Free pocket guide to passing PSM - Questions
Hi all,
I am new to Scrum, and learning it quite fast. Thrilled to see the result oriented actions in my current project. One of my new year resolutions is to benchmark my knowledge with a certificate. I downloaded a free ebook called A Pocket Guide to Passing PSM, and understood most of the aspects behind the certificate.
I do have some questions though.
- I can see that PSM is better in standards and aspects. However, many experienced scrum experts in my org say that CSM carries more weight on job market. Is that correct and should I go for CSM for its brand? Or am I better off doing both?
- Why there are two levels in PSM? 1 and 2. Wouldn't it be better to name the second level as Professional Scrum Expert? The reason is - People put CSM and CSP in their signature. It looks odd to have a signature with PSM 1 and PSM 2.
- There are two many books suggested by scrum.org to prepare for PSM. Isn't that against what agile preaches, such as "less documentation" "just in time" "batching the knowledge" etc? Why the list can't be limited to only those with solid substance but provides great knowledge back?
- If Scrum Guide is also available in languages other than english, why cant PSM be offered in other languages too?
- My long term ambition is to work as technical innovator/scientist. Would PSM be better or PSD?
- Is there any forum where I can directly reach Scrum experts like Ken, Jeff to ask my questions? Are there any other established experts in this area?
Regards
Nafar
Hello Nafar,
Thank you for your interest in Scrum.org. It’s great to learn that you’d like to benchmark your scrum knowledge with a certificate. Both PSM and CSM credentials carry a lot of weight in the industry and we have over 53,000 PSM I certificate holders to date. A major difference with our PSM I is that one can leverage a Scrum.org class, life experience, another class, various reading and learning materials, or any combination and attempt the assessment for certification. To gain a CSM certification, however, one is required to attend a CSM course.
Thank you for the feedback regarding PSM I and PSM II naming; please know that we do plan to change the PSM II name and certification to Professional Scrum Expert (PSE) in 2016. Thank you also for your input regarding additional languages for our assessments; moving forward we will continue to evaluate this consideration.
People learn differently, and some desire to read a lot; we like to provide options for individuals that desire more resources to deepen their knowledge in a specific, or all, PSM subject areas. The suggested readings are not intended to serve as a list of books that all need to be read in order to pass the PSM I assessment. If you would like a short list of highly recommended titles to help you prepare, we would suggest, in addition to the Scrum Guide, “Scrum a Pocket Guide” by Gunther Verheyen and “Software in 30 Days” by Ken Schwaber and Jeff Sutherland.
With regards to whether the PSM or the PSD route would prove most beneficial to your long term ambition of becoming a technical innovator/scientist, PSD is definitely more technically-geared than PSM is. However, there are often many different paths to the same destination; we recommend reading the information available on our site for PSM and for PSD and choosing which route you feel is best for you. Also, to note, many people do choose to learn and earn certifications in both PSM and PSD.
Our Community Forums are indeed frequented by many Scrum experts. Many of our Scrum.org Professional Scrum Trainers, as well as other Scrum practitioners and experts frequently post valuable insights, knowledge, advice, etc., on all things Scrum.
Please also note that we do also have a Scrum.org Support Center FAQ (http://support.scrum.org/) which you may wish to reference. And, as always, please do feel free to send any Scrum.org inquiries to support@scrum.org. We hope you find this information helpful. Thank you for your interest in Scrum.org and best of luck in your journey ahead!
Perhaps it's a shame that scrum.org doesn't offer a Professional Scrum Coach accreditation. Strictly speaking a Scrum Master is a coach, but this point is lost on the market. I've encountered multiple clients who want to get their people trained up and bring coaching in-house, and who are reluctant to consider scrum.org because there is no obvious coaching route. The Alliance has one, and it so it seems like scrum.org is missing a trick. The best I have been able to do is to coach employees to pass PSM I, PSD I or PSPO I and then help hand-roll internal coaching accreditations for the high-flyers...which is hardly satisfactory.
ICAgile privide Agile Coaching certification
Dear Nafar,
Very good questions.
Here is a letter from Ken back in 2010 about scrum alliance and scrum.org. Will provide some more background on their missions.
https://www.scrum.org/About/Origins.
On a side note, would you mind sharing the info about where you downloaded the free ebook? Thanks
Please remember that a good coach is not determined by a test, it is determined by how well they know their information, hence the current certifications, but also by their having vast experiences, how well they work with people, how well they can gain respect of the teams they are coaching and how well they can communicate. This goes well beyond a certification test of how well you know materials or can apply them, but truly knowing the individual and their experience. To "certify" if a person as a good coach, that would require a multi-month effort to have a coach, coach while the potential coach observes and then observe the potential coach while they begin coaching to be sure that they can successfully do it.
That said, the role of a Scrum Master is to be a coach and there is certification for being a Scrum Master. Adding a Coaching certification is just a way for an organization to make money, not a valid way to certify a person's ability to actually coach. Just because am a scratch golfer doesn't make me a golf coach. If I don't have the ability to teach, then I am a great golfer, but not a great golf coach...
> Please remember that a good coach is not determined by a test
That point is lost on the market. The demand for a test and accreditation does appear to be there, even if only for internal use by organizations. I have to provide workarounds in order to close the gap. Of course, this can only ever be adjunctive to building an operational coaching capability by Scrum Masters and others.
Chenny,
It is in Amazon
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B019KU3KKW