To create a skills matrix, run a workshop. You can follow the step-by-step in my article "How to Build a Powerful Team from Scratch" here 👉🏻 buff.ly/Z4gIixu
#EffectiveScrum #SkillsMatrix #TeamBuilding #Agile #Scrum #Collaboration #Teamwork #HighPerformanceTeams
Start a conversation around new products ideas is hard, with all of the noise surrounding #GenAI
I look forward to the #GenAI bubble bursting.
#EffectiveScrum #LeaningInPublic
Sign up for our newsletter to learn how to be more effective. (Sadly, I know that I'm as fit as I was playing rugby when I was in my 20s). https://buff.ly/3W2atOR
6/6 #EffectiveScrum
Today's duplicate code and additional complexity will be a source of problems in 2026 and beyond.
#EffectiveScrum Teams find where their real bottlenecks are and address those problems. (AI may not be included).
5/6
Since the bottleneck was never the rate at which we write code, generating code faster with AI is a waste.
I will say it out loud: LLM-generated code will be a leading source of quality problems in 2025.
4/6 #EffectiveScrum
Here are the effects we can document about AI/LLMs
- Code Complexity is going up, not down
- Deployment Frequency has slowed, and Rollbacks have Increased
The Theory of Constraints says that any improvements that don't affect the key constraint are an illusion.
3/6 #EffectiveScrum
Measuring perception and not the code itself, leads to false conclusions.
The data shows that duplication is increasing and refactoring is decreasing. The data tells us that perception doesn't match reality. (GitClear AI Copilot Code Quality: 2025 https://buff.ly/3QvIBPy
2/6 #EffectiveScrum
I perceive that I am the fittest I've ever been. If the data doesn't back my perception, then it doesn't matter.
The DORA 2024 State of DevOps report (https://buff.ly/3Ab2YNe misses the boat. They measure Developer's perceptions about AI: feel productive++ and complexity--.
1/6 #EffectiveScrum
This principle holds true whether you're developing software or competing in sports. Ask any competitive athlete. They all want to go faster. Most know that speed involves improving technique (learning) and expending less energy (quality). As we learned with many 4 a.m. drives..
5/6 #EffectiveScrum
Arbitrarily determined deadlines become immovable goal posts. Team members contort themselves to achieve these goals.
- Speed over Quality and Learning - Speed comes from focusing on Quality and Learning. Not the other way round.
4/6 #EffectiveScrum
People will forgo time to make improvements, fix tech debt, cross-skill to cram another item into a Sprint, even though this is counter-productive.
- Too often, the pressure also comes from above. Pressure to finish more features and meet meaningless deadlines worsens problem.
3/6 #EffectiveScrum
...We change lanes dozens of times in our commute despite knowing that it has a marginal effect at best. This shows up in Sprint Planning, where teams, even without external pressure, focus on cramming items into the Sprint.
2/6 #EffectiveScrum
Culture is hard to change; these issues are the ones that often get addressed last. Of course, failure to address these issues from the start makes real change much harder.
## Cultural Issues:
- Pressure to go faster - we have a culture focused on speed across North America...
1/6 #EffectiveScrum
Without real user feedback, we’re developing the product with a blindfold.
What Process issues have you noticed that affect Quality? Sign up for our newsletter to see how I coach teams through this problem.
https://buff.ly/3W2atOR
5/5 #EffectiveScrum
This is the classic Docker joke, but it's an awful quality standard.
- Insufficient Stakeholder Feedback - I’ve witnessed Sprint Reviews where the Product Owner gives a polished 20-minute demo (snooze). Stakeholders/End-Users nod politely and leave, or worse, don’t show up. ...
4/5 #EffectiveScrum
It’s a bit like combining the role of coach and manager on a professional sports team.
- When there is no Definition of Done (when teams ignore it), then product quality is subjective. “Well, it worked on my machine” becomes the quality standard.
3/5 #EffectiveScrum
- Poorly defined roles - Many orgs use Scrum as a coat of paint on top of their existing process. They add SM and Product Owner as additional responsibilities to already busy people. Worse, they combine both into one role, assuming there isn't much going on for either role.
2/5 #EffectiveScrum
Last time we looked at how limited collaboration harms quality, this time process comes under the microscope.
## Process Issues:
When I started working on this series, I assumed most problems would be process related. Nearly at the end of, very few are.
1/5 #EffectiveScrum
This principle holds true whether you're developing software or competing in sports. Ask any competitive athlete. They all want to go faster. Most know that speed involves improving technique (learning) and expending less energy (quality). As we learned with many 4 a.m. drives..
5/6 #EffectiveScrum
Arbitrarily determined deadlines become immovable goal posts. Team members contort themselves to achieve these goals.
- Speed over Quality and Learning - Speed comes from focusing on Quality and Learning. Not the other way round.
4/6 #EffectiveScrum
People will forgo time to make improvements, fix tech debt, cross-skill to cram another item into a Sprint, even though this is counter-productive.
- Too often, the pressure also comes from above. Pressure to finish more features and meet meaningless deadlines worsens problem.
3/6 #EffectiveScrum
...We change lanes dozens of times in our commute despite knowing that it has a marginal effect at best. This shows up in Sprint Planning, where teams, even without external pressure, focus on cramming items into the Sprint.
2/6 #EffectiveScrum
Culture is hard to change; these issues are the ones that often get addressed last. Of course, failure to address these issues from the start makes real change much harder.
## Cultural Issues:
- Pressure to go faster - we have a culture focused on speed across North America...
1/6 #EffectiveScrum
..This may not directly affect quality. It makes it harder to address the problems that affect quality. Lacking psychological safety makes it harder to ask for help. We fear if we do, we will be seen as "weak" by our peers. 11/12 #EffectiveScrum
...focusing on happy path implementation and not considering failures and not getting perspectives from Usability, Security, Testing, etc. Isolation harms psychological safety, making it harder to raise concerns. In turn, problems are likely to fester...
10/11 #EffectiveScrum
...Each person solves a code problem in their own way in the code base without realizing other versions already exist. Building good products requires many viewpoints. When that is missing, we have the classic developer problem alone problem... 9/11 #EffectiveScrum
...However, they don't understand how the system is tested; this creates more work that could have been avoided if they worked directly with a tester. Knowledge silos, also increase the likelihood of creating multiple solutions to the same problem... 8/11 #EffectiveScrum
..Knowledge silos harm because we don't understand what other parts of our system will harmed when making a change. For example, if a developer changes a behaviour in one part of the system, the change seems safe because no unit tests have been broken... 7/11 #EffectiveScrum
...disagreements over requirements, duplicate work, and missed responsibilities. (For example, Everyone assumes someone else would do the security audit.) When we're working in isolation, creates knowledge silos and causes more handoffs... 6/11 #EffectiveScrum
...together to tackle this problem and find out why it keeps happening." At a minimum, Scrum Teams should achieve Cooperation. However, teams only become truly effective when they achieve Collaboration. Lack of communication among team members leads to... 5/11 #EffectiveScrum
