In this session, I shared how Gillette is using Scrum applied at Scale to improve agility in a CPG non-software context. We had to make some bold choices that might make classic agile practitioners cringe but we believe are appropriate and support the Scrum spirit. We will talk about our experience using Scaled Scrum inspired by Nexus to design technical and commercial Increments of the Gillette Labs Exfoliating Razor and how it helped us achieve value creation goals in an aggressive timeline. We will share how we use Scrum principles and practices to accelerate innovation and team empowerment in the non-agile-native CPG world.

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“The Best A Man Can Get”: Improving
Agility in the World’s Shaving
Headquarters Using Scrum
Yuval Yeret, Professional Scrum Trainer, SAFe Fellow, AgileSparks

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WE’LL STOP MAKING RAZOR
BLADES WHEN WE CAN’T KEEP
MAKING THEM BETTER.

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1985
ATRA PLUS/
CONTOUR PLUS
1903
SAFETY
RAZOR
1971
TRAC II/GII
1989
SENSOR
1994
SENSOR
EXCEL
1998
MACH3
2005
FUSION5
2010
FUSION5
PROGLIDE
2015
GILLETTE
FLEXBALL
2016
FUSION5
PROSHIELD
1977
ATRA/
CONTOUR
CLOSER SHAVE
WITH FLEXBALL TECHNOLOGY
WITH FLEXBALL TECHNOLOGY

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So what did we do?

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1
BRING IN
EXPERTISE
FROM OUTSIDE

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http://www.growingagile.co.za/2013
/12/the-stacey-matrix-revisited/
Design the
execution
(Empirical)
Execute
the design
(Predictive)
Maximize
impact in-
market
(Empirical)
Explore new horizons

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Stakeholders
7
development
teams
(>55 people)
Integration
team
Obstacle
removal
team
POs and
scrum-
masters
CPO team
2
FIGURE OUT A
BLUEPRINT
backlog

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3
TRAIN THE
TEAM

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4
GET RUNNING

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How did we tackle the scale of the program?

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If you had to choose one
Scrum Event…

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What does an Increment look like?
• Scrum Guide 2017 - Potentially Releasable?
• Scrum Guide 2020 - Useful / Valuable
• For us – Definition of Done should enable validated
learning and decision making around the path forward

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RETROSPECTIVE
What worked – top themes
1. Visibility across entire program (Technical/Commercial), particularly during SCRUM Integration team
meetings and Sprint Reviews (2 Teams)
2. Daily meetings add structure and help make sure everyone is on the same page & supported, reduces
the need for extraneous meetings, and necessary to keep rapid pace (4 Teams)
3. Frequent, consistent touches with sponsors allowing for quick pivot in direction if needed, less overall
re-work (3 Teams)
4. Collaboration Internally Amongst Team and Externally w/Other Teams allowing quicker learning
iterations (3 Teams)
5. Autonomy for the development team enabled speed and efficiency

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RETROSPECTIVE
Opportunities for improvement – top themes
1. Fully implementing scrum operational support processes was lacking particularly once WFH
implemented, dedicated space, Sprint Board, Dependencies, Kanban (4 Teams)
2. Scrum principles and structure not completely followed; teams ended up still having to make multiple
versions of presentations vs. messy working meetings due to different levels of sponsor reviews (4
Teams)
3. Challenging to get dedicated resources who can provide >50% of their time, and even be able to
support multiple teams (3 Teams)
4. While Sprint reviews were a great way to see the progress of all teams, they were sometimes quite
long and we were not always able to include all teams in reviews. (3 Teams)

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Shifts and tensions
Shifts
• Dedication
• Prioritization
• Culture
Tensions
• Decision making/
engagement
• Servant leadership
• Capacity

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Scaling beyond one
successful program

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The Product Owner / Scrum Team Evolution
Category /
Brand
Product
Team

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Tool focus

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Next?
Stakeholders
Sprints
Backlog
POs
Our scaling journey – So far
Based on pain and principles
culture
Org
design
tools

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V4.0.0
© 2016 Scaled Agile, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

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Breakout Discussion
• Gillette Leadership is bought in. They want Scrum implemented in all
programs/teams.
• You’re a team figuring out some change management aspects – and
you’re concerned it’s going to be too hard for everyone to go “Full
Head-on Scrum” and it will drive some resistance/dysfunction.
• Think through how to position Scrum to the organization. Which
would be your HARD points for everyone to follow? (Other items
would be recommended but not mandatory)
• Prioritize Scrum aspects – Keeping Scrum SPIRIT and Empiricism in mind –
What’s the Scrum MVC (Minimum Viable Change)?
• Any other thoughts on how to position the change?

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Scaled Scrum
•Multiple Scrum Teams
•Program Increment – quarterly
cycle across teams
•Integrated Increment every Sprint
Scrum
•Follow Scrum Guide on Roles,
Artifacts, Events
•Focused, Dedicated Team and PO
•Follow Scrum Values/Culture more
closely
Sprints
•Timebox of 1 month or less
•Holistic Increment reviewed with
Stakeholders every Sprint for
inspection and adaptation
•Work driven by Product Backlog
ordered by Value and Learning
priorities
Scrum
Guide
AND
FULLY FOLLOW
Scrum Spirit
PARTIALLY follow
Scrum Rules

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Sprints Approach Hardpoints
27
Roles
• Product Ownership – Identify
(Not necessarily PO)
• Developers - Identified
• Scrum Master – at a minimum,
Identify coaching contact
• Stakeholders – clearly
identified
Artifacts
• Product Backlog – Clear,
Ordered, Evolving
• Sprint Backlog
• Increment – Useful and
Valuable
Events
• Sprint – Fixed Length, up to 30
days long
• Sprint Planning
• Daily Scrum – Continuously
inspect & Adapt throughout
Sprint. Meeting is one optional
way to do it.
• Sprint Review - Must happen,
SHOULD be informal and
open/transparent with
minimal overhead.
• Sprint Retrospective
Values / Culture
Strive towards the Scrum
spirit/values in order to support
Empiricism, even if not following
the full Scrum rules.

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KEY TAKEOUTS
Look for sources of pain and use Agile
tools
to address them
– don’t make Agile tools the pain
Empower teams
Find a leader to help

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PERSONAL
TAKEAWAYS
• Leave the dogma at home –
Pragmatism to a fault – to the point it
made me uncomfortable
• The core of Scrum works well for many
sorts of complex multi-disciplinary
problems once you shed away some of
the software/technology oriented layers
• Another example of the constant
tradeoff between wanting to scale fast
and the desire for people to choose/pull
for themselves.
• Who’s the right Scrum Master for the
organization is a continuing mystery.

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Questions?
Thoughts?
Yuval.Yeret@AgileSparks.com