RobertvDoyle - Scrum Ireland

The Truth in you is Wisdom

Camino is the Spanish word for way. It is a pilgrimage based walk in Spain that many refer to simply as ‘the Camino’. People do it and often receive life altering revelations, others just do it for the fun. For me, it was a bit of both. On returning home and sharing my ‘revelations / wisdoms’ I was surprised to see how many people could relate to them in their own lives.

So here I will share a few and, who knows, maybe the hit an inner musical note with you.

The one word I would use is FOCUS.

Live life like a Camino

If I could live life like a camino, I would…

Have a long term end goal

The end goal in the Spanish Camino is ‘where (or when ) you choose to finish your walk. If you make a committed decision to do this it make the whole journey easier. The is the same for your life, a section of your life or even a project you have chosen to undertake. This over arching goal is you ‘mountain peak’…you don’t need to know how you are going to get their on day one, but, by taking one step at a time you are getting nearer to it.

Have a day goal along the way (and in the right direction).

Don’t fret about your day goal or how, or if, you’ll make it. You make it you don’t…It will all work out somehow. The quality of your day is more important than the kilometer count.

The more crap we have the more complicated we make our life.

On the Camino most people carry their own backpack and stay in hostel accommodation. and others’ have other, totally fine ways. The important thing on the Camino to remember is that there is only one way that is your way…so be comfortable with it. when you carry all your belongings on your back you soon realize what is worth carrying and what is not, hopefully you will have thought of this before you pack. On returning to normal life many people get dismayed with all the ‘things’ we have in our life….the revelation is two fold:

We don’t need many of the things and
The less ‘things’ we have the easier it is to move forward, to make decisions and to be organized.

🚶‍♀️

“There is only one way that is my way.”

🚶‍♂️

Going the extra mile makes the treat all the better.

Extra effort, and getting things somewhat wrong, make up the more memorable moments.

Opportunities are ‘there’ its up to you to see them

Don’t get too fixated on short-term goals to appreciate the glory that is in front of you. Opportunities are ‘there’ it’s up to you to see and seize them. (Waterhole).

Appreciate Generosity! (offered or given)…Trust your instinct.

Decision Making

You need to make decisions, and not rethink them after they are done.
Change your state before a big decision (flight date).
Remember that you decide with the INFORMATION THAT YOU HAVE NOW therefore it is pointless going over it later.
Make a decision and do not look back.

A balanced day for you

Take a off day, or multi-days off.

Replace your single vision glasses and turn on for a single ACTIVITY focused vision. Make a day whole by relaxing, Focus on what is interesting/important to you and then do it.

Physical 🚶‍♂️
Mind (relaxing)
Cultural
Growth (learn something new)

My Revelations

The things you give out about are often present in your own personality and actions. It was very different leaving a house full of children. The transition from ‘always busy and noisy’ to solitude takes time.
I can’t stand the noise after the quietness of the last few days, and visa versa, when starting the Camino.
I love the freedom of going where I want … and the solitude of being alone.
I like to meet people for short periods.
Be patient and be prepared to take at least a week to adjust before taking anything strenuous or serious to learn to relax. In life, try to give yourself an idea of how long you are willing to stay doing something to give it a proper try. The more committed your are to your decisions the more likely you are to succeed.

Links: blogs, videos, podast, books +

Here we share the online resources we found most useful and in line with the official Scrum guide.

Sites and Blogs

These guys lead by example and have some great articles and resources:

Definition of Done – DoD

5 challenges creating-done-increment

Team Ownership -done

Team Collaboration -done

General Information

https://www.agilesocks.com/ Stephanie Ockerman

https://www.linkedin.com/in/scrum-trainer/ Brett Maytom

https://nader.pm/ Nader

https://litheworks.com/our-trainer/ Lucas Smith

https://www.linkedin.com/in/lucasdavissmith/ Lucas Smith

https://nkdagility.com/ Martin Hinshelwood

Productschool.com Resources specifically for those interested in the Product Owner role

https://theliberators.com/resources/

https://www.scrumalliance.org/about-scrum

https://www.scrumfacilitators.com/products/

Scrum.org: Great place to start learning and to take certifications

Psychological Models In Scrum

Product Owner (PO) Learning Path Here (SM)

Scrum Master (SM) Learning Path Here (SM)

PSM 1 v PSM 2 here

PSPO2 suggested reading

Elevator Pitch: Agile

Product Owner

Telling It Like It Is Here. Ken Schwaber’s Blog:

PO Pdf Checklist HERE

PO: Tips for PO (see links at the end of the page) Here scrum.org

Tools and Templates

Podcasts

Scrum Master Toolbox

https://scrum-master-toolbox.org/

SAFe Business Agility Podcast

Podcast link

Guaranteed Irish Business Podcast

Podcast link

Visual & YouTube

Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe) Tutorial

User Story Mapping

Agile Product Ownership in a Nutshell

Irish Tax: VAT basics

Scrum Master Interview

Learn Jira

UX User Experience Design

Reactjs to build user interfaces. Learn how here

Wireframe: https://balsamiq.com/

Sample website and app designs: https://dribbble.com/

Books: Reading / Audio

The Professional Product Owner Buy Here

Authors: Don McGreal Don’s site

Ralph Jocham: Ralph’s site

The Art of Doing Twice the Work in Half the Time

Buy Here

Author: Jeff Sutherland (co creator of scrum)

The Hitch-hikers guide to Agile Coaching

Buy Here

Authors: The agile 42 Coaches

Agile42’s Site

The Goal:

Topic: Lean production journey for production plant

Buy Here

Author: E. M. Goldratt

The Phoenix Project

Topic: DevOps

Buy Here

Authors: Kim, Behr & Spafford

The Lean Startup

Buy Here

Author: Eric Ries

Mindset

My drive is to significantly improve the quality of lives globally by elevating the quality of thoughts individually…

…and communicate these for better team results

The main reason why everyone’s not using the simple framework of scrum and agile is not because the theory is so difficult, it is because it often requires the individual and the company to change it mindset. This is a lot more difficult than implementing a process as it links into the way the company is, and in essences the company IS its people.

Link the common phrase ‘Charity begins at home’ so does Company mindset begins with the individuals mindset’. Whether its bottom up from the Scrum Master or top down from the Agile Coach working as an effective agile team only comes when individual truly buy into the scrum values and agile principles

Here we will focus on how the mindset of You, Your Team and Your Company are interconnected.

Personal Development

A well built, and maintained, ship with a definite destination is a powerful foe.

Getting your own house in order is a good place to start? This way you are thinking straight, your life is organized, you have well defined goals, and you have the will to go after the things that are important to you.

I hear a lot of people say, ‘yep that would be nice …but how?’

The tough answer is that you must do it yourself; but I will give you several tools that can help you. As I write these, I will attempt to link them into agile and scrum way of thinking.

A good starting point is:

Ask how your own values compare to those of the scrum value. Do you feel a connection? If yes, lets go..

Focus – the self discipline to stay doing tasks related to you goal
Commitment – The Will and persistence to keep going, no matter what.
Openness – share and lead a life of giving rather than one of taking
Courage – willingness to speak up and rise above conformity if necessary
Respect – treat everyone as if they are the most important person in the world

Check out the ‘Personal Development‘ resources in menu here.

Professional Development

Geographical Culture

Business Culture

Affirmations

As you think is what you become

Ones subconsciousness is the part of your mind (brain for all intensive purposes) that controls your body. Unlike your conscious mind it does not have the power of deduction…the ability to distinguish between good and bad, to accept or reject, it only takes ‘what is’. And this ‘what is’ is what effects how you feel, think and act. See ‘the stick person’ for full explanation.

Your subconscious mind is ‘your real you’

and the good news is

you can change it.

Two Ways to Alter Your Mind

There are two known ways for a person to influence, or change, their subconsciousness:

Sudden impact event – this is mostly (yet not necessarily) a negative life changing even, for example; a serious accident, being told you need by the doctor you need to change something in your life now or you will die. Its an event which you can’t ignore and you simply do what necessary. It kicks in at a subconscious level, it becomes part of you and you just do it!… This is not a way we will seek out.
Repetition – You repeat what you say / do / think / write every day as often as possible until you subconscious mind simple says ‘OK, this is how we are going to do it from now on’. This easily explains how practice! practice! practice! is how you get good at sport, how you remember lessons from school or important people in you life decades later. Again like a ‘sudden impact event’ your subconscious mind does not want to do it and will fight you all the way…until eventual it will give in.

So your conscious decision is:

What will you feed your mind with?

will it be what people think around you, what happens to come over the media, resentment of others, anger at yourself or others? or would you like to give it something better. Have a goal and align your affirmations towards achieving that goal. One way to do this is through affirmations

Good Affirmations are healthy food the mind & body

When you read something a second time; your don’t see something new in it, you see something new in you that you never say before.

Good Affirmations

Nobody can ‘give you’ a perfect affirmation. Hell you will rarely create a perfect affirmation for yourself. But the reality is that you are the only one who can create a truly meaningful affirmation for yourself.

Don’t get me wrong, you can get some great inspiration from others you see with qualities you like, or take quotes from famous people like Napoleon, Nelson Mandela or Gandhi…But this only becomes useful to you when you feel them emotionally, and can truly relate to the context (and this is more than just understanding the words).

Once you can say an affirmation is truly yours, the simple (or seemingly simple) task is to repeat it again and again, and again. With today’s technology we have so many ways to do this:

writing
recording and listening on the go
make a video
music that reminds you of it
pictures that remind you, and vision board that bring it home with just a glance

As I mentioned earlier, your subconsciousness will fight this new idea with all its might. At the beginning the repetition will be easiest, you get an initial boost as you have ‘decided to do it’. As time goes on the repetition becomes…well repetitive… It goes against everything we are thought. It goes against the grain with thoughts like ‘Not again’, ‘Sure I know this already’, ‘I’m fed up with this’ , ‘Its stupid’….to logically ‘I just don’t want to do it’

….But remember you are 100% not alone. As a matter of fact it happens to everyone and a great quote from Rocky goes

…its not how many times your get knocked down, its how many times you get back up…and keep going.

Get up you son of a bitch, cas Micky loves ya

https://youtube.com/watch?v=1uVFB9VyN54%3Fclip%3DUgkx5uwenK3kNYEewae52A1QA9gh6sfdr1xs%26clipt%3DELrNCRjSwgo

Or from the fighting Picky in the move Snatch with Brad Pitt

Think the big guy in the red jacket is your ‘bad habit you want to change’ the Picky is your affirmation.

…you’ll stay ’til the jobs done

Affirmation Examples

I am so happy and grateful now that … [followed by]

If I want to be free I’ve got to be me

I am in control of my own destiny and my thoughts, actions and feelings are positive

I let everything in my life flow free and easy (as against try to control everything)

I focus only on those thing that serve me towards my greater good

I have infinite potential and I always say and think positively about myself

I am the artist of my own reality . My choices , actions and feelings contribute to my beautiful life

Money come to me in increasing quantities through multiple sources on a continuous basis

I have a strong body and mind all day long. With spiritual perfection I can hand anything

I realize my perfection is perfect and that this perfection is in me . I begin each day where I see each area o f my life habitually

I am able to do what I like today AS I am confident that I am able to deal with the consequences of my choices.

I am on the right path for me. My destination is my choice…and I choose now.

3 Things For Every Day Success

Granted there are numerous things that can help you through the day, however, for me, I’ve narrowed it down to three essential elements. Take them or leave them, you might want to at least consider them and see if you are incorporating them into you daily life today.

Become the person you want to become
Provide the best service you can
Think for yourself

1. Become the person you want to become

Do you know what kind of person you ARE, and ever question if you are happy being this person. If your like 75% of the population of the developed world the answer may be ‘no’. This being the case…

Do you know what kind of person you want to BECOME? Sit down and think about it. I mean really think about it. Take time out to yourself and let you mind take you to the place you want to be. You got it? Then write it down…in as much detail as possible. The reason for the detail is that the next part of the process is to create a vision of this, and ultimately to think about it 24×7, and become it.

Do you know that

You are, without doubt, the very best in the world at…

…BEING YOU

also

If I want to BE ME I’ve gotta BE ME

2. Provide the best service you can

Ones does not MAKE money, it is always EARNED

Your reward (often, but not necessarily, with money) is in direction relation to the value of the service you render. The only people that make money work in a mint, the rest of us have to earn it.

The amount you earn is directly related to the value of the service you provide.

For example, the person sweeping the street keeps his allocated streets beautifully clean and affected say 100 people that use them. His supervisor manages say 10 Street-sweepers…so he is affecting 10 times as many people, 100, so his compensation is more that the individual cleaner. And this goes on and on up along the responsibility chain. Keep in mind, this is not saying that either man works harder than the other. There’s a good chance that the Supervisor used to be a Cleaner, but he stood out somehow and got a promotion. 95% of the time he was promoted because he put more into his work than was asked. He tried each day to do his duties better than the day before. The better you can do your job, the more interest you have in it and a positive attitude towards its execution, will ultimately enable you to stand out in the crowd. It more about how you do it than what you do.

He put more into his work than was asked. He tried each day to do his duties better than the day before.

3. Think for yourself

Do you know that the majority of the people in the world go through life without actually thinking

About 2% of the world ACTUALLY THINK and these 2% are the WEALTHIEST

By thinking we mean tapping into you elevated faculties and acting on their feedback

Our Elevated Faculties are:

Perception
Will
Reason
Imagination
Memory
Intuition

Truly being yourself and having the confidence to actually be yourself takes effort. Be honest with who you are and have the courage to BE who you are.

At the end … you must be able to say:

“My life belongs to me,no matter where I am.”

Developing Self Confidence

What does this mean?

It means, have the self belief to do what you believe in. Having confidence will free you to to where your head leads you, to do what you must do.

Prerequisites are:

Know your beliefs and core values
Have a good image of your true self
Have faith that you can go wrong
Know that you are unique. There is, and can only be, one you… …so you’d better be yourself and not the person other people think you should be

Progressive humans fail their way to success.

We will always learn more from our failures that we do from our success.

A success is hollow if not preceded by (multiple) failures

You already have confidence, you just need to develop it

The more knowledge and experience you have the more confident you will be on that topic…so learn more.

… thus the more knowledge you have of yourself the more confidence you will be in yourself – get to know and study your true self.

Confidence has very little to do with intellect, it has more to do with faith, and by this I mean faith in yourself, and faith that the universe will provide.

3 Steps to More Confidence

1. Examine you Self Image

When you think of anything, you think in pictures.

This is quiet simple how our mind works. Children can identify sounds to things and see them,

long before the have any knowledge of the written language. In fact, long before they can speak they recognize something they like or want, and build an mental image of that so that they can ask for it in the future, should the occasion arise. This does not change as we get older…however, many of us forget that this is the case.

Find a nice quiet place and ask yourself to paint an image of who you are, what you want, what makes you think. Do this often. You cannot do it wrong…you honestly is only answerable to yourself.

Confidence is determined by what is going on inside of you NOT by what is going on externally.

If you don’t like the image you have of yourself DECIDE to change it.

Mind and body cannot be separated. Remember the body follows the mind and not visa versa…so keep you mind positive and prosperous.

Create your own personal Self Image Script. Write how you want to see yourself. Write it in the present tense. Read / Rewrite / Listen to it as often as you can. Build a picture board of it (Vision board) and implant it in you subconscious by constantly repeating it until it is accepted. When is is accepted by your subconsciousness you will become it.

2. Evaluate you Strengths and Weaknesses

Make a list of you strengths and weaknesses (most people will have more of these). Now pay attention to the next line…contrary to what many have been told growing up

DON’T WORK ON YOUR WEAKNESS.

Let me qualify that, only tackle your weaknesses if they are getting in the way of you achieving your goals, or if they are preventing you from developing your strengths.

DISCOVER WHAT YOU DO WELL AND WORK TIRELESSLY UNTIL YOU HAVE MASTERED IT, AND BEYOND.

One generally does something well because they like doing it, it therefore comes easy. By definition it will therefore become easier to be more dedicated to it.

People are rewarded for offering better service that their competitors. Concentrate on developing your strengths and be the best in you field and you’ll love what you do.

3. Make Everyone Feel Important

Train your mind to see ‘in all people’, what they do not see in themselves. Begin to treat every person you come in contact with as the most important person in the world.

Leave everyone you meet with an impression of increase. Don’t let other people (even themselves) influence how you think about someone. Look at them. look for what they do well and let them know you noticed it. Give sincerely merited complements freely.

…the good you find in others is a reflection of the good that is in yourself (this can also work in the opposite way)

Who is Who in Scrum in Ireland

Trainer and Course Providers

Were not going to list all the providers here as a google search will quickly do that for you and, as many courses are done on line these days you can choose a provider anywhere in the world. Just take time to ensure they are the best fit for you. There a loads different certificates and certificate providers…choose the one that it best for you.

Check here from indeed.ie see the different courses and corresponding career possibilities.

Here are a few providers we like that are based in Ireland covering Scum Alliance, PMI and Scrum.org.

https://scrummaster.ie

UCD (University College Dublin)

Dublin Coding School

Agile Bear

Agile – Scrum – Lean Groups in Ireland

Agile-lean-ireland meetup group 3000+ Members, Free

LindedIn

scrum.ie

Agile/Scrum Professionals in Ireland/UK & Europe

Scrum in Ireland

Agile in Ireland

Lean Business System Ireland

Agile Cork

Multinational Companies in Ireland

The Irish government has actively pursued foreign international investment in the last 30 years. It was particularly successful with software companies where Ireland rose to become the second highest exporter of software in the world, thanks to all the software companies that have their European headquarters here.

Companies in Ireland

Irish Economic Growth

The follow list is provided with compliments of www.dublin.ie

Financial services

This sector has seen significant growth with Brexit relocations.

Tech companies

Many of America’s tech giants have set up their European operations in Dublin. Here, these world-renowned multinationals can tap into our pool of young, English-speaking and well-educated workers.

Accounting and professional Services

The large number of multinational companies in Dublin has had the effect of drawing the world’s leading professional services firms to the city too. So if you’re looking for a job in accounting, Dublin is a great destination for you.

Science, engineering, health and pharma companies

Dublin has a proven track record for nurturing its world-leading science, engineering and health sectors. Pharmaceuticals are one of our biggest exports and our pool of well-educated STEM professionals attracts the world’s most cutting-edge multinationals. Links with local universities also boosts investment in R&D.

Product Value and EBM

Can you define what value is?

When you, as the producer benefit from a product, you are receiving value. This value / producer benefit can be either:

Money
Improving society

Value is only realized after the product (or a version of it) is RELEASED.

Therefore the quicker the first release the quicker ‘return on investment’ starts to be realized.

EBM – Evidence Based Management

Evidence-Based Management is the process of using data to make decisions and create strategies for a business.

Evidence-Based Management is becoming increasingly popular in today’s business world. It is the process of using data to make decisions and create strategies for a business. Companies are increasingly recognizing the value of using data to inform their decisions, as well as the potential advantages that evidence-based management can bring to their operations. Evidence-Based Management is being embraced by companies in a range of industries, from healthcare to manufacturing, and its popularity is only likely to grow in the future.

EBM is not limited to agile companies. The approach can be employed by businesses of any size and in any industry. That said, agile companies may be particularly well-suited to Evidence-Based Management, as they are better-equipped to quickly analyze data and use it to inform their decisions and strategies.

Metrics

EBM does not tell you what metrics to measure, thus allowing the framework to remain adaptable. The metrics below are some of those commonly used cross industries:

Note that when looking at any metrics or data that you keeping mind whether it is a leading or lagging indicator.

Tracking Metrics Methodologies

Ensure metrics are value neutral: Keep them free from influence and judgement. There is not good or bad information; there is only the current reality. This is what is meant by value neutrality.

Spider Graph

An important aspect of putting value metrics in place is establishing the discipline to remeasure over time. The trends that emerge are as important as the data itself. Use to show metric changes over time.

Scoreboard Style Spreadsheet

Divide it into:

Circumstantial progress metrics
Leading metrics
Lagging metrics

Product Vision

Vision Definition

A picture of success of a project at a particular point in time.

It should be:

Inspiring
Technically sound
Documented
Communicated

A focused vision needs to be both

Practical (tell it) and Emotional (sell it)

Personal – Corporate – Product Vision

The most persistent visions are the ones that we emotionally embrace. Our emotions are part of our subconscious and thus part of ourselves and not something we can physically express at the early stages. If we study the above diagram we can summarize that our past experiences (personal and professional) and our ability to fantasize give us ideas. Those ideas when coupled with will and pragmatic analysis product a vision. A vision that is constantly reinforce becomes a goal.

People who ‘buy into’ your vision are the people you want on you team. They are the producers and the consumers of your product.

Agile Methodologies for Product Vision

Business Model Canvas

The Business Model Canvas is a strategic management and entrepreneurial tool used to develop new or document existing business models. It is a visual chart with elements describing a firm’s or product’s value proposition, infrastructure, customers, and finances. It allows entrepreneurs to describe, design, challenge, invent, and pivot their business model. It assists firms in aligning their activities by illustrating potential trade-offs.

No.	Producer Benefit Revenue Identification
1	Customer segments
2	Value proposition
3	Channels
4	Customer relationships
5	Revenue streams
	Cost Identification
6	Key activities
7	Key resources
8	Key partners
9	Cost structure

https://a.storyblok.com/f/118861/4000×2251/94bdd85692/bmi_2022_ppt-canvasses_business-model-canvas.png

Lean Canvas

The Lean Canvas is a strategic business model created by Ash Maurya that helps entrepreneurs quickly develop and communicate their business ideas. It is a one-page document that helps entrepreneurs identify and prioritize the key elements of their business.

The Lean Canvas is composed of nine boxes that represent the key elements of a business. These boxes include customer segments, value propositions, channels, customer relationships, revenue streams, key metrics, key resources, key activities, and cost structure.

The Lean Canvas highlights aspects of a business that are essential for success and allows entrepreneurs to quickly adjust their business plans based on customer feedback.

https://next.canvanizer.com/demo/lean-canvas?utm_source=newcanvas&utm_medium=link_page&utm_campaign=next

Value Proposition Canvas

The Value Proposition Canvas is a tool used to design and develop a product or service that provides value to customers. It is a visual tool that allows companies to map out their value proposition in a structured way, by identifying the customer’s problem, their needs, and the product or service features that solve their problem.

The canvas also helps to identify the customer segments the product or service is designed to serve, the customer’s job-to-be-done and the channels through which the product or service is delivered.

It is a valuable tool for entrepreneurs, product managers, and marketers, as it helps to create a clear understanding of customers’ needs, and how to develop a value proposition that meets those needs.

https://www.strategyzer.com/canvas/value-proposition-canvas

Product box group activity

Product box vision tool is a software development tool that helps software developers and stakeholder visualize their software product as a 3D box. It allows developers to create a 3D representation of their software product so they can better understand the entire product architecture, the relationships between components and the overall impact of the features. It also helps them to identify potential weaknesses and areas that need improvement.

The product box vision tool can be used to quickly create detailed diagrams of the product, as well as to analyze the user experience and feedback from customers. The tool can also be used to create product roadmaps and to help prioritize development tasks.

Front of Box

Product Name

Product Image

Obvious target customer

Obvious value proposition fro the target customer

Back (and sides) of the Box

More detail about the features

Information relevant to different customers

Elevator Pitch

Vision Elevator Pitch Tool is a simple yet powerful tool designed to help entrepreneurs, startups, and small businesses create an elevator pitch that clearly outlines their vision.

Fill in the gaps in the below sentence and then rewrite it a one, or two sentences. Come back to it, examine it and amend.

For …[target audience]

who …[need,want]

[product name] is a …[market category]

that …[one key benefit]

unlike …[competition or current situation]

our product …[competitive advantage]