The development team is like a shark. |
A shark is a living fossil. It has not evolved substantially in 200 million years. When you are the top predator in the ocean natural selection is not a powerful influence. It does give a shark several disadvantages. The brain of a shark is smaller than the brain of a dog. Sharks do not breed quickly, and the creatures plunge into irrational frenzies with the presence of blood and prey.
The biggest disadvantage sharks possess they have primitive gills. Unless a shark is swimming with its mouth open, it cannot breathe. It is a significant disadvantage because most fish today have gills which can filter oxygen out of the water without swimming. Thus, a shark is doomed to swim from the moment of its birth. A shark must swim, or it dies.
Software development teams should use the shark as a metaphor for how they should operate. Organizations need to keep swimming and moving forward. A team needs to gain new knowledge and techniques continually. A team has to deliver software regularly. A team has to respond to a changing environment. A team must keep swimming forward.
As a scrum master, it is up to you to keep the team swimming. You need to ask compelling questions. You must insist on delivering software into production at regular intervals. Finally, a scrum master should encourage the team to pursue “Healthy Ownership,” with collective responsibility of outcomes.
If you cannot inspire the team in this fashion, you will have a drowning shark, and you will be dead in the water.
Until next time.
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