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In conversations over the last few days, almost a
half-dozen people mentioned the words “chickens” and
“pigs” — enough for me to take notice.
When Scrum appeared on the scene, it made a
distinction: If you're a committed team member, you
have certain rights and obligations; if you're only
involved (you “don't get things done”), there are
certain things you shouldn't do.
The idea was to help people out of a command &
control mindset. In order to make this message stick
in people's minds, the committed was called pig and
the involved chicken. The allusion is to a cartoon of
a joke.
As with many things that have a label and a backing
story, they have in fact stuck.
Many people have argued against these particular
labels, pigs and chickens. That calling people animal
names is offensive. That it's culturally insensitive.
That pigs are considered intelligent animals and
chicken is slang for “afraid”.
Let's look beyond the choice of words, and consider
the disservice we do ourselves when labeling people
this way.
- We shut people out. You're a chicken? Stand in the
back of the room and listen, we'll call on you if we
need you. Which we won't.
- We hurt self-organization beyond the immediate
team. You're a chicken? You can't come among us and
perhaps find a great way to contribute. Remember, the
best state for Agile roles and responsibilities is
fluid, not solid.
- Managers (not the ScrumMasters) are considered
chickens. True, many managers will not write code or
test, but that doesn't make them any less committed,
important, or useful.
- Scrum gets a bad rap. If your first introduction
to Scrum included the mentions of pigs and chickens,
how did that make you feel about it? (Reply to this
email if you want to tell me.)
In almost a decade of helping people be Agile, I've
never, ever had to resort to these terms, and
everything worked out well. Here is what I do:
- I never introduce these terms in the first place.
- Already in the kick-off, we identify our project
community (core and extended) — each person by name.
- I educate my teams and clients about the important
role managers play and help them get the hang of it.
- I help them accept the importance of trusting the
core community to self-organize, and not meddling in
their affairs.
- To ensure that, I have the Agile project manager /
ScrumMaster run interference.
- The standup, demo and review are inclusive. Everyone
from the extended community who wants to learn what's
going on, or has useful input to share, is welcome to
talk. Again, meddling and bypassing the backlog are
not allowed.
Want to help the entire organization achieve great
results? Welcome your fellow professionals to your
team and allow them to express themselves.
Copyright © 2010, 3P Vantage, Inc. All rights reserved.
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