In one of my Professional ScrumMaster Trainings on the topic of Team development, like in past seminars, several participants raised the question, “How can we as ScrumMasters more quickly (or better immediately) make our teams and team members be self-organised, develop more commitment and dynamics to get moving at last.” The understandable impatience of ScrumMasters could be felt and showed that that those involved in Scrum processes often progress at different speeds in order to adapt and integrate Scrum. Exploring this question you are bound to come across the issue of learning. Scrum is a complex procedure requring learning processes at several levels from all involved. These complex learning and practicing processes are underestimated in my opinion, often not taken into consideration enough. Too little time and space is devoted to them.
The learning levels in Scrum contexts are concerned with
- Methodology and technique of the procedure
- Scrum meta-principles
- Scrum specific working structures
- Working in team constellations
- Dynamic of change in systems
These complex levels at the same time require professional rational, social and personal learning, in general under time and success pressure and pose real challenges for everybody involved, but in particular for the Team members.
Some theses about human learning
- Humans learn at different speeds
- Complex learning is a holistic process at a rational, emotional and physical level and it takes place consciously and unconsciously
- Complex learning is an experiental process which through rational information and the experience of concrete situations ideally generates new neuronal structures in various brain areas and expands and stabilises them. This is true of all the above mentioned levels.
- Learning of all kinds means practicing.
Complex learning takes place in four phases in a non-continuous process (i.e. with partial setbacks, standstills, bags):
1. Phase of unconscious incompetence
2. Phase of conscious incompetence
3. Phase of conscious competence
4. Phase of unconscious competence
Applying these phases to Scrum learning phase 1 is the “phase of innocence”, in which those concerned are not aware yet that concerning Scrum they do not know anything or only very little.
At a first contact with the new learning challenge in phase 2 in basic trainings the feeling generally dominates that you are not really in control of the new learning task, i.e. conscious incompetence. Here mainly rational learning is addressed, accompanied by uncertainty, conscious and unconscious denial, but also curiosity and genuine interest and commitment.
The third phase of conscious competence occurs in the days and weeks of Scrum introduction, in the first Plannings and Sprints, Meetings, the contacts with external advisors etc. This is where conscious competence at the learning levels mentioned above is developed by way of experiential learning and, above all, learning in peer-to-peer dialogue with emotional and rational properties.
However, phase 3 doesn’t take place continuously but, in proportion to the context of experience and learning facilities, setbacks and regression to phase 2 will occur with all the uncertainty, frustration and blockades nearly always accompanying the oscillation between conscious incompetence and unconconscious competence. From outside these symptoms are often perceived as lack of willingness, phlegm, ambiguity, disorganisation, even resistance (sometimes of whole teams, sometimes of single members) and are rated negatively.
Ideally, in the course of time more and more conscious/unconsious competence is developing (but not entirely of its own volition) and working with Scrum methodology and structures in the Team, with the Scrum Roles etc. is fully mastered, automatised and controlled by mostly unconscious routine patterns.
In Scrum practice sufficient time has to be allotted to the complex learning processes for all concerned.
- Scrum as a complex learning process should be addressed from the beginning and differentiated learning phases should be scheduled.
- In particular in Retrospectives the ScrumMaster in his function as “Trainer” can initiate and train learning processes for various topics (in my opinion more time for Retrospectives is needed than we usually think).
- With concrete problems and conflicts cropping up in Plannings, Sprints, Daily Scrums etc. relevant learning situations can be initiated and reflected.
- Specific phases of structured reflection (Scrum Lessions) can be offered and conducted on a regular basis over a defined span of time.
- Peer-to-peer coaching groups for ScrumMasters and/or Product Owners can offer peer-to peer learning units.
- External support through Team development, coaching, training can be made use of.
Again and again we notice that in practice in the very context of Scrum introduction learning in our businesses is defined as an exceptional situation, if not a luxury. In our modern working world with its permanent challenge of change controlled learning processes have to be perceived as a normal component of work, so to speak as day-to-day business wherever this is necessary.
Work is learning and learning is work is the slogan.
Dieter Rösner
Head of Trainings
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