Thread by @allenholub

Just took the @Scrumdotorg public open assessment [tinyurl.com/yzkqwhbm], something that I do periodically just to see the sorts of things that they’re testing for. 1/10

I’m pleased to see several questions where the wrong answers include "project manager" [as a team member or person of influence] because the presence of product managers is probably the one most telling indicator of a DarkScrum shop. 2/10

A couple of questions were interesting in that they highlight things that I think Scrum gets really wrong. 3/10

For example, they ask "Which of the following services is appropriate for a Scrum Master in regard to the Daily Scrum?" and two of the answers are "…ensures each team member has a chance to speak." and "Teach the Developers to [stay] within the 15 minute timebox." 4/10

The last is the correct answer, but to me rigid adherence to the timebox is way less important than communication (w/in reason). That’s not what the Guide says, tho. IMO, "ensure" means "set up a safe environment," but the Guide has little or nothing to say about safety. 5/10

Not emphasizing safety is a huge flaw in both the Guide and Scrum itself, IMO. 6/10

The other interesting question was "When many Scrum Teams are working on a single product, what best describes the Definition of Done?" The choices were each team having it’s own and the teams "have a DoD that makes their combined Increment valuable and useful." 7/10

My problem is that two teams working collaboratively on a single increment is an interesting problem not really addressed by the Guide at all. Clearly, some sort of cross-team alignment is needed, but the Guide is silent about how one might do that. Another flaw. 8/10

In any event, I do like the fact that they’re publishing these tests, though they say that they’re "easy," which I really don’t like. I’d rather see something of realistic difficulty so that people can accurately assess their readiness. They’re still worth taking, tho. 9/10

And yes, I got 100% (30 questions finished in 10 minutes of the 30 provided), for what that’s worth. Even if you don’t like Scrum, it’s important to know what it is. Otherwise, how can you help the teams improve? 10/10

s/product/project/ "Project managers" are the problem.