New Scrum Guide Posted: Gone are the Chickens and Pigs
Scrum is a process framework that has been used to manage complex product development since the early 1990s. It’s a framework within which you can employ various processes and techniques for developing software products. The authors, Ken Schwaber and Jeff Sutherland, just relased an updated guide to implementing Scrum; you can get a copy of it by clicking here–> Scrum Guide 2011 ,or on the picture.
A good comparison of the differences between the 2010 version and the 2011 version was done by Charles Bradley and I recommend you go to his blog by clicking HERE to read it.
Steve Porter, of www.Scrum.org describes one aspect of Scrum – the Chickens and the Pigs – that is gone…
One particular change was arguably small and cosmetic, but it really has significance in my opinion. So much so, that I offered to write this brief article to explain why the change was made and how you can interpret these changes as you go about implementing them in your projects. Every Scrum practitioner has heard the fable of the chicken and the pigs. I won’t recount it here, but it is an embedded part of Scrum lore. Ken Schwaber created the pigs and the chicken metaphor in the early days of Scrum and it has been used repeatedly to separate the people who are committed to the project from the people who are simply involved. Over the years, the labels have generated their share of controversy. Some argue that the terms are harmful to the process because they are derogatory. Others say that the negative connotation conjures a power dynamic that drives negative behaviour. Either way, you won’t find any references to animals, barnyard or otherwise, in the new Scrum Guide. Why was it removed? Ken and Jeff felt it was better to discuss accountability directly in the Scrum Guide, as opposed to through metaphor. However, I think I can provide some additional insight. I was present at some of the discussions that led to the 2011 update and many people, including me, found that the labels were being used in a way that does not contribute positively to a team’s ability to perform its core function.Enjoy…r/Chuck