if I remember well we finished the book 1.5 years before the deadline they had in mind). Ultimately, in May 2020 I could already proudly announce the availability of “97 Things Every Scrum Practitioner Should Know”.

I would have preferred the book’s title to be more in line with my own focus, i.e. (holistically) on Scrum as a framework. For that reason I did not want any specific Scrum accountability in the title. As the publisher (for understandable reasons of consistency) wanted something of a role in the title, we settled on my suggestion to call the book “97 Things Every Scrum Practitioner Should Know“. Soon after that first release in English, the book was also translated in Polish, Japanese and traditional Chinese.

During the Corona times I already shared different ‘Things’ from the book in online sessions with their respective authors. I made sure all recordings were made available through my website.

I hereby want to share Thing 90: “The Origins of Scrum Might Not Be What You Think They Are” by Rafael Sabbagh, which was published in Part X of the book: “Scrum Off Script”. Rafael’s essay brought an insight that was new to me, a subtlety on how the framework we all know got its name, “Scrum”. I used that insight when creating my chronology of Scrum, “Scrum: A Brief History of a Long-Lived Hype” and I am adding it to the 4th edition of my book, “Scrum – A Pocket Guide“.

I want to share it because I believe it will be new to many other Scrum practitioners too (that have not read “the book”97 Things Every Scrum Practitioner Should Know”).

The Origins of Scrum Might Not Be What You Think They Are

“If Scrum was applied to software development, it would go something like this: …you form a team by carefully selecting one person from each [traditional development phase]…You then give them a description of the problem to be solved and…unsettle the team by saying that their job is to produce the system in, say, half the time and money and it must have twice the performance of other systems. Next, you say that how they do it is their business.

—Wicked Problems, Righteous Solutions, by Peter DeGrace and Leslie Hulet Stahl (Prentice Hall, 1990)

Scrum, the framework as we know it today, was officially presented to the public in 1995. It captured the way of working that Jeff Sutherland and Ken Schwaber had developed starting in 1992. Sutherland and Schwaber frequently mention the article, “The New New Product Development Game,” published in 1986 by Takeuchi and Nonaka in Harvard Business Review (1). They refer to it as the main source of inspiration for the Scrum framework. These Japanese business professors had done extensive research in the field of companies developing new products (such as cars, printers, photocopiers, and personal computers). In the article, the authors used the analogy of a rugby game to describe how the development teams for new products in the more successful companies were working. At the heart of it was self-organization and the boundaries that help turn it into a success.

The word scrum, a rugby formation for putting the ball back into play, is used in the article as the metaphor. This is what inspired the creators of Scrum when naming the framework in 1995.

Or, so they say…

There are indications that Sutherland and Schwaber didn’t tell the whole story. The book Wicked Problems, Righteous Solutions was published in 1990. As the earlier excerpt shows, it was this book that introduced the idea of applying the practices described by Takeuchi and Nonaka to software development. And it was in this same book that this new way of working was baptized as Scrum.

To be fair, it’s important to point out that the book doesn’t provide a detailed or usable method to put these ideas into practice. The authors explain why the waterfall model doesn’t work for software development, and they offer possible alternatives, among them (what they call) Scrum.

Sutherland and Schwaber drove forward the creation of the actual Scrum framework in the first half of the 1990s. They defined the rules, roles, events, and artifacts based on their work in practice. They’ve evolved and kept sustaining them since then and deserve all the credit for that.

Jeff Sutherland refers to Wicked Problems, Righteous Solutions in at least two articles he wrote in the early days of Scrum (2). He highlights this work as a major influence on the introduction of Scrum at Easel Corporation. Unfortunately, the authors of the book were never given the real credit they deserve, and their initial importance got lost over time. But they were the ones who first voiced the idea to apply the approach described by Takeuchi and Nonaka to software development, and they were the ones who actually baptized this approach as Scrum.

(1) Hirotaka Takeuchi and Ikujiro Nonaka, “The New New Product Development Game,” Harvard Business Review, Jan. 1986, https://oreil.ly/kBq_y.

(2) Jeff Sutherland, “Agile Can Scale: Inventing and Reinventing SCRUM in Five Companies,” Cutter Business Technology Journal Vol. 14, 2001: pp. 5–11; and “Agile Development: Lessons Learned from the First Scrum,” Cutter Agile Project Management Advisory Service: Executive Update Vol. 5, No. 20, 2004: pp. 1–4.

About Rafael Sabbagh

Certified Scrum Trainer (CST), Accredited Kanban Trainer (AKT).

Rafa Sabbagh is a co-founder of K21, where he’s been working with agile and digital transformations of companies ranging from startups to multinationals since the mid 2000’s. As a Certified Scrum Trainer (CST), an Accredited Kanban Trainer (AKT), and former member of the Scrum Alliance Board of Directors from 2015 to 2017, Rafa has personally trained over 10,000 Scrum Masters, Product Owners and Agile Coaches in more than 500 classes. Rafa has done training and coaching in more than 20 countries and has spoken at several Agile events worldwide.

Besides his contribution “The Origins of Scrum Might Not Be What You Think They Are” (Thing 90), Rafael also contributed “Scrum: Giving the Steering Wheel Back to Business” (Thing 14) and “The Purpose of Sprint Review Is to Gather Feedback—Period” (Thing 51) to the book “97 Things Every Scrum Practitioner Should Know”.

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5 Whys to Explore Scrum with an independent Scrum Caretaker

I embarked on my Agile journey in 2003 when we wrapped eXtreme Programming in Scrum. Besides having engaged with many teams and organizations I have also created and facilitated many Scrum workshops and classes about various topics for various audiences since then. In 2011 I obtained my license as a Professional Scrum Trainer for Scrum.org from Ken Schwaber (co-creator of Scrum). From 2013-2016 I maintained the official “Professional Scrum” series of Scrum.org meanwhile training candidate-PSTs and shepherding the global community of Professional Scrum Trainers and coaches. After ending the exclusivity of Scrum.org over my work in 2016, I had to think about a new title. I started calling myself “Scrum Caretaker” because it best represents what it is that I do. As a one-person company, all other titles felt silly too (like CEO, CFO, cleaning person, helpdesk, sales agent, office manager or spreadsheet administrator). I added ‘independent’ to my self-chosen title to emphasize that I am not part of any fixed structure, small nor big. As from the start of the program, my company and business vehicle, Ullizee-Inc, became a member of the Professional Training Network of Scrum.org. Next to teaching Professional Scrum classes, I keep evolving my Scrum Pocket Classes, a series of proprietary half-day workshops based upon my book “Scrum – A Pocket Guide”.

Allow me to highlight 5 Whys to attend the Scrum exploration opportunities that I (as an independent Scrum Caretaker) have lined up for your learning and improvement purpose:

Don’t worry if you are still in doubt even after considering these 5 Whys. It’s fine to not just take my word for it. It’s likely even better to believe the people that have actually attended my sessions and check out what they say. You can do that on my TrustPilot or my LinkedIn. I am even sure that these people could give you even more whys to join my sessions.

Regardless of whether you have attended or plan to attend a session yourself, you can show that you also care about Scrum and share my Scrum exploration opportunities with people in need of deeper insights in Scrum.

Warm regards
Gunther
independent Scrum Caretaker

What?

Next to teaching the official 2-day Professional Scrum classes of Scrum.org, I am evolving my Scrum Pocket Classes, a unique series of proprietary half-day workshops based upon my book “Scrum – A Pocket Guide”. My Scrum Pocket Classes have a razor-sharp focus on specific subjects and complement my Professional Scrum offering.

Therefore, I am able to offer you very diverse options to explore Scrum together:

  • In my official Scrum.org PSM classes (‘Professional Scrum Master’) we uncover the many aspects of Scrum mastery.
  • In my official Scrum.org PSPO classes (‘Professional Scrum Product Owner’) we uncover what Product Ownership through Scrum entangles, company-wide.
  • In my official Scrum.org PSM-A classes (‘Advanced Professional Scrum Master’) we explore how to more effectively master the Scrum Master role.
  • In my official Scrum.org PSPO-A classes (‘Advanced Professional Scrum Product Owner’) we get you on the path of becoming a next level Product Owner.
  • In my unique Scrum Pocket Classes “The Scrum Values” we discover what the value in the Scrum Values is in a way that is not done anywhere else.
  • In my unique Scrum Pocket Classes “Scrum in the Large” we discuss how to scale Scrum in the most simple way, a way without any additional frameworks that is not introduced anywhere else.

Check out more detailed information about our Scrum Training Services in our Ullizee-Inc description of Scrum Training Services (2024).

Why [1]: Re-imagining (your) Scrum

Imagine being in a group where you are asked to raise your hand if you believe to be applying Scrum (remark: I’ve done this at many events). Would you be among the few people that would raise their hand without hesitation or doubt? Or would you be among the vast majority of people in doubt whether it is actually Scrum that you have implemented? Do you also feel that your Scrum is a twisted version of Scrum, something that might look like Scrum, but probably is far from the real thing? That this might be a reason why you are not getting the benefits from Scrum that you envision and feel should be possible?

Having 20+ years of experience, having been one of the few people ever to have been invited into a partnership by the toughest co-creator of Scrum (and actually surviving it for three years) and having been one of the (only) three people worldwide that was asked for his viewpoints before the last (2020) update of the Scrum Guide (although backing out during the effort) I believe I can help you grasp the spirit underlying the rules and roles of Scrum and how to apply Scrum from an improved understanding of how Scrum was designed to be.

If you, your team or your organisation are in need to deepen your insights in Scrum, learn what is/is not a mandatory part of Scrum and the many aspects of adopting Scrum (as a foundation to start re-imagining your Scrum), then you definitely want to check out the Scrum exploration opportunities I offer.

As an independent Scrum Caretaker, you can be sure that it is an undiluted explanation of Scrum, unhindered by corporate, sales, scaling or commercial interests. 

Why [2]: Interaction and Dialogue 

Do you also have trouble keeping awake in a typical class? Do you also feel bored having to just sit and listen to a trainer reading out an immense amount of slides for 1 or 2 days in a row? Do you also feel brain-dead by the end of such a session (and even before already)?

I am always delighted to hear from attendants of my classes that they love the room for interaction, dialogue and questions in my sessions. Attendants regularly say it’s an actual living demonstration of what is called ‘Training from the Back of the Room’. As I have no formal background or was formally trained in TBR, I’ve never considered or called it that. I consider what I do facilitating people’s learning experience using an “exercise-first approach” (similar to a “test-first approach”) and other forms of teaching approaches all serving to build on the collective intelligence of the people attending a class. Attendants of my classes have repeatedly mentioned going home with more energy than they had when they came.

At the same time this feedback saddens me because it seems to be an exceptional experience. This means that there are a lot of classes out there that are all about a trainer preaching and reading out slide decks like you would read a manual. I can’t stop thinking about the people not joining my classes because of the bad reputation of classes in the domain of IT and software development (where Scrum classes are typically categorized) due to such unprofessional trainers.

I also want to emphasize that collaboration and engagement of students has nothing to do with the tools used in a class by the class facilitator. Whether a trainer uses a PowerPoint slide deck or only hand-painted flip charts (or Lego as far as I’m concerned) is in itself what will determine the level of interaction and dialogue during a class.

To invoke interaction and dialogue, my sessions have lost of room for assessing and discussing cases and stories from my unique, ancient “Scrum Caretaker Book of Exercises”. These cases are based upon my 20+ years of actual experience with Scrum and are not available anywhere else (except when I used them as inspiration for some questions in the first version of the PSM II assessment that I created in 2015).

If you, your team or your organisation want to really engage and interact about Scrum with an independent Scrum Caretaker with 20+ years of experience, then you definitely want to check out the Scrum exploration opportunities I offer.

In case you wonder about (post-class) feedback forms as a sort of ‘dialogue’, I don’t do those. The main reason is that the success of my classes or workshops largely depends on the people attending; their openness, their eagerness, their willingness to (un)learn, their contributions, their questions. It is not fair to make people unknowingly judge themselves. Plus, it is easy to achieve high feedback scores (it requires no more than convenience and avoiding difficult and challenging matters). Plus, it takes time for deep insights to take root and be applied (which often happens long after the class and may not even be attributed to the class anymore).

Why [3]: (Escaping) The Commodity Trap

One of the downsides of Scrum being globally adopted at scales never seen before is that Scrum is increasingly being treated as a commodity, an off-the-shelf appliance. It breaks my heart to notice how organizations and people that used to drive forward the understanding and use of Scrum as a highly innovative method seem to abide by the counter-productive status-quo resulting from falling for this commodity trap. It breaks my heart to see them become conservative followers (following market demand and striving for convenience and compliance) rather than remaining inspirational leaders who challenge (new or existing) practitioners towards getting more from their Scrum.

This is not the time (and it never will be) to give up wanting to change the world for the better. This is not the time (and it never will be) to accept reality as-is. This is not the time (and it never will be) for the dreadful “Yes, but…reality” attitude rather than wanting to shape a new reality, creating a better place for people to live and work in.

I believe that we have far from reached the full potential of Scrum and I intend to keep challenging the status-quo, regardless whether this makes me the last man standing or not. As I am working on the 4th edition of my book “Scrum – A Pocket Guide” I realized that many people backed out, gave up or lowered their ambitions after the past waves of Scrum in which people’s hopes and believes of a better workplace and better results were drowned in failed attempts to scale it and failed ‘Agile Transformations’. Too many people act from a ‘Been there, done that’ attitude or give in to all these “Scrum is dead” loudmouths on social media.

If you have doubts whether you’ve been introduced to the real Scrum thing and are looking to connect with an independent Scrum Caretaker who is not giving up or giving in, then you definitely want to check out the Scrum exploration opportunities I offer.

Because they are not about convenience or compliance.

Why [4]: Guaranteed to Run

How frustrating can it be? You have registered for a class and you are eager to join because you want to develop or evolve your insights in the famous framework of Scrum. And finally you have obtained the permissions and funding to do so. But then…your session gets cancelled by the trainer or the training organizer because (typical example) “there are not enough participants” (or some other reason).

I did that once. I canceled a class once. It was in the first lockdown period of the Corona crisis (spring 2020). Having only one registered student not too long before the session, I decided to cancel it. It left me with a nagging feeling about why I did and I ended up feeling so bad about the cancelation that I promised myself I would never ever do that again. I felt it was an act of pretension and disrespect. I decided that as soon as there is even only one person who wants to be in my class, spend some precious and valuable time on it and pay for it, I will run the class. I will not deny a person the opportunity to connect with me to learn about Scrum (unless that person would rather not have such one-on-one coaching opportunity). A class might not happen, but it will not be because I canceled it.

If you want to be really, really sure that the class that you are dying to attend will happen and want to potentially benefit from my very direct and personal attention, then you definitely want to check out the Scrum exploration opportunities I offer.

Because, even if it’s only you signing up, the session is guaranteed to run.

Why 5: Certification (and beyond)

As a licensed Professional Scrum Trainer (since 2011) I obviously teach the official Scrum.org Professional Scrum classes. That means that vouchers and discounts for the associated Professional Scrum certification assessments are included in my classes (and are shared by Scrum.org). That includes a free re-attempt on the associated core assessment if students do their first attempt on that assessment within 14 days after the class without achieving the certification score (typically 85%).

This allows you to check whether you have attended or are planning to attend an official Professional Scrum class or not, where ‘not’ means attending a class by someone wrongly pretending to offer a “Professional Scrum” class.

Know that it is NOT an official Professional Scrum class of Scrum.org if:

  • You have to buy the voucher for the assessment yourself.
  • The trainer has to mail you the voucher.
  • You don’t have that second, free re-attempt.

I have no idea why but I discovered that there was a general expectation that I was going to set up my own Scrum classes and certification scheme when I stopped my exclusive work for Scrum.org in 2016. I have no idea why because that was never an ambition and I even deeply pity the many people out there (driven by money, financial dreams and the desire to own a few Teslas) that want to copy-paste the classes, certification and licenses trainers model that Ken implemented not once, but even twice (first with the ScrumAlliance and later with Scrum.org).

Over time fewer and fewer people seem to attend my classes with no other purpose than to certify. Although the Professional Scrum assessments are an interesting way to assess your knowledge and insights into Scrum (as designed and intended), not attending a class for certification reasons only contributes to the success of a class. Gaining knowledge and insights are simply better reasons to join and, actually, the learning emerging from that are likely to substantially increase your chances of success on the assessments.

As I started developing and facilitating my Scrum Pocket Classes I decided to still offer a certification but in a slightly unconventional way. I created a “Certificate of Gratitude” to show my gratitude for people’s willingness to spend some precious time in a class with this independent Scrum Caretaker. Although I created it as part of my proprietary Scrum Pocket Classes, I also hand out such “Certificate of Gratitude” to all people attending my Professional Scrum classes. It’s likely because it doesn’t bring any money, but I haven’t seen this practice being copy-pasted a lot.

On top of that, I share a free copy of the latest edition of my book “Scrum – A Pocket Guide” with every student of my Professional Scrum classes. People seem to value it, either for the knowledge, either to prepare for the various Professional Scrum certification assessments.

If you want to be sure of attending a recognized class with an established and recognized Scrum practitioner and trainer calling himself an independent Scrum Caretaker, then you definitely want to check out the Scrum exploration opportunities I offer.

Meanwhile, I am actually considering creating and launching a “Scrum Pocket Test” (working name) as an extension to my Scrum Pocket Classes.

Closing

If any of the above 5 Whys or the reasons that past attendants have shared about attending my classes, then you definitely want to check out or share with others the Scrum exploration opportunities I have lined up:

  • PSM – Professional Scrum Master.
  • PSPO – Professional Scrum Product Owner.
  • PSM-A – Advanced Professional Scrum Master (II).
  • PSPO-A – Advanced Professional Scrum Product Owner (II).
  • SPC-VX1 – Scrum Pocket Class “The Scrum Values”.
  • SPC-XL1 – Scrum Pocket Class “Scrum in the Large”.
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Trotse Sponsor van de U13 Voetbalmeisjes van K. Noorse S.V.

U13 Geel van De Noorse in hun nieuwe club sweaters

Enkele jaren geleden gaf onze dochter aan dat ze graag voetbal wilde spelen. Dat was op zich een verrassing omdat het spelletje haar (in tegenstelling tot haar oudste broer) totaal niet bezig hield of zelfs maar enigszins interesseerde. Ze volgde het niet. Ze keek het niet. Nergens niet. Nooit. Omdat het menens leek en het dat ook bleef, gingen we op zoek naar een club die ook een meisjeswerking had. Daar moesten we, enigszins tot onze verrassing, niet al te ver voor gaan zoeken. Bij de De Koninklijke Noorse Sportvereniging kwam onze dochter in een groep van nieuwe U11 speelsters terecht (‘Under 11’).

Intussen is ze al aan haar 3e seizoen bezig, alhoewel het spelletje haar verder nog steeds niet bezig houdt of zelfs maar enigszins interesseert (nog steeds in tegenstelling tot haar oudste broer). Ze volgt het nog steeds niet. Ze kijkt het nog steeds niet. Nergens niet. Nooit. Maar ze speelt het dus wel en ze doet dat goed en met veel inzet. Wij staan nu als typische ouders elke week ergens langs een zijlijn stilletjes te supporteren. Het leven neemt soms gekke wendingen, alhoewel er natuurlijk ergere dingen zijn dan voetbalouder te moeten zijn. En we staan ook stilletjes in bewondering voor de transformatie die ze telkens doormaakt als ze dat veld op stapt omdat ze (zoals ze zeggen) vol overtuiging ‘haar voet zet’.

Wat voor ons echter primeert zijn spelplezier en sportiviteit. Het gaat niet om competitie, winnen, de tegenstander vernederen of de meeste doelpunten scoren. Gelukkig zijn onze verwachtingen daarmee helemaal in lijn met de richtlijnen van het overkoepelende Voetbal Vlaanderen en het beleid van haar club De Noorse. Jammer genoeg moet je dan vaststellen dat er nog meer dan voldoende clubs, begeleiders, trainers en ouders zijn die hier anders over lijken te denken. Jammer genoeg leven er nog te veel mensen in de illusie dat sportprestaties op deze jonge leeftijd een voorafspiegeling zouden zijn van een of andere toekomstige sportcarrière. En ik ontsnap toch ook niet aan de bedenking dat er nog te veel ouders lijken te zijn die hun eigen onvolbrachte levensverwachtingen op een ongezonde wijze op hun kinderen projecteren, met blokkerende, huilende en instortende kinderen tot gevolg.

Wij herinneren ons levendig de eerste twee seizoenen van de U11 ploeg waar onze dochter deel van was en die–zoals gezegd–quasi volledig bestond uit nieuwe voetbalsters. Elke wedstrijd werden ze als het ware ingemaakt en dat was bepaald niet steeds door mooi voetballende tegenstanders. Gelukkig leed hun eigen spelplezier er niet te erg onder en bleven ze geduldig werken aan hun eigen technieken en inzichten. En dat heeft mooie resultaten opgeleverd. Intussen worden ze niet meer voortdurend ingepakt door forse tegenstandsters dankzij hun mooie samenspel. Naast spelplezier en sportiviteit halen wij dan ook veel voldoening uit de vaststelling dat het een prachtige vriendinnengroep is geworden.

Een prachtige vriendinnengroep

Trotse Sponsor

Toen de club verleden seizoen vergeefs op zoek bleef naar een sponsor voor de twee U13 meisjesploegen heb ik dan besloten om dit vanuit mijn éénmansbedrijfje Ullizee-Inc te doen, het bedrijfje dat ik graag omschrijf als het zakelijk vehikel voor de Scrum-diensten die ik aanbied.

Uiteindelijk is het belangrijk dat ze over goed materiaal kunnen beschikken en dat de club een degelijke werking kan blijven bieden, niet? Want uiteindelijk gaat het daar over voor mij, en niet over commerciële of marketingdoelen (zie “Money is important, but it is not what drives me“). Ik heb niet de verwachting dat mijn naam of de vermelding “Scrum” op de truitjes enige impact gaat hebben of me zakelijk veel voordeel zal opleveren.

Recent heeft de club nieuwe sweaters voor de meisjes gekocht met hun namen er op geprint, naast de gewone truitjes die ze reeds hadden. En daar hoorde natuurlijk een nieuwe ploegfoto bij, in een ernstige en in een gekke-bekken-versie. Ik ben oprecht trots als sponsor te mogen optreden en dit geweldig team te ondersteunen. En ik ben oprecht dankbaar voor de inspanningen, de inzet en de aanmoedigingen van trainer Raoul, afgevaardigde Peggy, iedereen binnen de De Noorse en (niet te vergeten) de collega-ouders.

Succes, meisjes! En–vooral–blijven genieten.

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Money is important, but it is not what drives me

Let there be no misunderstanding: money is important.

Money is important for our family. My wife is my stability (1993). We have three kids (2001, 2003, 2013) of which the two oldest (sons) have a disability (Duchenne and Down Syndrome). My family is my stability. Throughout the years we lost people (some dear, some not). We cope. We gained liberty. Money is important because it pays our bills. As a family, we need and use money to keep us fed, pay off our mortgage, buy stuff and lead a materially somewhat comfortable life. My work as an independent Scrum Caretaker via my one-person company Ullizee-Inc is the sole source of money for our family. We have no backup or additional sources of income. Scrum is what I do for a living. Scrum is what I’ve been practicing for the past 20+ years.

Beyond the fact that not even all my Scrum Caretakery work is paid work or even about money, I can’t escape giving up financially more beneficial Scrum Caretakery activities to spend a substantial proportion of my time on (what I call) my Home Caretakery activities. I am inescapably needed at home a lot of the time to provide our (adult) sons with the specific care they need as a result of their respective disabilities. There is no other way given the physical nature of that care. There is no other way given the absence of a network around us and given the lack of the funding that would be needed to purchase professional care that would be sufficiently tuned to their needs.

Still, I am unable to blindly go after money only, not even in situations where it might be justified. Regardless of ethics, values, principles or purpose, it is also a conscious choice to take my Home Caretakery and being with my family seriously, and to some extent I wouldn’t want it otherwise. Money is important, but it is not what drives us.

Money was not what drove my wife and I when I gave up my position as software engineer and aspiring project manager in favor of running a bookshop (1996). It wasn’t when I refused the position of CIO at Belgium’s first e-com (2001). It wasn’t when we gave up on my wife’s income to allow her to develop her creative talents (2007). It wasn’t when I abandoned a position of Principal Consultant and a future higher-up the ladder function at a large international consulting company (2013). It wasn’t when we bought a house we didn’t think we could afford because of the increasing wheelchair-dependence of our son (2014). It wasn’t when I decided to go completely independent with my one-person company Ullizee-Inc (2016) and not be part of any fixed structure for the time being (which is to this date).

It took me a very long time, nearly a life time, to even start realizing what it is then that drives me, if not money. I still find it difficult to put words to what that is and articulate it with some precision. Ultimately, it boils down to people and working with people, treating people as human beings and not accepting otherwise. It leads to my personal mission of promoting and establishing more humane working environments and humanizing the workplace in an attempt to reduce toxic and abusive behaviors and restore people’s engagement (at work). Humanizing the workplace equals undoing the past mechanization of the workplace (during the dominance of the industrial paradigm), while helping leadership and anyone involved see and understand that workplace humanization equals company deworrification. Because, ultimately, engaged people care more (about team, customer and company outcomes of their work).

It took me even longer (another life time?) to understand where this drive comes from, what its roots are, unveil the why of why I’m doing what I do, why I can’t let go, why I often behave in the way that I do, take the decisions that I take–often intuitively, fiercely and stubbornly, regardless of the financial consequences. I have gradually discovered that it is most likely an attempt to turn the traumas of my childhood and my youth into a mission. I guess I needed to take the pain of my youth and transform it into a mission. The result is a mission and a life of serving others to break (not continue or start anew) a circle of emotional violence and mental abuse, to turn a downward spiral around and make it go upward. The roots of my mission is what I call my Past Continuous Sorrow. It is a sort of sorrow that nobody recognizes, notices or sees. While every day I am reminded of this hole that cannot be filled. But I find comfort in my lack of importance in the fact that in 4-5 billion years our dear sun, before disappearing after a life expected to take 9-10 billion years, will swallow us whole anyhow, as a sign of tenderness.

I believe that these specifics of my past are why I engage and want to have an impact, make a difference and help create a better world. I believe it is why I’m completely insensitive to anything Career, Hierarchy, Title, Position, Role, Power, Fame (etc.). These big capital words are not what drive me. They are no goals to me. And more than just being insensitive to them, I’ve even found that it typically turns out rather counterproductive if people ‘use’ it to ‘motivate’ me, and even more when connecting money to it. It is the only explanation for my past, instinctive anti-responses in situations where that was essentially what was happening. Money is important, but it is not what drives me. Money is important, but integrity is more important. Every time I left a company was essentially because of integrity. Integrity is why I ended up this one-person company aspiring to change the world for the better. Doing this in all independence is made even more difficult by not being acknowledged for the work I’ve done as part of company structures in the past and the legacy I tried to leave in favor of Scrum and humanizing the workplace.

But if it was money that drives me, I would never have had the time to become what I didn’t know I wanted to be. And although it may look as if there was a plan, there wasn’t. If it was money that drives me, I would have created my own proprietary program of Agile/Scrum classes and a certification scheme when I went independent (which seems to be what many people thought I was going to do). If it was money that drives me, I would have created my own proprietary Agile scaling model (without calling it a model, obviously) and set up even more classes and extend my certification schemes. If it was money that drives me, I could have created my own proprietary development framework (ending up with yet another Scrum derivative) as a foundation for even newer courses and more certifications and an even larger ‘model’ to scale it. If it was money that drives me, I would be giving mass production trainings for people not interested in learning, but in quickly certifying. If it was money that drives me, I would do individual coaching of people not interested in experience, but still wanting level III certifications. If it was money that drives me, I wouldn’t spend time on writing. If it was money that drives me, I would be out there in the market to shamelessly, vigilantly, relentlessly and ruthlessly market, promote, sell, oversell and resell my 20+ years of experience (like a real consultant would do) while pushing competitors out of the market rather than spending time at home taking care of our sons and exploring give-and-take collaborative partnerships (even when largely unsuccessfully). If it was money that drives me, I would be speaking at events only when offered large sums of money with no other intent than entertainment and self-promotion.

Rather, after abandoning several (financially more rewarding) positions and titles, once upon a time I started calling myself a Scrum Caretaker (2016). In the expanded version that became an independent Scrum Caretaker to leave no doubts that I am not a part of any fixed structure, big nor small (2017). I added my personal mission to it: an independent Scrum Caretaker on a journey of humanizing the workplace with Scrum (2019). I’ve noticed how the term “Scrum Caretaker” resonates with people across the planet. Maybe more Scrum Caretakers will emerge. Maybe some day we will form a Scrum Caretakers Collective.

Maybe it will happen once enough people start realizing that the time has come to restore the balance between the ‘people’ aspect of Scrum (“Self-organization”) and the ‘process’ aspect of Scrum (“Empiricism”). Because the focus of many Scrum adoptions is still tilted heavily towards the process aspect, and not barely enough on the people aspect. Scrum is too much limited to a way to create and deliver product; more features, sooner, faster. The added value of adopting Scrum for the people doing the work is conveniently ignored. But, guess what, people who are truly engaged and motivated will build better products. Ultimately, using Scrum as a tool to humanize the workplace is the way forward.

Let there be no misunderstanding: money is important.

Unfortunately, too many people and enterprises take it for granted that it is not money that drives me (not willing to pay, to not return a favor, to not grant me a piece of the cake, but some bread crumbs only). So, in case of doubt: although money is not what drives me, I am trying to make a living out of my mission too, not in the least to support my family but also to fund my ways of offering inspiration that are beyond money. The alternative is charity and a hungry family. A good start, and thus one of my ambitions as from 2024 is to speak for free less. I know you now understand.

I wish you a wonderful 2024 and an amazing life.

💚
Your independent Scrum Caretaker
Gunther

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The Continuity Of Moving Into A New Year (e.g. 2023)

Although I don’t have fixed moments at which to do it, I like to also regularly reflect and look back in my personal life or when operating my one-person company called Ullizee-Inc (my vehicle to deliver value in four Scrum Service Areas). [It is not a form of or a part of ‘Scrum’, because —well— that’s not what it is.] Even if I rarely experience such moments of reflection as reasons for a hard stop or to drastically pivot, turn back or turn around, it does help me to validate the direction I am taking, review what is most important or change direction.

Moving into a new year is one of those cyclical periods where I typically practice some larger scale reflection by considering the past year–its defining events, emotions and experiences. However, I do stay away from making so-called ‘new year resolutions’. I embrace the continuity of time and prefer more incremental changes along the way. Whatever we do, and even if we prefer otherwise, time will tick on (regardless its relative speed) and we will go forward. We can’t actually stop or turn back the clock.

I maintain a “Backlog” as an evolving list of work or realizations that I deem as needed or potentially valuable without having some calendar year separation in it. [I don’t use an electronic tool for it, unless my Apple Notes app is considered such a ‘tool’ obviously.] There is no hard stop in my list of ideas and opportunities just because of the flash moment where we go from 31 December to 1 January (which in my calendar means we go from one calendar year to the next). I manage my opportunities to deliver value continually. Although juggling is a better word than ‘managing’ is. My Backlog is always actual. My Backlog is the source from which I extract the work I will focus on on a week-by-week basis. [I don’t consider my weekly iterations ‘Sprints’, because that’s not necessarily what they are.]

It is not entirely unlike managing my reading list. I buy more books than I can possibly read. Every newly bought book starts high on my list, but given my ever-changing interests, unplanned readings that demand my attention and time ticking away relentlessly it remains to be seen whether it stays that high. And then only actually reading them can validate whether I gave it the right priority. I can only be sure of the books I have actually read.

Next to the first cluster of online classes that I have planned for 2023 as part of my Scrum Caretakery activities, I plan to more mindfully undertake my Home Caretakery activities: the care for our two sons with very special needs (given their respective disabilities). In practice, the activities in this fifth, shadow service area already ruled out being away from home too frequently or for more than a few days anyhow.

I do envision however (finally) creating my new book about Scrum in which I currently envision sharing ideas and ways to move (your) Scrum downfield. As we speak and as I am embarking on this new writing journey, I also discovered a few ideas somewhere hidden in my brain for a fourth edition of my book “Scrum – A Pocket Guide” as well.

As part of the Scrum Service Area “Events”, I look much forward to traveling to the USA for the first time in several years. I will deliver a talk at the Scrum Day USA event in Madison, Wisconsin (kindly invited by Mary Iqbal). I will probably share my latest ideas, observations and findings about “Moving (your) Scrum Downfield” and, who knows, a status update on my book about the topic.
>>> Get your ticket soon (early bird until 30 April).

Allow me to close my message by going back to the theme of calendars. Did you know that the Chinese Year of the Rabbit (sometimes a hare) has started? In general, I am not into zodiac and alike things, but this one caught my attention. A very long time again (at the age of 11), in a ritual called ‘totemisation’ at a summer camp with the boy scouts, I was given the name of “Diligent Rabbit” (“Ijverig Konijn”).

I wish us all the best for 2023 and beyond, even if the Doomsday Clock was recently moved forward to 90 seconds to midnight, which is the closest to global catastrophe it has ever been.

Love
Gunther Verheyen
your independent Scrum Caretaker

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Regarding the matter of speaking out publicly (on some things ‘Agile’)

People regularly approach me (often privately) with the request to speak out (potentially publicly) on various things ‘Agile’. Although I am humbled by the trust that genuinely speaks from their words, there is also (o, the horror!) the expectations in their requests.

I want to share my (multi-layered) doubts and hesitance regarding the matter of speaking out publicly on (some) things ‘Agile’. And thereby, in a way, speak out publicly anyhow… albeit offering–what I hope is–a nuanced perspective.

1. Regarding the matter of importance and impact

I wouldn’t overrate the importance or impact of my words and viewpoints. Because, surprise, surprise, I am no wizard. Agile nor Scrum. I’ve only found a way to stick around for a long time and still be hopeful. It is an ‘achievement’ that also includes that I have survived a bunch of ups and downs and have seen many others come and go.

The fact that some of my public messages get a lot of ‘likes’ is to a certain extent meaningless. It is not a sign of importance (let alone of impact). Because pressing ‘like’ on some social media platform does not represent commitment or action. I have found over and over that it often doesn’t even mean that a liker has actually read what I’m sharing. Worse, I observe regularly how some of the comments seem to have no other aim than trying to shine a light of importance on the commenting subject, often through some form of simplistic clickbait message. One of my core beliefs is that a name and a reputation can at most be a side effect, never the purpose (unless one doesn’t mind a very poor purpose).

Judging by the number of people actually actively joining me in my journey of humanizing the workplace with Scrum(extremely low), much of the expressed ‘respect’ is no more than paying lip service. Best case it is a confirmation of my wrongly presumed importance. It is not a confirmation of any impact that I may have (or not). Commitment is not in what people say, not in how they name themselves or look like. It is in what they do.

Nor can there thus be much expectations (in a positive or negative sense) of the actual impact of my words or viewpoints regarding the question whether a process or framework (whatever name they chose for themselves) is “Agile”.

2. Regarding the matter of action and contribution

Another highly personal belief is the belief in positive action. I want to deliver a positive contribution to our world, help increase the global levels of positivity. Believe me, I have little idea where that drive comes from. As I am aging however, the finding keeps taking root more firmly that I am a man who took the pain of his youth and transformed it into a mission.

There are already so many haters and bashers, certainly regarding my favourite tool, Scrum. So much energy is wasted on spreading negativity. Some people seem to spend their entire life on nothing but ranting. It might help them gain many followers and leave them with a feeling of being a ‘leader’ (again, what a strange idea of purpose). Whether it is through some form of simplistic clickbait messages or otherwise, helpful it is not. Giving them more attention is unlikely to help either. Unless increasing their feeling of importance is the goal. Not to mention that I have found that it often completely drains me, which, I realize, is just one of my many shortcomings for which nobody else is to be blamed.

So, I feel comfortable enough to ‘speak out’ by liking, sharing or commenting on certain messages as a sign of my support. In my case, it is generally a well-considered choice, as is not liking messages. (On a side note, this also applies on the many requests by authors I get to read their article) It is similarly a well-considered choice not to spend time on correcting, judging or contradicting messages, not even when I think I could. I don’t overrate my ability to make people listen, let alone change their mind.

Furthermore and finally, I simply have too many plans, hopes, dreams and ambitions to allow such a waste of time to creep in. Life’s too short.

3. Regarding the question whether a process or framework (whatever name they chose for themselves) is “Agile”

Regardless whether free-floating opportunists like it or not, there is no denying that the source and roots of all things ‘Agile’ is the “Manifesto for Agile Software Development”, or the “Agile Manifesto” in short. Whatever gets labeled as “Agile” should by default mean that it is in line with the four value statements and twelve principles of that Manifesto. It is only fair to use that alignment to assess the validity of the claim of the label “Agile”. And although those value statements and principles were expressed in the realm of software development, they are sufficiently generic to be interpreted outside of software development.

In my book “Scrum – A Pocket Guide” I repeat that “Agile” is not one fixed process, method or practice. In the absence of a concise, specific definition of “the Agile process”, I list and describe three characteristics as the core traits that are common and typical to an Agile way of working:

  • People-centric.
  • Iterative-incremental progress.
  • Value as the measure of success.

I also describe “agility” as the (organizational) state envisioned by moving to an Agile way of working: a state of continuous flux, high responsiveness, speed and adaptiveness. It is a state needed to deal with the unpredictability so common to most of today’s work and to the moving markets that organizations operate within. I consciously capitalise “Agile” but not “agility”.

SAFe, like a few other methods, can be many things (helpful or not, who knows) but it is neither Agile, nor is it a framework. SAFe is exactly the sort of process (in the sense of ‘methodology’) as referred to by the signatories of the Agile Manifesto in the first Agile value statement (“INDIVIDUALS and INTERACTIONS over processes and tools”). SAFe turns this statement upside down and reverses the expressed preference, as it does to the 3rd and 4th Agile value statement (and likely even the 2nd). Similar findings can be made about the lack of various aspects of “Agile” highlighted in the twelve principles, like timescales, collaboration, emergence and self-organization. After all, there is a reason why there were no people from RUP invited for the Snowbird gathering.

My hesitance to speak out loudly is not because of my ‘reputation’ (I have none) or commercial or legal consequences. It is because I know first-hand that the best form of promotion that SAFe got in the past was a few global leaders heavily speaking out against it. What they said was correct, well-intended and of high integrity. Still, the effect was people massively looking at SAFe, thereby causing damage and big setbacks in helping the world move away from the paradigm of industrial views and beliefs.

It shows how the statement of my book is true: the old (industrial, Taylorist) paradigm has deep roots and a considerable half-life time. So, let’s hope nobody reads this text if it increases even more interest in a methodology that claims you can change without having to change. And I’ve already spent too much valuable time on it anyhow.

By the way, various other approaches claiming to be “Agile” don’t put people (as human beings) and capitalizing on people’s intelligence and creativity front and center either. Nor are they iterative-incremental. Work is not organized in short cycles allowing and provoking emergence, pivoting and bottom-up knowledge creation. They also aim at pressuring for ‘more’ (volume) instead of discovering ‘better’ (value). They can be useful or helpful (who knows), but they are not “Agile”.

And for the bashers/trolls, I am well aware that many implementations of Scrum suffer from the same problem. At least, it is a problem of interpretation, not of definition. I stand my ground when stating that "Scrum is the most widely adopted definition of Agile".

I don’t abide by it, but the reality is that many, many people don’t care about integrity but prefer (commercial) convenience.

A last, personal example: As part of my ambition and will to deliver a positive contribution, I have developed a Scrum Pocket Class called “Scrum in the Large”. It is based upon the insights on ‘scale’ that I already shared in the first edition of my book, in 2013, which was even before (or maybe at the start of) the whole scaling hype. As most of my public classes, it barely attracts people (it is not what most want to hear), although the people that join generally describe it as a true eye-opener. I accept it as a confirmation of what I stated regarding the matter of importance and impact: my limited impact or recognition rather than being an “important voice” or “Scrumfluencer” (quoting some direct messages).

I’m at peace with that. It’s even good to keep my feet on the ground while being able to sustain my family and do my part of personal caretakery at home. At most, I am a man who took the pain of his youth and transformed it into a mission. It’s an infinite game anyhow. I plant seeds.

Love
Gunther
your independent Scrum Caretaker

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IWAS PCH WC 2022, Entry 9 (Monday 15 August): After-day

Entry 9 of an assistant’s web-log of the IWAS Powerchair Hockey World Cup 2022 Sursee

Today is the day (actually: night) that my son and his team mates of the Belgian National Powerchair Hockey Team are returning home from the IWAS Powerchair Hockey World Cup 2022 that happened 9-14 August in Sursee, Switzerland.

Remember from yesterday’s entry (8) of my assistant’s web-log of the IWAS Powerchair Hockey World Cup 2022 Sursee that it was collectively decided to leave earlier than originally planned. It holds that the bus departed at 1 am rather than 8 am. Besides avoiding Monday traffic and its jams it also avoided having to get up early for breakfast yet another day… (grin)

If you have gone through the effort and the pain of reading the complete series of my entries (0-8) you will have noticed that it was somewhat of an emotional rollercoaster.

Nevertheless, I have profoundly enjoyed being at the event. I certainly learned a lot about my son’s sport, powerchair hockey, and have tried to explain what I’ve learned about the game throughout the preceding entries. I have had wonderfully insightful conversations with players (from our team as well as from other teams), classifiers, referees, former players, other teams’ coaches. I specifically enjoyed talking to members of the Dutch delegation, as I also enjoyed their team’s style of playing enormously. Hup, Holland, hup!!! I do believe that in their way of organizing as in their way of playing they raise the bar in a way that will be beneficial for powerchair hockey in general in the somewhat longer term. Once some people get over their jealousy…

Final score for atmosphere/event: 10/10.

When reading my entries, you will also have noticed that it did turn out a good father-son experience. I hoped it would become such an experience (albeit, honestly, not exactly for the reasons and in the way that it turned out). That was also what helped me get over the fact that the assistent that was supposed to accompany my son cancelled last-minute. I believe I have been able to guide my son through some tough lessons that life has in store for us at times. Being able to draw from events and experiences from my own pretty complicated youth and life helps in the sense of being able to share analogies and stories that are credible and make sense. What doesn’t kill us…

I know that my son has made impressive steps forward in his athlete’s stance and in his way of playing by watching many of the other teams. And I admire the work and effort that he, his team mates and the team managers put into their sport. I am sure that each of them took home valuable insights and lessons about playing at this (world cup) level. Which will help us for the European Championship in 2024.

I bow deeply and humbly for what these people achieve in their complicated lives (in often far from inclusive circumstances) and their sport!

The full delegation for Team Belgium at the 2022 Powerchair Hockey World Cup

I do wonder about the near-total lack of attention in the Belgian press and even from the overarching sports authorities. For me, these players are Team Belgium, even when the official sports leagues and organizations do not recognize them as such (yet). They are true ambassadors. This tournament confirmed what a fascinating game powerchair hockey is. You can check for yourself in the movies I added in my preceding entries or in the recordings of the full games as made available by the organization via the official YouTube channel. It is fast and dynamic. It requires quick decision making, re-positioning and speed combined with game tactics. By the way, if you think that driving and turning such a powerchair at the speed that these athletes do is easy, try getting in such a chair and play against them. Ultimately, powerchair hockey has all the characteristics that make it very, very similar to field hockey. But, hey, it took field hockey also many years to get noticed.

The travel goes well. I even get to catch up on sleep. Imagine! And, indeed, no traffic jams. As expected and hoped for. Thanks again, Hilaire.

Celebrate. This party’s over. We’re going home. And with ‘home’, we mean our beloved family who have been so supportive before and during our journey. Time to be at home and be with the people we love so deeply to share what we went through and get their point of view, which will be even more enriching. Time to wish someone her ‘happy mothers’ day’ also…

As I stare into the rising sun, I comfort myself with the thought (as I’ve done so often in life) that not fitting in is an art too. When it is happening for the right human, ethical or deontological reasons.

The official after-movie

I hope you enjoyed reading all about our adventure for which I created following episodes:

If you want to watch any of the games, check out the IWAS YouTube channel where all will be broadcasted: https://www.youtube.com/c/powerchairhockey/. All results have been registered at the Tournify website.

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IWAS PCH WC 2022, Entry 8 (Sunday 14 August): Finals

Entry 8 of an assistant’s web-log of the IWAS Powerchair Hockey World Cup 2022 Sursee

Today is the last day of the IWAS Powerchair Hockey World Cup 2022 that is happening 9-14 August in Sursee, Switzerland, for my son and his team mates of the Belgian National Powerchair Hockey Team. It also means that there is no more than one more day of getting up early. Some things are really important to personal assistants of athletes with a disability…

Team Spain and their 15-legged mascot

Today we needed to get up early because our game is the first final of today. We play against Spain to determine who will take 7th and who will take 8th place. Yesterday evening, the finals game Canada-Australia ended with a score of 8-2, meaning Canada took 9th place and Australia ended 10th. I assume you have noticed how all teams play a finals game. I deeply appreciate the underlying message that all teams count…

I am intrigued by the mascot of the Spanish team. They explain it is a 15-legged octopus, as Team Spain has 15 members: 10 players and 5 staff members. I simply love the symbolism of the team’s cohesion and expression of unity.

But then, it is…match time: Spain-Belgium.

Team Belgium starts off ok. We come into the lead 3 times during the first half, with Spain evening the score again after our first two goals. Our son enters the game at 12 min in the first half.

Our son entering the game against Spain

I observe how his first action is great. That is important because powerchair hockey is a fast game that allows little or no time to stop and think things over. I am proud because I know how our son has been observing the fierceness and assertive styles of playing of other teams. It has opened his eyes a lot. And now I see him enacting the ingrained observations. Again. Beyond his defensive work, I like how he facilitates forward actions. The “Verheyen Screen”, I hear as a live comment during the livestream. It means that our son moves forward side by side with one of our forward players, thereby preventing our forward player to be blocked by an adversary.

Mid-game score: 2-3 (for Belgium!).

“A slight surprise,” says the reporter on the live stream… But it is a confirmation that I am witnessing the finest Belgian play I’ve seen so far at the world cup. Finally, a foundation to build upon. That is what I hope we came for, more than for actual results. It feels good to end the tournament and prepare to go back home with at least that finding.

On a personal note (1). I can’t do anything but honestly admit that at this time the relief is too little, too late for me personally. During our stay here, the tensions and uncertainty have been accumulating so much that I ended up with a continuous headache that has stretched over a few days by now. It is a sort of migraine I suffer from regularly and of which I’ve learned over time that it is always caused by stress and tensions. What makes it exceptional is that I am not getting it under control, which has never happened before. Not even the max dose of my usually useful medication is helping to take away the pain and reverse the situation.

On a personal note (2). I am also in real-time exchanging messages with family and friends in Belgium who are watching the game on the livestream, as I’ve done throughout the whole world cup event. They also wonder why there are no more substitutions on our side, as we knew upfront that we are not here for results, but for learnings. I repeat how I feel that his presence makes a difference. I repeat how our son and I talked about the potential opportunity for him to play and how he should go full in when he gets that chance. Which is exactly what he is doing. That was already the case for the 5 minutes of play time he got against Switzerland (see entry 5 of my “assistant’s web-log of the IWAS Powerchair Hockey World Cup 2022 Sursee”). I guess we have been made clear–indirectly–that the rest is not our decision to make or to speak up about…

The part of the game against Spain where our son plays (the 10-minutes break included)

Our son is substituted with 10 minutes to go in the second half and a score of 4-4. In no time we go to a score of 7-4 with 7 minutes to go. The final score is 8-5. We take 8th place and Spain takes 7th place.

My son and I skip watching the final game Italy-Germany for the 5th and the 6th place (end score: 7-0), but do watch the sensational final game Finland-Switzerland for 3rd and 4th place. At the end of the regular playing time, the score is 4-4, with Finland only evening the score in the very last minute of the game. The rules of powerchair hockey say that the teams then play an additional 10 minutes max. However, the team that first scores within that 10 minutes, wins. If after the additional 10 minutes, the score is still even, shoot-out penalties decide who wins. In this case, Switzerland scored the “golden goal” after some sensational suspense that ultimately lasted 5 minutes and 25 seconds.

The final for 1st and 2nd place, Denmark-Netherlands, is decided with a golden goal too. Denmark wins 3-4. Although Denmark has demonstrated their qualities throughout the previous stages of the tournament (see entry 7 of my assistant’s web-log of the IWAS Powerchair Hockey World Cup 2022 Sursee) in this final they suddenly revert to a sturdy and passive form of (what I would call) anti-hockey, where the whole team remains before their own goal. Meanwhile Team NL does whatever they can to attack, find a hole. Much to our surprise Team NL even gets officially punished for (what is called) “passive play” (a new rule that holds that a team needs to hand over the ball to the other team when keeping it in the team for too long). When Denmark wasn’t even trying to capture the ball, but leaves it to the Netherlands the whole time. This is sportspersonship and fairness turned upside down. I can’t imagine a jury (who makes this call) to be able to honestly apply a rule to actually justify a situation that the rule was designed to prevent. It still happened. Anyway, Denmark is the world champion.

Ultimately, my conclusion is that also in powerchair hockey there are honorable winners and there are teams that win by not losing. I honestly hoped that such cynical play was limited to money-intoxicated sports like soccer. Not, it seems. But, hey, in the end sports games, like life, aren’t designed for fairness. It makes fairness a choice, rather than a built-in, inescapable must. Some make the choice. Others don’t.

After the closing ceremony, we head back to the hotel and its surrounding facilities. Earlier today it was suggested to leave earlier than planned. The original plan was to leave tomorrow (Monday) after breakfast at around 8 am. The new plan is to leave at 1 am and use the night to drive home. It will help us avoid Monday traffic and its jams. With a strange inner grim, I think it also helps me avoid having to get up early for breakfast another day. In a way…

We go to the dinner that is being organized for all teams (at 9 pm) which is followed by a little dance party. The powerchairs have been loaded onto the bus already before the closing ceremony. Our luggage and suitcases have loaded already before dinner so that no time is lost when embarking at the newly agreed time of 1 am.

This party’s over. We’re going home.

I hope you enjoy reading all about our adventure for which I envision following episodes:

If you want to watch any of the games, check out the IWAS YouTube channel where all will be broadcasted: https://www.youtube.com/c/powerchairhockey/.

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IWAS PCH WC 2022, Entry 7 (Saturday 13 August): Play-offs

Entry 7 of an assistant’s web-log of the IWAS Powerchair Hockey World Cup 2022 Sursee

Today is the day of the play-off phase for my son and his team mates of the Belgian National Powerchair Hockey Team at the IWAS Powerchair Hockey World Cup 2022 that is happening 9-14 August in Sursee, Switzerland.

Shirts to proudly wear

Remember from yesterday’s entry (6) of my assistant’s web-log of the IWAS Powerchair Hockey World Cup 2022 Sursee that the opportunity to play this game is why we needed to win our last game of the group phase. If we had lost that game (against Canada) we would have been competing for the 9th or 10th place today, which would have been our last game of the world cup at the same time. However, because we won our game against Canada, today we are competing Germany to determine who is going to play in which of tomorrow’s games (the finals day). The winner of today will play for 5th or 6th place. The loser will play for 7th or 8th place.

By the way. The reason for this course of events and games lies in the fact that this world cup exceptionally has 10 participating countries, rather than the usual 8. There is a reason for that too: There is a world cup every 4 years. In between, there is the European Championship. The last EC should have taken place in 2020 in Finland. Obviously, given Corona the tournament didn’t happen. The ambition was to move it to 2021, but that turned out impossible too. Therefore, 10 teams were allowed into this world championship as a way to make up a bit for the missed opportunity of playing the EC. Without any unfortunate events (like Corona), the next EC will take place in 2024 (country to be determined) and the next WC will take place in 2026 (country also to be determined), both with 8 teams again.

Before playing their own game against Germany, the team is watching the other cross-final game: Italy-Spain. Final score: 12-2.

But then, it is…match time: Germany-Belgium.

It looks like Germany is presenting a reduced team. As said in my earlier entries, each team has 5 players on the pitch. Teams typically have 10 players in the selection, in general 2 players for each position. Germany is presenting only 7 players before their game against Belgium. We hear that they have a few suspended players.

While the players, the staff as well as the supporters of other countries often enthusiastically sing along with their national anthem, Belgians are known to be very silent during their anthem. The only exception I know are our field hockey players, the “Red Lions”. Nevertheless, the Belgian fans of our national powerchair hockey team did some admirable attempts to break this old pattern. I’ve witnessed them looking up the lyrics online and give singing along a try…

The game starts off like a really open game. Much to our delight, young Maxime opens the score. Do you remember him from entry 4 of my ‘assistant’s web-log of the IWAS Powerchair Hockey World Cup 2022 Sursee’? As he plays with a T-stick his goal delivers us 2 points. In the play of our team I finally see some good patterns that I’ve seen in trainings but not in the tournament so far. However, not too far into the first half, Team Germany ups their game (with some substitutions) and speed up. From evening the score we go to a mid-game result of 7-2. It strikes me how Team Germany puts some risk in their game, e.g. with the goal keeper dynamically and frequently leaving her goal area. Substitution still seems to not be part of our strategy.

Final score: 13-3.

Our son didn’t get to play. Again. We don’t know why. Again.

Still, what strikes me in the healing and motivating conversations I (need to) have with my son is that he is most concerned over the fact that the team gets beaten (heavily) without any lessons being learned, shared or discussed. He misses a clear game plan, tactical instructions, debriefings, game analyses. This disturbs him much more than the fact that he doesn’t get to play. I admire him for his team spirit. If he doesn’t get to play, at least he would love to know where to improve, what to keep doing, what to change, what experiments will be undertaken in future games.

Caring for the well-being of my son, having worked with teams so much in my professional life and caring about people in general, I ache under the many thoughts and observations that twirl my head and dazzle me.

Is this what it feels like for a player to be a piece of the furniture? Were we invited to be part of the team only to reach the figure of 10 players and because of our financial contribution? If it was never the intention to allow our son to play, why did nobody have the guts and honesty to tell us that before we accepted the invitation? We could have make a balanced decision whether it was worth our financial and time investment.

I can’t stop my brain from comparing how I’ve seen leadership and management behave in my professional life: people climbing the ladder and thereby suppressing their innate (yet, past) people management side, the Peter Principle of people rising through a company’s hierarchy up to the point of reaching a level of incompetence (Is there an analogy of such rise happening when players become trainers?), sea gull managers, managers seemingly starting fires to demonstrate how great a firefighter they are (the competency upon which they got promoted in the first place), conflict avoiders always laughing problems away? On the bright side, I expect this trip to leave me with some analogies and stories that I will use in my consulting and training activities. I am learning all the time. And that is still a part that I love.

In our current reality however, we find ourselves facing a lot of hard unknowns. The only known is that in 5 games, thus 200 minutes of play time, my son has played 2 x 5 minutes. Without having a clue.

The question whether to write about it tears me even more apart. Throughout the conversations with my son, I consciously decide to accept and follow his viewpoint of not going up to the coach to ask for an explanation. I also decide however to stick to my intention of honestly describing the journey of my son and me at this world championship, without obfuscating or adding to the hypocrisy. Integrity is too important a value in my life.

By the way, when looking at the group results so far, in Group B (the other group than ours), Denmark has done a pretty remarkable job too. They won all their games, often with dazzling scores close to what the Netherlands did. One obviously never knows at a tournament like this, but are we heading towards a final of Netherlands-Denmark?

A pizza night with the family and fans that travelled all the way to Switzerland is a wonderful distraction. Tomorrow, we play our finals game against Spain to determine 7th and 8th place. They lost their play-off game from Italy, who will thus compete with Germany to determine 5th and 6th place.

There’s been a short conversation between the coach and my son. Another day, another ray of hope of improvement. Repeat from yesterday.

I hope you will enjoy reading all about our adventure for which I envision following episodes:

If you want to watch any of the games, check out the IWAS YouTube channel where all will be broadcasted: https://www.youtube.com/c/powerchairhockey/.