2022-11-21
Should Product Owners Lead with Agile Intent?
Should the Product Owner be an Agile leader ?
👉 Most of the best (Scrum) experiences are coming from teams where the Product Owner and Scrum Master form a tandem going to the same direction.
👉 In the Scrum Guide, both roles are mentioned with approximately the same importance when it comes to the application of Scrum.
However we can observe the following :
▶ Agile conferences seems to be attended by significantly more Scrum Masters than Product Owners (if you have numbers to confirm or infirm this, please share)
▶ There are 3,4 more Scrum.org certified Scrum Masters than certified Product Owners (see image attached)
▶ Testimonials from Scrum Masters tend to tell that a Scrum-resisting Product Owner can be a solid blocker in the adoption of Scrum in the Scrum Team.
Scrum Masters, what's your thought about this ? Do you always feel that your Product Owner is 100% open to how you're trying to "establish Scrum" (cf. Scrum Guide) ? Or at least open to what Scrum is supposed to bring to the team ? Should all the whole thing about "improve the team's practices" be in the hands of the Scrum Master ?
Just curious here, so please share your experience and opinion 😊
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I think a good PO focuses more on creating a great product and less on implementing Scrum. If his product succeedes then he can call himself a good PO, certificates won’t show his real value. A Scrum Master’s work is less visible, so a certificate is a nice way to show you are a competent person.
Michael
Those are very interesting thoughts Erik!
On the data, I believe that the Scrum Master course are kind of seen as the standard to be introduced to Scrum.
To answer your questions...
- I care deeply about Scrum and its practices, but on the other hand I've learned to let go of it. So for me it's not about establishing Scrum anymore. It's about establishing a team, including the product owner, that is able to deliver value to its stakeholders and get better at doing that. I've not worked with a product owner yet who doesn't want that. Next is searching together on how to achieve that. Of course, as Scrum Masters we have a backpack of tools we can suggest to get there. In small experiments for example 😎
- I don't believe it should all be in the hands of the Scrum Master. It should be in the hands of the whole Scrum Team. As a Scrum Master we are there to make transparent and guide and with that create self-management. I have found that this approach takes longer and is not always feasible, but it sticks way better.
What's your own take on these questions?
Serge