A response to Mike Cohn’s short video on Sprints and Scrum.
“Sprints focus the team on achieving something meaningful”
I agree that sprints focus the team on achieving a goal. However, I believe that if a team needs additional focus — a focus brought up by sprints timebox — it’s a symptom of a deeper problem.
If you go to a doctor with a headache, they might diagnose the problem so they can treat it accordingly, or just give you the painkiller to mediate the symptom.
I believe that this analogy applies to sprints and focus: if the team lacks focus without the sprint, it’s better to figure out why this happens and fix the root problem.
Why do people usually lack focus?
Do they not see the value of what they are supposed to deliver? In this case, maybe the value should be formulated and communicated better.
Are they overworked and too tired to focus? If that’s the case, the “sprint pill” forcing them to focus worsens the problem, leading to burnout. The cure would be to let them rest. Then from there, they could see the goal, focus on it, and maintain a solid pace without taking the “sprint pill.”
“If we don’t do sprints, the team will be prone to ‘student problem’ where we start something the last minute before we finish it”
I believe many people remember this situation: you aren’t interested in a subject to focus on during the semester, so you end up doing the work as late as possible to avoid failing the course.
What is the key problem here? I believe that it’s a lack of interest. I have not seena scientific study proving that everyone (or the majority) is prone to a “student effect,” but I’m familiar with a good deal of studies in educational psychology on how interest positively affects motivation and learning. (#1)
The “sprint pill” forces people to complete something even if they are truly uninterested, which might worsen the situation so that people will get used to doing uninteresting and boring things, which makes them even more detached from the value of what they are doing.
“Urgency is needed to achieve great things”
Scientific evidence suggests otherwise. Urgency hinders creativity, increases the amount of mistakes, and ruins people’s health. (#2, #3, #4)
So while I agree with Mike that sprints can help a team focus on a goal, I would argue that there is a lot more to it than a sense of urgency.
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