Tag: Pocket Guide

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De derde druk van de “Scrum Wegwijzer” is nu beschikbaar

Voortdurend op zoek naar nieuwe manieren om Scrum uit te leggen

Zonder het belang van mijn werk met eXtreme Programming verpakt in Scrum in België sinds 2003 te minimaliseren, is Nederland toch wel heel belangrijk geweest tijdens mijn ontdekkingsreis met Scrum. Ik genoot het voorrecht om vanaf 2010 in belangrijke mate in Nederland kennis en inzicht in het Scrum-proces te mogen verspreiden. In 2011 en 2012 bevond ik me, als Global Scrum Leader en Principal Consultant bij Capgemini, geheel onverwachts in het oog van een Scrum-orkaan die stormenderhand Nederland veroverde. Toen ik door mijn werk bij Scrum.org (2013-2016) een goed beeld kreeg van de mondiale verspreiding van Scrum, stelde ik verheugd vast dat Nederland wereldwijd (!) koploper was wat betreft de invoering van Scrum. Dat is het vandaag nog steeds. Dankzij de vele mensen, teams en organisaties waarmee ik sinds 2010 mocht werken, werd Nederland wat Scrum betreft zowat mijn professioneel thuisland. En zo voelt het nog steeds, anno 2025.

In 2013 creëerde ik, quasi op toevallige wijze, een licht en eenvoudig boek over het licht en eenvoudig framework dat Scrum is. Niet toevallig was dat op vraag van en werd dat boek gepubliceerd door Van Haren Publishing, een Nederlandse uitgever van IT-boeken en -publicaties. De eerste, Engelstalige uitgave verscheen in 2013 op de markt als Scrum – A Pocket Guide. In 2016 publiceerden we mijn Nederlandse vertaling ervan als Scrum Wegwijzer. De tweede druk van de Nederlandstalige editie, die in 2022 verscheen, was dan weer gebaseerd op de derde druk van de Engelstalige versie, die in 2021 werd gepubliceerd.

Continue reading De derde druk van de “Scrum Wegwijzer” is nu beschikbaar
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Announcing the availability of the 4th edition of “Scrum – A Pocket Guide”

Uncovering better ways of explaining Scrum

In 2013 I ended up writing a book about Scrum for Van Haren Publishing, a publishing house specialized in IT publications based in the Netherlands. They wanted to add a book about Scrum to their portfolio. By that time, I had been applying Scrum for 10 years and in the two years preceding the actual creation of my book, I had been at the heart of the Scrum storm that was sweeping the Netherlands. And survived.

Writing a book about Scrum was anything but a long-lived hope, ambition or dream. Rather, it was an accidental and unplanned endeavor. At the same time, writing a simple book with as few lines of text as possible actually turned out taking a lot more time and energy than I thought it would take. I went through that effort in the time between ending my position as a Principal Consultant at a large international consulting company and embarking on my partnership journey with Ken Schwaber (Scrum co-creator) as the Director of the Professional Scrum Series at Scrum.org.

Imagine my surprise that more than a decade later the 4th edition of my book is now globally available via diverse channels.

A journey in itself

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The 3rd edition of “Scrum – A Pocket Guide” is now available.

A big rock that was moved in 2021.

The updated, third edition of my book “Scrum – A Pocket Guide” is now available worldwide, as a digital and as a paperback edition. Still small enough to fit in your pocket and carry it with you anywhere, anytime. Still a smart travel companion.

I accidentally created the first edition of my book “Scrum – A Pocket Guide” in 2013. I consider how I described the Scrum Values in that first edition. In July 2016 they were added to the Scrum Guide. I consider how I already described the traditional three questions of the Daily Scrum as a good but optional tactic in that first version. These questions being optional was added to the Scrum Guide in November 2017 and their description was even completely removed from the November 2020 edition; taking away all doubt that they are indeed optional. In 2018 I deliberately evolved my Scrum travel companion into a second edition (available 2019).

Rather than repeating the rules of the game, in my pocket guide to Scrum I focus on the purpose of those rules while clearly distinguishing them from tactics to play the game. Tactics are not described in the Scrum Guide because they ‘vary widely and are described elsewhere’. Given its size (small) and volume (only about 100 pages) I hope my book lives up to what its subtitle says: a smart travel companion. Creating and updating my book, accidentally or otherwise, had many unanticipated (mostly positive) consequences, for which I am very grateful. I could not hope for, nor aspired, continual appreciation for being such a comprehensive description of the Scrum framework seven+ years later.

In the meantime, more and bigger challenges keep surfacing. The balance of society keeps drastically and rapidly shifting from industrial (often physical) labor to digital (often virtual) work. More and different people ask for guidance and insights on their journey of Scrum in domains beyond software and new product development. Organizations look for clear insights in the simple rules of Scrum as they envision re-emerging their structures and their way of working around Scrum. Without rendering them overly vague I believe that the third edition of “Scrum – A Pocket Guide” holds more generic, yet still appropriate and complete descriptions of the rules of Scrum; using different words and other angles to the known set of rules without creating or leaving holes. Rather than omitting them all, terms and examples from Scrum in software and new product development environments now serve more as examples for other industries where Scrum is adopted.

I believe that this third edition offers the more than ever needed, foundational insights for people and their organizations to properly shape their Scrum, regardless of their domain or business. The focus is still more on the intent and purpose of the rules and roles in the framework, while clarifying some changes in terminology from the 2020 update of the Scrum Guide. Helping people understand the purpose of the rules and the roles of Scrum remains at the heart of all my work and actions as an independent Scrum Caretaker–training, coaching, consulting and speaking. It helps me drive forward an evolution towards more humanized workplaces.

Following are some of the more popular channels to acquire the third edition of “Scrum – A Pocket Guide”:

For readers in the wider India region:

For readers in Belgium and the Netherlands:

I thank Bhuvan Misra for his much-appreciated, critical feedback on this third edition. I thank all translators for their past and on-going efforts to spread my words in different languages. Translations of this updated, third edition in Russian, Polish, French and traditional Chinese are in progress. I thank all at Van Haren Publishing, and especially Ivo van Haren, for giving me the chance to express my views on Scrum.

Enjoy reading!

Gunther
independent Scrum Caretaker

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Daily Scrum Pocketcasts – Episode 5

Ever since the accidental creation of my book “Scrum – A Pocket Guide” in 2013, and its deliberate evolution in 2019, I’ve been receiving inquiries about an audiobook version. So far, I have not been able to make that happen but the 2020 pandemic storm got me into implementing the audio idea in a different form.

In subsequent daily broadcasts I have read all chapters from my pocket guide to Scrum. Every reading session happened on working days at 3 pm CET (Central European Time), with each session continuing were the previous session ended. The sessions were open for 100 attendants and were time-boxed to a total of 1 hour of me reading.

On Monday 30 March 2020 I delivered episode 5 (the final) of my “Daily Scrum Pocketcasts” in which I have read following chapters from my book:

4. THE FUTURE STATE OF SCRUM

4.1 Yes, we do Scrum. And…
4.2 The power of the possible product
4.3 The upstream adoption of Scrum

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Besides the recorded episode being available on my YouTube channel, find the audio version on SoundCloud.

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Daily Scrum Pocketcasts – Episode 4

Ever since the accidental creation of my book “Scrum – A Pocket Guide” in 2013, and its deliberate evolution in 2019, I’ve been receiving inquiries about an audiobook version. So far, I have not been able to make that happen but the 2020 pandemic storm got me into implementing the audio idea in a different form.

In subsequent daily broadcasts I have read all chapters from my pocket guide to Scrum. Every reading session happened on working days at 3 pm CET (Central European Time), with each session continuing were the previous session ended. The sessions were open for 100 attendants and were time-boxed to a total of 1 hour of me reading.

On Friday 27 March 2020 I delivered episode 4 of my “Daily Scrum Pocketcasts” in which I have read following chapters from my book:

2.7 The Scrum values

3. TACTICS FOR A PURPOSE

3.1 Visualizing progress
3.2 The Daily Scrum questions
3.3 Product Backlog refinement
3.4 User Stories
3.5 Planning Poker
3.6 Sprint length
3.7 How Scrum scales

Besides the recorded episode being available on my YouTube channel, find the audio version on SoundCloud.

 

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Daily Scrum Pocketcasts – Episode 3

Ever since the accidental creation of my book “Scrum – A Pocket Guide” in 2013, and its deliberate evolution in 2019, I’ve been receiving inquiries about an audiobook version. So far, I have not been able to make that happen but the 2020 pandemic storm got me into implementing the audio idea in a different form.

In subsequent daily broadcasts I have read all chapters from my pocket guide to Scrum. Every reading session happened on working days at 3 pm CET (Central European Time), with each session continuing were the previous session ended. The sessions were open for 100 attendants and were time-boxed to a total of 1 hour of me reading.

On Thursday 26 March 2020 I delivered episode 3 of my “Daily Scrum Pocketcasts” in which I have read following chapters from my book:

2.5 Playing the game (continued)
2.6 Core principles of Scrum

Besides the recorded episode being available on my YouTube channel, find the audio version on SoundCloud.

 

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Daily Scrum Pocketcasts – Episode 2

Ever since the accidental creation of my book “Scrum – A Pocket Guide” in 2013, and its deliberate evolution in 2019, I’ve been receiving inquiries about an audiobook version. So far, I have not been able to make that happen but the 2020 pandemic storm got me into implementing the audio idea in a different form.

In subsequent daily broadcasts I have read all chapters from my pocket guide to Scrum. Every reading session happened on working days at 3 pm CET (Central European Time), with each session continuing were the previous session ended. The sessions were open for 100 attendants and were time-boxed to a total of 1 hour of me reading.

On Wednesday 25 March 2020 I delivered episode 2 of my “Daily Scrum Pocketcasts” in which I have read following chapters from my book:

1.6 Combining Agile and Lean

2. SCRUM

2.1 The house of Scrum
2.2 Scrum, what’s in a name?
2.3 Is that a gorilla I see over there?
2.4 Framework, not methodology
2.5 Playing the game (intro)

Besides the recorded episode being available on my YouTube channel, find the audio version on SoundCloud.

 

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Daily Scrum Pocketcasts – Episode 1

Ever since the accidental creation of my book “Scrum – A Pocket Guide” in 2013, and its deliberate evolution in 2019, I’ve been receiving inquiries about an audiobook version. So far, I have not been able to make that happen but the 2020 pandemic storm got me into implementing the audio idea in a different form.

In subsequent daily broadcasts I have read all chapters from my pocket guide to Scrum. Every reading session happened on working days at 3 pm CET (Central European Time), with each session continuing were the previous session ended. The sessions were open for 100 attendants and were time-boxed to a total of 1 hour of me reading.

On Tuesday 24 March 2020 I delivered episode 1 of my “Daily Scrum Pocketcasts” in which I have read following chapters from my book:

Foreword by Ken Schwaber
Preface
1. THE AGILE PARADIGM

1.1 To shift or not to shift
1.2 The origins of Agile
1.3 Definition of Agile
1.4 The iterative-incremental continuum
1.5 Agility can’t be planned

Besides the recorded episode being available on my YouTube channel, find the audio version on SoundCloud.

 

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Daily Scrum Pocketcasts

Ever since the accidental creation of my book Scrum – A Pocket Guide (A Smart Travel Companion) in 2013, and its deliberate evolution in 2019, I frequently receive inquiries about the availability of an audiobook version.

Although I see value in the idea, I have not been able to make it happen so far.

Given the current pandemic storm, forcing many friends of Scrum to remain at home, I decided to implement upon the audio idea in a slightly adjusted form.

Starting Tuesday 24 March 2020, I have planned a first series of five “Daily Scrum Pocketcasts.” In subsequent daily broadcasts I will read my Scrum Pocket Guide front to back. I will do a reading session on working days at 3 pm CET (Central European Time), with each session continuing were the previous session ended. The sessions are open for 100 attendants. Registered attendants can send me questions about the book, or parts of it. I plan to read for 30-45 minutes every day after which I hope I can address questions related to the chapter(s) of the day. Every daily session will be time-boxed to a total of 1 hour.

I plan to also record the sessions and make them available via my YouTube channel. I hope to collect the questions and my (written) answers in a document that, if all works out, I will share for free with everyone.

I have no idea where this will take us, how long it will last, or how the idea and its emerging implementation will unfold. Of one thing I am sure, it won’t all be smooth. Come find out with me, and register on Zoom (or copy following link to your browser https://us04web.zoom.us/meeting/register/upclduugrT8ruk_h1txTV8KP1_59Dj9sZg). Note that each session requires separate registration.

Warm regards
Gunther
your independent Scrum Caretaker

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“Scrum – Um Guia de Bolso” is now widely available

As I was working on the second edition of my pocket guide to Scrum in 2018, Rodrigo Silva Pinto and Leonardo Bittencourt proposed to create a Portuguese translation of my book. It was the start of a collaborative endeavour towards self-publishing the translation.

I am humbled and honoured for announcing that the result is now available as “Scrum – Um Guia de Bolso (Um companheiro de viagem inteligente)“, in Kindle and in paperback format via Amazon.

(note: the primary market for the Kindle version is Brazil which allows me to keep the price affordable. The paperback’s primary market could not be set to the same so I had to set that to the US. Both versions however are available through all market places of Amazon.)

I wish all Portuguese speaking friends of Scrum much joy reading my translated thoughts, beliefs and considerations of Scrum, that simple framework to address complex challenges. I feel forever indebted to Rodrigo and Leonardo for making my book available for all Portuguese readers, and to Barbara Knijff of Jellylab for creating the cover.

Loving regards
Gunther
independent Scrum Caretaker

Here is how Rodrigo and Leonardo introduced their work in the book:

Rodrigo Silva Pinto, Agile School, junho 2019

Tenho a oportunidade de formar centenas de pessoas todos os anos em treinamentos de Scrum que vão dos fundamentos a conteúdos mais avançados. Um pedido comum entre os alunos é a indicação de literatura do gênero. Mas a resposta por muito tempo era não satisfatória: “O livro Pocket Guide do Gunther é o melhor, mas só está disponível na língua inglesa”. Havia uma lacuna, faltava uma boa referência literária do Scrum para os falantes de língua portuguesa.

Cansado de esperar, resolvi fazer parte deste projeto, propagando um conteúdo de altíssimo nível e me associando a um dos autores mais influentes do tema, depois dos próprios criadores do framework.

Espero que as horas dispendidas em “Scrum – Um guia de bolso”, possam contribuir com a comunidade Ágil e o mercado brasileiro para juntos construirmos produtos com alto índice de profissionalismo e que gerem impacto necessário para mudar o mundo.

Leonardo Bittencourt, Principal Lean/Agile Consultant, junho 2019

Tive o prazer de conhecer o Gunther pessoalmente durante Agile Tour Vilnius em 2017. Posteriormente colaborei com a tradução de dois de seus trabalhos para Português, o Glossário Scrum e os Valores do Scrum. Indubitavelmente ele faz juz ao que se auto-intitula, Zelador do Scrum (Scrum Caretaker).

Nesta obra, Gunther usa uma linguagem simples que vai direto ao cerne do Scrum, aborda os pontos cruciais e clarifica o framework Scrum de uma forma cirúrgica. Este livro lhe ajudará a evitar armadilhas, equívocos e adoção de um Scrum mecânico. Você compreenderá o propósito do Scrum Framework bem como os porquês de cada elemento que o compõe.

Manter o conteúdo sem distorções e com a mesma clareza, onde as palavras usadas na versão original foram minuciosamente pensadas, trouxe uma boa dose de desafio extra.

Indico este livro para quem está iniciando e para quem já tem experiência com Scrum. Lhe garanto que durante sua leitura – ou releituras como no meu caso – sempre haverão novas descobertas.

Não perca tempo. Boa leitura e Scrum on!