Reference Review: How To Kill The Scrum Monster

Often, it is not enough to simply experience something. To truly digest the experience, it is advisable to familiarize oneself with the theory behind that experience. The past decade of my career, saw me experience firsthand several interesting styles of Management, and work practices. And I didn't want the experience to be wasted by my ignorance of the underlying concepts.

During a rare investigation into tech practices - Agile practices, in particular - I found myself reading some material - one of them the evocatively-titled How to kill the Scrum Monster by Ilya Bibik.

This book is billed as a quick guide to the role of the Scrum Master and Agile Methodology. The author has spent a respectable amount of time as a Scrum Master, and attempts to condense his experience in an educational format, explaining what the Agile methodology is in tech, and the role of the Scrum Master in that context.

The Premise

Things start off with an overview of Agile methodologies, Scrum in particular. This segues into an examination of the role of the Scrum Master, and what it involves.

The Aesthetics

I'll be honest - I judged this book by its cover. There's just something intensely relatable about defining Scrum as some kind of monster that needs to be killed. The layout of its contents, however, is pretty academic in nature. And by that, I mean it reads like a lecture rather than a fantasy novel, with many things that would not look out of place in a textbook. That's by no means a bad thing, however.

The Experience

This is a mercifully fast read. It is intended to be easy to digest. While the author isn't exactly the most skilled in the English language, if you can look past that particular flaw, there is a fair amount of knowledge to be found within these pages.

The Interface

The graphs and charts are not all that hard to understand. In fact, they can be safely ignored. Chapters and sections are well-structured. It's been kept as simple as possible.

What I liked

The explanations behind the terminology used in Agile, and the underlying concepts, are pretty adequate, and potentially useful if you're reading this without any idea of what Agile is.

This book does not just cover the role of the Scrum Master. It branches into other hybrid roles such as Scrum Master/Developer and Scrum Master/Product Owner. It also examines the relation of the Scrum Master to other members of an Agile team.

There is a section devoted entirely to case studies, scenarios and proposed solutions. Not only does the author put forward scenarios that feel real, he even takes the trouble to explain the principles and politics behind the solutions proposed.

What I didn't

The copywriting, editing and general use of grammar are awful. In some places, words are spelled wrongly and sentences are awkwardly structured. It's pervasive and glaring enough that this is a real sticking point.

There's one particular spot that sticks out like a sore thumb. In the section where inter-team conflicts are discussed, the author describes one type of conflict as "pure evil". This is quite unprofessional; and jarring precisely because for the most part in the book, he has successfully avoided the use of such emotive superlatives and kept his language neutral. Talk about mood whiplash!

The book is not a particularly interesting read. This may be due to the author's lack of proficiency in the English language. He's certainly earnest enough, but one senses that he's no salesman.

Many of the charts seem superfluous. In some places they can be so simplistic that one suspects that they were placed there as filler.

Conclusion

Ilya Bibik's work isn't terrible. As an informative source, it has its uses. For academic purposes, it does serve as a quick guide. It's just hard to read if you're particular about the English language. For starters, one could certainly do worse.

However, if you're looking for a well-written book, you may want to look elsewhere.

My Rating

5.5 / 10

Stay Scrum-tious!
T___T