## Introduction

[Scrum](/blog/first-steps-to-learn-scrum/) or other [Agile](https://agilemanifesto.org/) practices have been really popular in the last 10 - 20 years. More and more organisations decide for the **"Agile transformation"**. What does it mean in reality? In many cases it means only a change of language that it’s used in the organisation, but mentality remains the same.

Thankfully there are companies which really want to make an impact and **change the way they think, work & deliver** their products. Of course, change is the process and they cannot implement [Scrum](https://letsscrumit.com/first-steps-to-learn-scrum/) or any [Agile](https://agilemanifesto.org/) practices without making mistakes.

Today I would like to list **7 signs of trouble** in the Scrum Team. Be careful if you notice them in your Scrum Team. It probably means that some elements of [Scrum](https://letsscrumit.com/first-steps-to-learn-scrum/) have been lost in implementation. But don’t worry! You can always use **empiricism** and inspect & adapt.

## 1. Product Owner or Scrum Master assigning the work

One of the huge differences between old-fashioned waterfall product delivery & Scrum is **self-management** or **self-organisation** of the Scrum Team.

Whenever you notice that either [Product Owner](/blog/scrum-roles-2-product-owner/) or [Scrum Master](/blog/scrum-roles-3-scrum-master/) **assign product backlog items to individuals**, it’s always a bad sign. It means that the team doesn’t have the autonomy to decide how they will be working and they are not self-managing.

[Product Owner](/blog/scrum-roles-2-product-owner/) should only let the team know **WHAT** needs to be done, but **HOW** exactly it will be done and **WHO** will be working on specific items, should be up to [Developers](/blog/scrum-roles-1-development-team/) within the Scrum Team.

[Scrum Master](/blog/scrum-roles-3-scrum-master/) also shouldn’t control the team and assign work to anyone. They should be the person who is guiding the team and teaching them how to be self-managing. I know that it’s easy to say, but many [Scrum Master](/blog/scrum-roles-3-scrum-master/) who were Project Managers struggle with letting control go. But **there is no other way** if you really want to help the team.

## 2. Lack of transparency

What do I mean by "lack of transparency"? Oh God! There are so many things that people can hide!

One of the bad signs is if people in Scrum Team **talk about the issues behind someones back** instead of discussing it with the whole team on [Sprint Retrospective](/blog/scrum-events-5-sprint-retrospective/). It can mean that the team **doesn’t trust each other** enough to discuss the issues.

Issues with transparency can be also related to communication with business e.g. The Scrum Team is hiding issues related to development of the product and business thinks that everything is ok.

In both scenarios, issues will be exposed at some point and hiding things will not serve the team. I would definitely recommend **being honest & discussing what the team is struggling with**. Even if it will not be comfortable for people!

![gossip](img/gossip.jpg "gossip")

## 3. Lack of  the Sprint Goal - everything is priority

Whenever I ask [Product Owner](/blog/scrum-roles-2-product-owner/) or Scrum Team - **"What is the top priority?"** and they reply - **"everything"**, it is always a bad sign. But that’s not the end. Even if they reply that way, but they have a **[Sprint Goal](/blog/sprint-goal-why-do-we-need-it/)** and at the end they can select the most important Product Backlog Items, they should be ok.

The problem is when the **Scrum Team doesn’t have any Sprint Goal during the Sprint** and they think that everything in the [Sprint Backlog](/pl/blog/scrum-artifacts-2-sprint-backlog) is top priority.

What is the result of that? **Multitasking & lack of focus** during the [Sprint](/blog/scrum-events-1-the-sprint). **[Sprint Goal](/blog/sprint-goal-why-do-we-need-it/)**  is the great artifact, because it helps [Developers](/blog/scrum-roles-1-development-team/) to focus and it guides them in terms of any decision that is made during the [Sprint](/blog/scrum-events-1-the-sprint).

## 4. Size of the Scrum Team - too big

Based on the recent version of the [Scrum Guide](https://scrumguides.org/scrum-guide.html), the size of the Scrum Team should be max. 10 people. Why?

> In general, we have found that smaller teams communicate better and are more productive. 

The Scrum Team that has more than 10 people is a bad sign. Most of the time it means that **communication** between team members doesn’t work well. Sometimes it can look like everything is ok, but in reality when the group is too large, it’s easy to **miss the needs of team members** and there is not enough space/time for everyone to share their thoughts.

![blank notebook](img/blank.jpg "blank notebook")

## 5. Product Backlog never ready for the Sprint Planning

This issue is really common and it is definitely a sign of trouble. If the [Product Backlog](/blog/scrum-artifacts-1-product-backlog/) is not ready for [Sprint Planning](/blog/scrum-events-2-sprint-planning/) and the team doesn’t know what they need to focus on next, [Sprint](/blog/scrum-events-1-the-sprint will be probably chaotic. 

When I am saying **"[Product Backlog](/blog/scrum-artifacts-1-product-backlog/) is ready"** it doesn’t mean that it is fully defined. I mean only that the top of the backlog is **defined enough** for the team to start the work.

It also means that the [Product Owner](/blog/scrum-roles-2-product-owner/) has a clear vision of the product and this will drive all the further actions. We should avoid as much as possible a **chaotic [Product Backlog](/blog/scrum-artifacts-1-product-backlog/)** that doesn’t serve the Scrum Team.

## 6. Story points translated into hours

Let me be clear - **story points are not part of the Scrum**. But they can be used by the Scrum Team to estimate & plan their work. So, if the Scrum Team decides to use story points, they should **NEVER translate them to hours**. Why? The reason is really simple. Hours are **absolute estimation** and story points are **relative estimation**.

**What does it mean?**

Absolute estimation is reflected in absolute values e.g. hours. FYI as human beings, we are really **bad at estimating complex tasks in hours**.

When it comes to relative estimation, estimates aren’t just based on **effort**, so we cannot translate them into hours. We need to take into consideration also **risk, uncertainty, technology & volume**.

Imagine that you decided that 1 story point means a number of hours. In this case in reality you don’t use relative estimation, it’s fixed estimation in hours.

When we estimate with story points, these estimates will be different depending on the team, their knowledge, skills & how many things they know about the task or story. 

They estimate considering all team members. So one person can work on the story for 8 hours, because they are new and they need to learn the technology. While the other team member would work on it for 3 hours, because they are experienced and technology is simple for them.
 
This case is just one example of the way how estimates work. Estimation is also a great opportunity for [Developers](/blog/scrum-roles-1-development-team/) to discuss specific product backlog items & clarify things. 

Translating  story points into hours doesn’t really provide any value, while it adds the risk of micromanagement and verification if a specific item was completed within planned time. 

## 7. Sprint Retrospective without any outcome

That is another common issue and I wanted to highlight it here, because it **does stop Scrum Team from improving**. So the most frequently used scenario is that we have a [Retrospective](/blog/scrum-events-5-sprint-retrospective) and talk about everything what went well, what didn’t and what could be improved. The issue is when we just talk about issues, ideas for improvements but at the end we don’t have any clear **action items**.

Based on the [Scrum Guide](https://scrumguides.org/scrum-guide.html): 

> The Scrum Team identifies the most helpful changes to improve its effectiveness. The most impactful improvements are addressed as soon as possible. They may even be added to the Sprint Backlog for the next Sprint.

We should try to specify the changes that need to be implemented and implement them. Without it, the whole discussion was a waste of everyone’s time and [Sprint Retrospective](/blog/scrum-events-5-sprint-retrospective/) didn’t provide the value that it should provide.

Of course, if we don’t specify the action items it is a sign of something. What is behind it? Do we even have a **space in the Sprint** to work on **improvements**? Is the company supporting us in making required **changes**? Do we feel **part of the team** and have a **motivation** to make things better?

These are the questions that **need to be addressed** if we recognize the issue.

## Summary

The purpose of this post was to summarise signs of trouble in the Scrum Team, to **help you recognize them** and try to address them.

It is the end of the article, but it definitely is not the **end of the signs of trouble**. Have you ever experienced issues that I listed here? How did you deal with them? What would you list as other issues that could be signs of trouble in the Scrum Team?

[Embed](https://www.instagram.com/reel/Ci2YR1qjaze/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading)

Have you noticed issues once implemented Scrum? Are you wondering what could change to help your team improve? Read this post and check out if you didn’t fall into one of the 7th traps I mentioned.

7 signs of trouble in the Scrum Team


## Introduction

Hello, hello! It’s been a while since I wrote my last post here. It’s time to start this year with some new content. 
I just finished a book **Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup"** written by **John Carreyrou**. 

**Spoiler alert!** If you haven't read the book yet, I would recommend doing it first before reading this post. ;)

It is one of these books that you start reading and cannot stop, because it is so interesting. It's the story about startup **Theranos**, an American health technology company. **Elisabeth Holmes** - CEO and the founder of the company was claiming that she will revolutionise the world with her company’s blood testing invention, while it was all a **big fat lie and fraud**. 

Why am I talking about it on this blog? There are so many different thoughts that I had when I was reading this book. I had a sad reflection about the direction of this world, but let’s leave it for later. 

In this post I would like to focus only on one aspect that came to my mind - **critical thinking**. I strongly believe that in the current world it is one of the most important **21st century skills** that we should focus on in education. Let me tell you why, on the example of Elisabeth’s fraud. 

## Trusting famous people & critical thinking

Reading Elisabeth’s story made me realise that there are people in this world that can sell you everything. She was one of them. That woman was able to raise more than US$700 mln from investors who believed in her revolutionary product even if they didn’t see any scientific proof that the product will be able to work. 

Why was it so easy? Of course, I am sure that Elisabeth was able to tell great stories and probably she was a master at manipulating people.

I believe there is something more in this story. One of the reasons why investors got so interested in the product, was creating an **image of Theranos** being the next Apple or Google in the medical sector. 

Elisabeth's idol was **Steve Jobs** and she built her image around being **his female version**. People trusted her and they felt safe enough to invest their money in Theranos. 

![Elisabeth_Holmes](img/elisabeth_holmes.png)

#### Source: "Theranos founder, chairwoman, and C.E.O. Elizabeth Holmes, in Palo Alto, California, September 2014." - BY ETHAN PINES/THE FORBES COLLECTION.

I am pretty sure that there is some psychological process that would describe this behaviour and our willingness to treat famous people differently. I am just wondering why do we trust these people so much?  Could **critical thinking** potentially save us from that? 

Elisabeth Holmes is not the only one who was able to trick people. There are still many, maybe less popular, but still pretty good liars out there. 

Even if I wish we could trust everyone in the world, I don't believe we should. We need to teach students at schools how to **think critically** and analyse information **no matter who they receive it from**. 

Would Theranos have so many investors if they would analyse the facts and confront them with scientific sources? I have no idea, maybe not. But thankfully because few former employees of Theranos were able to think critically, this company doesn't exist anymore.

## Impact of the Critical Thinking

You may wonder why I am connecting these random old investors with education. The reason is simple **our current students at school, university will at some point become adults making decisions that will impact the world.**

Investing in Theranos had a direct **impact on people’s lives.** It was a support for the non ethical process of blood tests that were giving the patients in the US **wrong results**. Imagine receiving misleading information that your results are so bad and you have probably some dangerous disease like cancer. Or the opposite, you received fake positive results, but in reality you should get some medical intervention. In both scenarios you can end up really sick or even die.

This story is just one example, but the way we teach students and what skills they learn, **it can really impact our future**.

## Critical Thinking and "SELF"

Enough sad stories. Let’s try to understand better what critical thinking is and how we can help students to develop this skill.

Quoting **Wikipedia**:

> Critical thinking is the analysis of available facts, evidence, observations, and arguments to form a judgment.(...) Critical thinking is self-directed, self-disciplined, self-monitored, and self-corrective thinking.

There is one really important part of this definition that I believe is crucial, the word **"self"**. The analysis that is done as a part of critical thinking is done by ourselves. We direct it, we decide what and how should be analysed, not other people. **Critical thinking is coming from inside**.
In order to be able to make that analysis by themselves, **students need to have enough space for their "self"**.

They need to have the **autonomy to make decisions** and have a voice in the learning process. 
What does it mean for education?

![self](img/self.jpg)

## Reshaping the format of school

We are at this stage in the history of the world when **schools shouldn’t be just a source of knowledge**. It is no longer possible to cover all important information at school, because we have **much more information** than any human being is able to process.

The purpose of schools is radically changing and at this stage much more important than feeding students with knowledge is **supporting them in their own learning process**.In order to do it, we should give much more autonomy to students. 

In my last [posts](/blog/eduscrum-why-do-we-need-in-education/) I mentioned [eduScrum](https://eduscrum.com.au/) - framework that I am really passionate about. It is the way of teaching that supports students in learning skills like **critical thinking or collaboration**. 

## eduScrum and critical thinking

How does [eduScrum](https://eduscrum.com.au/) support students in developing critical thinking skills?

First of all, The Teacher gives Student Teams information about **learning objectives** that are in the form of stories and they list specific **Celebration Criteria** that need to be met in order to achieve these objectives. 

Decision about the way **HOW** these learning objectives will be achieved is owned by students. What does it mean in reality? They need to verify the information, create a list of required tasks and **find their own way of learning**.  At the beginning it can be difficult, because they need to **start analysing data** and **make decisions**. 

They are no longer commanded by the Teacher and they need to **self-organise**. That is exactly the moment when students start developing **critical thinking** skills. 

What is more, they don’t receive the answers on the plate, so they need to **start asking questions** and be proactive to find the right answers. 

![questions](img/questions.jpg)

## The value of critical thinking

When I analyse critical thinking and its impact, I like to remind myself of **Sangen**. "The Principle of Sanmi-Sangen" is a Japanese explanation of the mystery of life. Based on it, square, triangle and circle explain the meaning of human life. 

![Sangen-original](img/Sangen1.png)

#### Source: eduScrum library

Willy Wijnands transformed this metaphor to show the **dynamics & interactions in education**.  

- **The square** represents a **curriculum** that teacher needs to stick to when they plan their work.  

- **Triangle** in the middle reflects the main **focus**, while **circle** is the expression of **dynamics**. 

As a teacher we **change the focus** from subject/project to individual students or to teams depending on needs.   Initially the curriculum is our frame or box and all dynamics are happening within this box.  But once students develop critical thinking skill, they **start growing outside the box**. They are able to achieve what was planned in the curriculum and much more. 

![Sangen-education](img/sangen.png)

#### Source: eduScrum library

That’s the moment when they become less dependent on the teacher and start learning in their own way that wasn’t prescribed by the curriculum or teacher.

I find it fascinating and I’ve seen how **creative** students can be if they have **autonomy and space for their own "self"**. 

## Summary

I strongly believe that we can **impact the future by making the changes in education**. Let’s help our students and give them space for developing critical thinking skills.  Maybe we will save them from believing in some frauds like this one done by Theranos. 

I would like to do my piece and promote [eduScrum](https://eduscrum.com.au/) all over the world. If you find this subject interesting and would like to learn more, feel free to visit my [website](https://eduscrum.com.au/) and register for [eduScrum](https://eduscrum.com.au/) training. 

Let’s build this community **together**! :)

In this post I explain the value of critical thinking using the example of Theranos fraud. Was there any way to prevent it from happening?

Critical thinking - could we apply it to avoid Theranos fraud?

Jump in here to explore eduScrum framework - innovative way of working with students. I explain in this post what is the foundation of the framework and how it relates to roles, events and artifacts.

What is eduScrum?

##Introduction

You will learn today about **[eduScrum](https://eduscrum.com.au/)** - a framework that I fell in love with and I would like to spread knowledge about it everywhere in the world. 

Initially I was planning to write just a post about [eduScrum](https://eduscrum.com.au/) basics, but then I realized that before explaining **WHAT** is [eduScrum](https://eduscrum.com.au/) I need to tell you more about **WHY**. 

Why do we need it in Education? Why could you even think about using that framework? Why do I like this framework so much?

## The origins of eduScrum

To fully understand [eduScrum](https://eduscrum.com.au/) you need to know its origins.  That’s how it is described by the founder of [eduScrum](https://eduscrum.com.au/) - **Willy Wijnands**:

> It starts with a bottle of beer and a barbeque in the summer (June) of 2011 with Mark Reijn. Mark just finished a Scrum course given by Jeff Sutherland at the company Schuberg Philis in Amsterdam, where Mark works as a software engineer. Mark was very enthusiastic about Scrum, inspired by Jeff and he explained Scrum to me on one single paper.  > >He was the sparkle who put me on fire. In August 2011 I started one class using Scrum to try-out if it works in the classroom. In the beginning I was surprised that it was working. So, I began to use Scrum in all my classes with success. And so the name eduScrum was born.

When I read this story I can feel a huge inspiration and I am grateful that Willy discovered what Scrum is and implemented it in the classroom. 

## Why did I fall in love with eduScrum?

I am sure that behind Willy's story there are problems that teachers experience in their life every day. He was talking with Mark , because he was looking for inspiration. He really wanted to help his students to collaborate better and to use their potential in the learning process.

I personally believe that the heart of [eduScrum](https://eduscrum.com.au/) is **care for students and discovering what can help them to thrive**. That’s my **WHY**, the reason why I like [eduScrum](https://eduscrum.com.au/) so much.  I am inspired by this framework, because the main mission in my life is to help people to discover their potential and thrive. 

If you ever plan to implement [eduScrum](https://eduscrum.com.au/) in your classroom or project, remember - the purpose is not to give you another technique. [eduScrum](https://eduscrum.com.au/) is not a silver bullet and it will work only if you will care about your students and give them the wings to fly.

![fly](img/fly.jpg)

## eduScrum & Scrum

As you could find out in Willy's story, he created [eduScrum](https://eduscrum.com.au/) after discovering what **Scrum** is. 

If you are reading this post and it’s the first time when you’ve heard term Scrum, feel free to check out my previous posts: 
* [First steps to learn Scrum](/blog/first-steps-to-learn-scrum/) 
* [Relationship between Scrum and Agile](/blog/relationship-between-scrum-and-agile/)

[eduScrum](https://eduscrum.com.au/) & Scrum have a lot in common, but I will explain it in the following posts.  Today I would like to fully focus on **WHY**.

## Why do we need eduScrum in Education, what are the benefits?

I’ve done some analysis below and explained **3 WHY’s** to show you the reason why we need change like [eduScrum](https://eduscrum.com.au/) in Education and what are the benefits.

### Education now vs 100 years ago - linear teaching transformation

Initially, when I started writing this part of the post I wanted to mention that education didn’t change too much over the last 100 years. I will not do that, because I would be lying. 

Let’s take a trip down the memory lane- **what changed over the last 100 years?**
* 100 years ago education was available to limited number of people. Currently that’s the case only in some underdeveloped countries. As women we are in much better position now, because in the past we wouldn't have access to education.
* Schools are not using corporal punishment anymore. It is not legal in most of the countries in the world while it was a common approach in the past. 
* Technology is much more advanced - schools use active boards, computers, tablets. 
* In the past the teacher "was always right" even if that wasn’t the truth. Nowadays, there is more space for mistakes and teachers can make them too, because they are human beings, not robots.

**What didn’t change?**

I found a great picture on https://educationrickshaw.com/ that explains it well. 

![Teaching vs learning](img/direction.png "Teaching vs learning")

I wish I could tell you: the left hand side represents education 100 years ago, while the right hand side represents education now.  Unfortunately that wouldn’t be true, because we still teach the way represented on the left hand side. Of course, there are some adjustments like rearranged desks, but one thing still didn’t change:

**The direction of the arrow - it points from the teacher to the student.**

T - represents **teacher**, S represents **student** and arrow shows the **direction of teaching**. As you can see in the picture on the left hand side, the arrow is going from the teacher to students.

**What does it mean in reality?**
* Teacher is the source of truth 
* The role of teacher is to create creative, enjoyable lessons and make sure that students will remember  what they are taught 
* Students job is to remember the lessons

There are few aspects in that approach that **don’t really work:** 
* Teachers can be great people but they they shouldn’t be the only source of truth & knowledge for students
* Responsibility for the learning process shouldn’t be only on teachers shoulders 
* In this approach student is passive and only "receive knowledge", while in reality that’s not the way how we learn

### 1. WHY: change of direction, students empowerment

Based on the analysis of the past and current approach, we can see that something doesn’t really work and that’s how we discover our first **WHY**:

**To change the direction of the arrow. Let's turn it all around and allow students to drive their own learning process.**

Following the [eduScrum guide](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1BX4IbmTgcbo0LlupOlHCDUlLpZ0YO0aD/view?usp=sharing):

> eduScrum is a co-creative process in which students are no longer held responsible, but feel responsible for their own work and learning process.

![student](img/student.jpg "student")

**The benefits of that approach:**
* Changing the responsibility for the learning process from teachers to students 
* Teacher’s role is to inspire, support & guide - Students are more motivated, because they have autonomy and they can make their own decisions. 
* It’s easier to recognize when individuals have troubles and more space to help them 
* Students can teach each other & spread their knowledge instead of being only receivers- double benefit, because they can also learn by teaching 
* Teacher can have more time for supporting and guiding students

### 2. WHY:  21st Century skills

In 2015, the World Economic Forum published a report titled ["New Vision for Education: unlocking the Potential of Technology"](http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEFUSA_NewVisionforEducation_Report2015.pdf). 

The report describes 16 crucial skills for education in the  21st century: 

* Foundational Literacies 
* Competencies 
* Character Qualities

![21st century skills](img/21stcentury.PNG "21st century skills")

As they mention in the report:

> To thrive in a rapidly evolving, technology-mediated world, students must not only possess strong skills in areas such as language arts, mathematics and science, but they must also be adept at skills such as critical thinking, problem-solving, persistence, collaboration and curiosity. (...)  in today’s innovation-driven economy workers need a different mix of skills than in the past.

**Do we currently develop all those skills at school?**

I am afraid that in the traditional linear way of teaching, we focus mostly on Foundational Literacies, while Competencies & Character Qualities are left behind. 

That’s where we found our second **WHY:**

**To help students develop 21st century skills that are required in our rapidly-changing world.**

That's exactly the purpose of [eduScrum](https://www.eduscrum.nl/img/The_eduScrum_guide_English_2.pdf):

> In eduScrum learning is central: learning smarter, learning to collaborate better and getting to know yourself better. In addition, this way of working provides more responsibility, pleasure and energy, resulting in better results and shorter lead times.
>
> ![Agile learning compass](img/compass.jpeg "Agile learning compass")

Source: https://www.eduscrum.nl/resources

**The benefits:**
* We create better future & society members who will be able to adapt to changes. Students can learn how to collaborate. They will need that skill in their future work, relationship and family.  
* We shape human beings who are not only receivers, but they can think critically, have their own opinion and are able to decide what is the best solution. Their persistence, creativity & curiosity will help in solving problems in our society.  
* What is more, they can critically observe their own actions and improve themselves. 
* Communication skills will help students to express their needs, but also to be mindful about others, listen to them & develop empathy.

### 3. WHY: motivation & results

Some of you can think - "Wait a second, it sounds like a beautiful story, but we still need to prepare students to pass exams, we still need to help them to have the best results".
That’s the moment when part of myself is sad, because I know how much we are driven by results and I know that during that process of achieving more and more it is easy to forget about **people**. 

But, don’t worry! [eduScrum](https://www.eduscrum.nl/img/The_eduScrum_guide_English_2.pdf): has it all covered:

> eduScrum is a framework within which teachers and pupils tackle complex, challenging problems and pursue learning goals of the highest possible value in a productive and creative manner.

Teachers are frequently struggling with students’ lack of motivation.  That’s the reason for our third **WHY**:

**To motivate students intrinsically by giving them autonomy what leads to improving academic results.**

**The benefits:**
* Initially it will require more effort to change the approach, but once students discover their strengths, they will get motivated and their results will become better. 
* Students will not be learning only to get better results, but they will become more curious.  
* Teachers don't need to explain how students need to achieve learning objectives, they determine only why and what.  
* At some point, students will not be learning only based on Curriculum, but they will be discovering more out of curiosity. 

## What is your WHY?

I know that this post is long and I didn’t really explain exactly what [eduScrum](https://eduscrum.com.au/) is, but don’t worry, I will explain it in the following posts. I wanted to start by analysing our world’s needs in education first, so that you can use it later as a reference.

I could explain more and more reasons why I believe that we need a framework like [eduScrum](https://eduscrum.com.au/) in Education, but I will leave some space for your personal reflection. 

**Why do you think we need some change in Education? Have you ever experienced difficulties at school either as a teacher or as a student? Is there anything that you could make better in education if you could?**

Please let me know if you find this topic interesting and what parts you would like to explore more. If you would like to learn more about eduScrum, I invite you to my eduScrum Basic Training.

This post is dedicated to everyone who cares about Education and who would like to discover some innovative ideas on how to help students to grow.

eduScrum - why do we need it in Education?

## Introduction

Today I would like to share with you my personal experience that changed my life - journey from Education to Scrum and back.  All my previous posts were mostly informative, but this time will be different - you will find out what I dream about and what is the role of Education and Scrum in my life.

## How did I start my Education journey?

Long time ago, when I was in junior high school (it is called Gymnasium in Poland) I had a **dream to become a teacher**. I was inspired by my Polish teacher (from secondary school) who was a wonderful woman and who taught me how to believe in myself. I will never forget how much she helped me **to become a person who I am now**. 

To achieve my dreams, I started working with children voluntarily by organizing Christian and music classes next to my church.  I was religious back then, but that’s not a point.  The most important thing for me was time when I could organize activities for children and **enjoy it**! I was playing with them, organizing events for all church celebrations, teaching at summer camps etc. 

I could see how **children were growing**! And I don’t mean the religious part, but their confidence. I remember many of them who were shy, didn’t believe in themselves, but after a few weeks of activities organized by me and my friends they started changing. They were more confident, full of ideas and they started collaborate with other children.

**Seeing how people grow and use their potential is an amazing experience!**

![growing](img/children.jpg)

## Working at school

After high school I decided to study **Early Childhood Education**. It was such an interesting time for me. I’ve met so many inspiring people and learned a lot about children - they mind, behaviour, teaching ways and more.

In my last years of studying I was working as an intern in private kindergarten and private school. It was a great experience, because both places were focused on **children's creativity** and teachers were full of amazing ideas. 

Then, I had my last internship - in Polish public school. I must admit that the difference between private and public school was enormous.  First of all, the number of students in  a class was 3 x bigger than in private school. I know that you can say, it is a normal thing, but I was wondering how easy it will be to **not notice someone's needs** if class is so huge.

Another thing that I noticed, was killing students’ creativity. They had to follow rules, write or read something in their coursebooks, but there was **no space at all for their own thinking process**. 

![school](img/school.jpg)

I believe that **the role of a teacher is important** and **it can change students lives for better or worse**.  As a teacher I wanted to **help children to grow**, to **discover their potential**, not to kill it...

Maybe I was a coward, but I was devastated by the education system and how it was used in public schools and I decided that I don’t want to be part of a system that doesn’t focus on students' needs. 

When I was organizing after school activities for children I experienced how **creative** they are. It was amazing to observe how many **ideas** they can have and how quickly they can find solutions if you **give them freedom**. Unfortunately I didn't see too much space for that in school.  I was also afraid that I could have a negative impact on an individual's life if I simply do not notice them in the class of more than 30 students.

I know, if you are a teacher you probably think that these are things that you can work around and they shouldn't stop me from continuing my career as a teacher.  Maybe you are right, but that was the **first lesson about myself** - I found out what **my values** are and how I want or don't want to **impact someone's life**.

## New direction - Economics and Finances

After graduating I moved in a totally different direction - I started studying **Managerial Economics** and working in a financial company as a fund accountant.  It was still time when **I was looking for the best path for myself**.

My fund accounting career took almost 4 years and it was time when I learned a lot about myself. I discovered how **I love problem solving and collaboration with people**.  In my last position - supervisor, I had a chance to be a leader and do what I liked the most - help people to discover their potential and to grow.  After solving a lot of issues, creating some structures in the team I started feeling that I need more challenges and I need to be passionate about my job.

![direction](img/direction_.jpg)

## Discovering Scrum

That was the moment when I discovered **[Scrum](/blog/first-steps-to-learn-scrum/)**. My boyfriend, who is a developer, was using it daily in his workplace and told me about the framework.  As soon as he explained to me some rules and values, I started reading about it and became more and more curious.

**Collaboration** with the team and stakeholders, **adapting to changes** and discussing **how the work can be improved** were exactly what I would imagine in every workplace.  I was trying to use **[Scrum and Agile values](https://letsscrumit.com/the-importance-of-scrum-values/)** in my fund accounting job, but I knew it wasn’t possible to implement the whole  framework there, because we didn’t work on projects. 

![Scrum](img/scrum.jpg)

I knew from my boyfriend that **[Scrum](/blog/first-steps-to-learn-scrum/)** was the most popular in IT companies, so I started looking for a new job in an IT company. I wanted to learn as much as possible about project work and I started dreaming about **becoming a [Scrum Master](https://letsscrumit.com/scrum-roles-3-scrum-master/) in the future**.

That was the moment when I started working as a Project Management Officer. It was such a great experience, because I could see how project work looks like. I’ve met many wonderful people and I learned a lot from them.  It wasn't a long period, because I got an opportunity to study **IT Project Management in Australia**. 

## First steps in Australia

Even if I felt wonderful in Polish IT company and I didn’t really want to leave, I knew that the **opportunity to study and live abroad may not happen again**.  That’s why I decided to move to **Australia** with my boyfriend and discover what is waiting for me on the other side of the globe. 

As I already mentioned I started from studying **IT Project Management** in the afternoon and during the day doing everything that was possible without a full time working visa (I had student visa) - cleaning, working in a restaurant and cafe.  It helped me to appreciate all professions and understand how hard it can be to work in hospitality.  In the meantime my boyfriend got a job in an IT company and we both received full time working visas.

![Australia](img/australia_map.jpg)

## Project Managment & Scrum

Once I finished my course I started looking for an IT job in **Project Management**.  I found a role in the IT consulting company and I started in the IT Infrastructure project in Project Management team. 

In the meantime I discovered that there is a Information Solution (software development team) in the company and they were using **"Scrumish"** in their projects.  As soon as my first project was finished I got an opportunity to join that team and help them in one of their projects. 

It was an amazing moment, because **I could finally use Scrum on a daily basis**. What is more I could finally reuse my **teaching and facilitating skills**. 

Of course, after consulting with the team I discovered that their **"Scrumish"** was far away from **[Scrum](/blog/first-steps-to-learn-scrum/)**. So I decided to help them to discover what Scrum and Agile are.  I believe that it helped the team and our clients a lot to **create great products and collaborate** better.  I am so proud of the team, their work and journey from **"Scrumish"** to proper **[Scrum](/blog/first-steps-to-learn-scrum/)**!

Since that time, I have been working on multiple projects: software development with **[Scrum](/blog/first-steps-to-learn-scrum/)** or IT Infrastructure projects with Waterfall.  **Every day is a new lesson** for me about people, their way of working and thinking. 

## Back to Education

Now you know what was my journey from Education to **[Scrum](/blog/first-steps-to-learn-scrum/)**, so let’s talk about the last piece of this post - **How did I get back to Education?**

This story started around 1 or 1,5 year ago when I read an interesting book called **"Scrum. The Art of Doing Twice the Work in Half the Time"** written by Jedd Sutherland who is co-creator of **[Scrum](https://letsscrumit.com/first-steps-to-learn-scrum/)**.  I can definitely recommend this book to everyone. It was full of real life examples describing implementation of **[Scrum](https://letsscrumit.com/first-steps-to-learn-scrum/)**. 

![The Art of Doing Twice the Work in Half the Time](img/scrum_book.jpg)

Somewhere at the end of the book, I discovered one example of using **[Scrum](https://letsscrumit.com/first-steps-to-learn-scrum/)** that I believe **changed my life**, but it can also change the lives of many people in the world. 

The example that I am talking about was **eduScrum** - the way of using **Scrum in Education, at school**. 

You cannot imagine how happy I was when I realized that someone is already using the framework that I love at school. What is more, it is **changing the way of teaching** and **helps students to take ownership of their own learning process**.  It means that there is a space for creativity, critical thinking and a lot more at school.

## eduScrum - what happened next?

Once I discovered **eduScrum**, I started reading about it. I've done a lot of research to fully understand how it can be used in **education** and how original **[Scrum](https://letsscrumit.com/first-steps-to-learn-scrum/)** has been adjusted. 

Few months ago I participated in online eduScrum training with lovely women - **Paulina Orbitowska-Fernandez and Marta Orbitowska** who are certified **eduScrum trainers** in Poland ([eduScrum Polska](https://eduscrum.info/)).  It was a great experience, because I could not only learn more about **eduScrum**, but also discover **amazing Polish teachers** who were passionate and full of enthusiasm. 

That was also a moment when I realized that **eduScrum** is not a popular framework in Australia and I started having a new dream to **promote it** and to **create a community** of people who are **interested in Education**, who would like to **help students** to discover their potential. 

![eduScrum](img/edu_scrum.jpg)

#### https://www.eduscrum.nl/resources

It’s of course easy to say something like this, but much more difficult to implement it.  So I did my first step and contacted **Willy Wijnands** who is the creator of **eduScrum**. I asked him for advice and he recommended training that was conducted by him and **Kristina Fritsch** (eduScrum trainer in Germany). 

Attending the training was a great experience. I received a lot of **practical examples** from Willy and Kristina and my knowledge about **eduScrum** became even deeper and more extensive.  Training was divided into multiple online sessions and as at the end we had homework to **create our own project with eduScrum**.  I joined the team of 2 inspiring ladies - Marija & Carina and we are preparing the workshop for Marija’s students about Learning how to learn. 

This post is really long and I appreciate it if you are still reading it! :) It’s **almost the end** - I promise. 

## Innovative Education & eduScrum in Australia

Now I am on my way to becoming an official **eduScrum trainer** and I created my vision of how I can make a positive impact on Education in Australia and overall in the world.
One of my first steps is creating a group **"Innovative Education in Australia"** that can gather all people who are interested in developing innovative solutions that can make Education better. 

If you are a **teacher, parent, coach, facilitator** or someone who would like to help students to adapt to the fast changing world feel free to join the meetup group [Innovative Education in Australia](https://www.meetup.com/sydney-teachers-meetup-group/). I will be organizing our first meetup soon, so stay tuned!

![Innovative_Education](img/innovative_education.png)

## Next steps...

As you can see from this post, my **journey from Education to Scrum and back** was long and full of changes. Thank you so much for reading my story! I really wanted to show you who I am so that you can know me better. 

I would like to continue my **eduScrum** adventure and help you to discover this topic better.  In the upcoming weeks you can expect more posts about it. 

I hope to see you soon at one of my meetups! 

What was my first dream job? How did it happen that I decided to be a Scrum Master? What is the connection between Scrum and Education? Answers for all these questions are waiting for you in this post.

My journey from Education to Scrum and back

I share here my knowledge & experience related to eduScrum & education. 

You can find out here how to promote team collaboration and help students to take responsibility for their own learning process. 

Read about eduScrum!

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Recent eduScrum posts

Read about eduScrum!