Game of SCRUM & VSM
Mark Lambertz
Metaphorum Conference 2016
Leeds
Me
Innovation
Organization
Human
Centered
Design
32+ yrs digital experience
20+ yrs professional
Multipreneur
Author & Blogger
Consultant
Agile Coach
Strategist
Design Thinker
Exponentialist
Freelancing & University Lecturer
Speaker
Transducer,
System 4,
Boundary Spanner
I ♡ models
Thesis
Consequently practiced SCRUM constitutes
itself inherently as a viable system.
Furthermore it shows that enterprise wide
SCRUM is a feasible approach, since it
implicitly follows the principles of the VSM.
What is SCRUM?
A framework to insure
Transparency
Inspection
Adaptation
Origins:
1997 developed by
Ken Schwaber Jeff Sutherland
Mindset:
OODA
Observe
Orient
Decide
Act
Values:
commitment
courage
focus
openness
respect
Risk management: 

for volatile
environments
tactics:
the higher the
uncertainty the
shorter the cycle
=
small increments
&&
small batch size
Timebox!2nd & 4th Principle of Organization!

≈ Synchronization
Agile Manifesto
Lean Thinking
Agile Manifesto
SCRUM
Basic Values
Individuals &
Interaction
Processes &
Tools
+
-
Working
Software
extensive
Documentation
+
-
Cooperation
with Client
Contract
negotiations
+
-
React to
change
Follow
the plan-
+
Methodical Approach
Decision:
Static mapping of SCRUM activities,
artifacts and roles to VSM Systems
or 

process related (time based) exploration of
SCRUM behavior
Procedure:
Personal research
Peer review:
Heike Bartlog, 

Host for Innovation
Interviews & 

Field verification
Recursion level: Team
Product
Owner
Scrum
Master
Team
Member 1
Team
Member 2
Stake-
holders
User
Agile
Manifesto
TOKENS
Managt.
Stake-
holders
!
UsersDev Team
Member 1
Dev Team
Member 2
Product
Owner
Scrum
Master
Agile
Manifesto
TURN: 1
Product vision
Managt.
Product
Owner Scrum
Master
Dev Team
Member 1
Dev Team
Member 2
Product
Owner
Dev Team
Product
Owner
Dev
Team
Agile
Manifesto
Stake-
holders
Users
Scrum
Master
Managt.
TURN: 1
Product vision
!
Definition of Purpose
Epics & User Stories
Acceptance Criteria
Definition of „Ready“
Definition of „Done“
Agreements
Product
Owner Scrum
Master
Dev Team
Member 1
Dev Team
Member 2
Product
Owner
Dev Team
Product
Owner
Dev
Team
Agile
Manifesto
!
Stake-
holders
Users
Scrum
Master
TURN: 2
sprint planning
Managt.
Item Bargain for 1st Sprint
Product Owner prioritization
Dev Team picks items for the sprint
SCRUM Master intervenes if needed
Product
Owner
Scrum
Master
Dev Team
Member 1
Dev Team
Member 2
Product
Owner
Dev
Team
Scrum
Master
Dev
Team Agile
Manifesto
!
Stake-
holders
Users
Dev
Team
TURN: 3
Daily Cycle
Dev
Team
Scrum
Master
Managt.
Production Phase
Check up: On course?
Product Owner almost not involved
SCRUM Master = moderator
Product
Owner
Scrum
Master
Dev Team
Member 1
Dev Team
Member 2
Product
Owner
Dev
Team
Scrum
Master
Dev
Team Agile
Manifesto
!
Stake-
holders
Users
Dev
Team
TURN: 4
Release
Dev
Team
Scrum
Master
Managt.
Release
Potentially shippable product
Increment
Dev Team
Member 1
Dev Team
Member 2
Product
Owner
Product
Owner Dev
Team
Product
Owner
Scrum
Master
Dev
Team
Agile
Manifesto
!
Scrum
Master
Stake-
holders
Users
TURN: 5
sprint review
Dev
Team
Scrum
Master
Managt.
Product Reflection
What can we learn from 

the last sprint about our product?
Features, Stability, Dev Issues, etc.
Dev Team
Member 1
Dev Team
Member 2
Product
Owner
Scrum
Master
Dev
Team
Product
Owner
Scrum
Master
Dev
Team
Product
Owner
Scrum
Master
Dev
TeamProduct
Owner
Scrum
Master
Dev
Team
Agile
Manifesto
!
Scrum
Master
Stake-
holders
Users
TURN: 6
Sprint retrospective
Managt.
Collaboration Reflection
What can we learn from 

the last sprint about our collaboration?
Human interaction, tools, rules, etc.
A short reflection about
enterprise SCRUM
Team 1
Team 2
…
Synchronization
Sync 1 Sync 2 Sync 3
It’s recursive!
Beware:
SCRUM is not suitable for
every type of value creation!
But there are other
agile practices for
„not-so-incremental“ processes.
Summary
Conclusion
SCRUM activities, artifacts and roles during the
process can be mapped towards the VSM
SCRUM teams follow implicitly the principles of
viability
SCRUM can be scaled in the enterprise context, if it is
possible to synchronize the teams
Additional agile methods should be used in the
systems which support the creation of value

Game of SCRUM & VSM