The Scrum Fieldbook
A Master Class on Accelerating Performance, Getting Results, and Defining the Future
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Summary
In the high-stakes arena of global business, success hinges on agility and innovation. Enter "The Scrum Fieldbook," a transformative guide that transcends the tech realm, bringing the powerful Scrum framework to a world hungry for efficiency and impact. With vivid anecdotes from industries as varied as automotive to aerospace, J.J. Sutherland offers a blueprint for revolutionizing workflows. Whether you're in a bustling metropolis or a quiet corner of the globe, this book illuminates a path to unparalleled productivity. Dive into real-world applications that prove Scrum's versatility—from nonprofit endeavors in Africa to cutting-edge genetic science firms. It's more than a methodology; it's a movement reshaping industries, one sprint at a time.
Introduction
In a world where change arrives faster than we can process it, most organizations find themselves trapped in outdated ways of working that drain energy, frustrate talented people, and prevent breakthrough results. The promise of doing twice the work in half the time isn't just an aspiration—it's an achievable reality when we embrace a fundamentally different approach to how teams collaborate and deliver value. This transformation isn't about working harder or implementing another management fad; it's about unleashing the extraordinary potential that already exists within people and organizations by creating the conditions for genuine teamwork, rapid learning, and continuous improvement to flourish naturally.
Making Change Cheap and Fast
At its core, effective change management means reducing the cost of changing your mind. When Tom Auld decided to flip houses using a radically different approach, he wasn't just renovating properties—he was revolutionizing how construction teams collaborate. Instead of following rigid plans that inevitably went awry, Tom organized his contractors into cross-functional teams that included electricians, plumbers, carpenters, and general contractors who worked together toward shared weekly goals. The transformation was immediate and powerful. Every Monday, the entire team would walk through the house, discussing what needed to be accomplished that week and agreeing on what "done" meant for each task. By Wednesday, they'd review progress and adjust their approach based on what they'd learned. This wasn't just about building—it was about building better, faster, and with genuine satisfaction. The key breakthrough came when Tom realized that paying his team weekly for completed work, rather than waiting until the entire project finished, created a virtuous cycle of accountability and momentum. Team members became invested in each other's success because their individual contributions directly impacted the collective outcome. To implement this approach yourself, start by breaking large projects into one-week cycles where teams can deliver something tangible and valuable. Create daily fifteen-minute check-ins where everyone shares progress and identifies obstacles. Most importantly, establish clear criteria for what "done" means before starting any work, ensuring everyone understands both the destination and the quality standards required to get there.
Building Teams That Accelerate
The secret to exponential improvement lies in recognizing that teams finishing early consistently accelerate faster than those who barely meet deadlines. At 3M Health Information Systems, this principle transformed how they approached one of their most critical challenges—converting massive healthcare data systems to meet new federal requirements. When David Frazee and Tammy Sparrow faced an immovable October deadline for their ICD-10 conversion project, they discovered that teams consistently overloading themselves with work never improved their speed. Instead, teams that finished their weekly commitments early had mental space and energy to reflect, experiment, and accelerate. Within months, these teams increased their velocity by 160 percent while maintaining higher quality standards. The transformation happened because early-finishing teams could focus on continuous improvement rather than just survival. They identified bottlenecks, streamlined processes, and developed better collaboration patterns. Teams stretched to capacity had no bandwidth for innovation or optimization—they were trapped in a perpetual state of catching up. Create this dynamic by having teams commit only to what they accomplished the previous week, resisting the temptation to add "stretch goals." Encourage teams to pull additional work only after completing their original commitments. Celebrate early completion as much as final delivery, and use the extra time for experimentation and process improvement. Remember that sustainable acceleration comes from building capability, not burning energy. Teams that consistently finish early develop confidence, momentum, and the psychological safety needed for breakthrough performance.
Creating the Renaissance Enterprise
The ultimate goal isn't just faster teams—it's organizations capable of extraordinary adaptation and innovation. When Eric Abecassis became CIO of Schlumberger, he inherited a massive IT modernization project involving 1,300 people producing no more output than the original 600-person team had generated. The organization had grown complex but not more capable. By implementing enterprise-wide transformation principles, Schlumberger created something unprecedented: a "team of teams" where decisions moved quickly to those closest to the work, impediments were resolved within 24 hours, and leadership focused on removing obstacles rather than micromanaging tasks. The Executive Action Team met daily for fifteen minutes, addressing only problems that couldn't be solved at lower levels. Within months, they achieved 25 percent cost reduction and 25 percent productivity improvement, proving that organizational transformation creates exponential rather than incremental change. The key was creating stable interfaces between different parts of the organization while allowing each component to optimize internally. Build this capability by establishing an Executive Action Team empowered to remove organizational impediments immediately. Create daily coordination mechanisms that surface problems quickly without bureaucratic delays. Most importantly, push decision-making authority to the teams doing the actual work, reserving leadership intervention only for obstacles beyond team-level resolution. The Renaissance Enterprise emerges when structure serves purpose rather than constraining it, when hierarchy exists to accelerate rather than control, and when every person understands how their contribution connects to meaningful outcomes.
Summary
The art of changing the possible begins with a fundamental shift in perspective—from seeing limitations as permanent to recognizing them as temporary constraints waiting to be dissolved through better ways of working. As demonstrated throughout these transformations, "the only thing that matters is what happens after what comes next." The future isn't predetermined by past performance or current circumstances; it's shaped by our willingness to embrace new approaches and our commitment to unleashing human potential. Start today by organizing your next project into one-week cycles, gathering your team for daily fifteen-minute coordination sessions, and focusing relentlessly on finishing work completely before starting something new. The extraordinary results you seek are not just possible—they're inevitable when you create the conditions for excellence to emerge naturally.
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By J.J. Sutherland
