Scrum by the Generals

I have read som blog posts and articles introducing the concept of the Scrum Master Jar Jar. The story is that the Scrum methodology just replaces a "pointy haired boss"-project manager with a "Scrum Master Jar Jar" who asks questions on the morning meeting which takes up time the developers could use for more important tasks. However strange a situation like that is in any organization I have worked in, it does highlight some problems in organizations introducing scrum. Rather than discussing the concept itself, I will try to highlight a few issues with scrum that will make sure that we never ends up in a situation like described in the post.

• The Scrum Master is part of the team. The team does not report to the Scrum Master in the morning meeting. It is completely wrong to view the scrum master to handle the traditional tasks of a project manager. If anyone takes on that it is the Product Owner. Most of the time, the scrum master can be the lead programmer or architect. (If he/she is suitable as scrum master of course!) It actually combines very well with an additional non-development role, as long as it doesn't create a distance between the Scrum Master and the team.
• If the team cannot make the morning meeting productive, there is something seriously wrong with the development department or the developers. Of course we need to make sure it is a useful forum, but some responsibility must be put on the develpers themselves. A group that does not share the work and the result is very volatile and will lose productivity by people searching information, redoing work that is already done and when people leave. This is what collective ownership is all about.

So a final reflection here would be that if an organization ends up with a Scrum Master Jar Jar situation it is a clear indication on that the Scrum methodology has been introduced but the organization has stayed the same. There is still the same division of responsibilities, and everyone does the same things as before. Doing this is not change and there will be no result. But the good side is that it doesn't have to be like this.