AUTHOR: Malene Marie Bendixen Jacobsen, Agile Coach

There were a lot of interesting topics and talks at the gathering but I will try to keep this blog post short and just share what really stood out for me.

“Emergent Design” is Not Agile – Pete Krueger

Due to time constraints and other commitments, I could not attend this whole talk, but what stood out to me was the below image that represents how to deal with the design aspect in agile. I found this valuable as I often see how people misunderstand the design part in agile.

In agile, it’s all about making what you have even better over time instead of breaking designs down into small pieces to create new ones.

The unlikely lesson from inventing the hashtag – Chris Messina

The closing keynote at the gathering was from the inventor of the #, Chris Messina. He started out his keynote by explaining WHY rather than the HOW. Chris noted that he did not create the hashtag itself, he just created the method of using it.

Even though it was interesting to hear about why he invented using the hashtag, what really stood out for me was his way of seeing success. Often people associate success with money. However, Chris had an opposing view.

He wanted everyone to just use the hashtag without making it about the money and that is why he made it free for any company to use his idea. So he created his measurement of success, and this is how success would look for him:

Today on Twitter alone there are approximately 2 300 hashtags created per second. If he had measured his success in money instead of the above measurement, he would probably look back and think it was a massive failure. Now, he can look back and be proud of the big success.

#ItsNotAlwaysAboutTheMoney!

Takeaways from Austin

Before I end the blog post I just wanted to share with you the drawing from Tamsen Mitchell with key takeaways from participants at the gathering. I am always so amazed by her graphic skills.

Closing

Looking back at the Global Scrum Gathering in Austin, it was truly an amazing experience. What really stood out for me was the idea behind the Open Space that Harrison Owen created back in the 80s – that the most productive and insightful part of a conference is the coffee breaks and other unorganized encounters.

What made this gathering one to remember was the opportunity to create new friendships, share ideas, and hear other opinions! I cannot say it enough, if you have never attended a global or regional scrum gathering please do yourself the fewer and attend one soon.