A lot has happened in the 6 days
since starting my scrum journey. I have morphed from reading Jeff Sutherland’s Scrum book to reading Scrum for Dummies to enrolling in CC
Pace’s certified scrum master prep course to passing the CSM exam. As I have noted that I was just sick and
tired of being sick and tired with the same old results. Remember, insanity is
doing the same thing but expecting a different result. Well, last Sunday I was
sick of the same old result and decided to email four LinkedIn connections
regarding scrum, agile and ITIL. All four had PMPs like me so they knew what it
took as project managers to pass the other certification exams. The three who
responded all told me that scrum was the way to go so I embarked on my journey.
The hardest part was finding a CSM exam prep workshop on such short notice. I
found one because I was determined! Nothing was going to stop me from changing
my life around!
First,
in scrum, let’s start with a definition of ‘done’. The Scrum Guide defines the
definition of done as ‘ a shared understanding of what it means for work to be
complete’. Although I don’t have a team, my definition of ‘done’ is earning my
certified scrum master (CSM) license by Thursday. Once, I have a definition of ‘done’,
I start planning my sprint. My sprint in this case is the reading and workshop
necessary to complete my definition of ‘done’. Since I have defined done and
completed the sprint, I am going through to the sprint retrospective (there is
no sprint review meeting here). Below are the three sprint retrospective questions:
What went well?
People: My LinkedIn connections
were phenomenal with their advice.
What didn’t go well?
I could had done without the
blowhard instructor who went on massive 25-30 minute tangents (Tuesday’s lunch
was 20 minutes late due to one.). I was forced to take control of my own
education through reading the Scrum Guide and Scrum for Dummies because I did
not get what was sufficient to pass the CSM exam. My team also had someone who
constantly talked about the Army but never fought in battle (my father fought
in Vietnam, maternal grandfather fought in Korea and paternal grandfather fought
in World War II). The Scrum Alliance’s CSM exam portal went down because there
were too many of us on the site. I was forced to take the CSM exam at home. I
received harder questions forcing me to find two online test resources and
relying on the Scrum Guide. I passed the CSM scoring 94.3% (33/35).
What have I learned?
My biggest learning lesson is that
I can change my circumstances in 5 days flat. My mentality has changed. That
CSM workshop class costs $1295 but I view this amount as an investment instead
of an expense. I have paid nearly $2000 to prepare for the CAPM and PMP
certifications. Attaining these two licenses, have propelled my income from
$71,400 to $115,000. Scrum gives me more continuous improvement tools to better
myself. That the product owner role is right up my alley because it has a
business slant to it. I possess an MBA and this is right up my alley.
Furthermore, I am clearer on agile, scrum and will consider resubmitting my
PMI-ACP certification application. I love technology and continuous
improvement. I will start reading more about scrum and agile books because I am
big on both. Finally, I now qualify for 2-3 times as many jobs because of my
CSM. I know that my future is bright and that I this $1295 CSM workshop will
pay dividends.
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