Dave West

(he)

scrum.org

About Dave

Dave West is the Product Owner and CEO at scrum.org. He is a frequent keynote speaker and is a widely published author of articles, along with his acclaimed book: Head First Object-Oriented Analysis and Design. He led the development of the Rational Unified Process (RUP) and then worked with Ivar Jacobson running the North American business for IJI. Then managed the software delivery practice at Forrester research where he was VP and research director. Prior to joining Scrum.org he was Chief Product Officer at Tasktop where he was responsible for product management, engineering and architecture.

Latest Blogs by Dave

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Lean Startup and Scrum

Lean Startup provides an approach to delivering breakthrough businesses. It does that by focusing on learning and working with customers and stakeholders to explore the problem and product space. By connecting the ideas of Lean Startup with Scrum practitioners have a blueprint for exploring risk and value. In this blog, we discuss how the two approaches can work together.

Jan 31, 2023

Digital Transformation and Scrum

Scrum and Digital are not the same things, but often Digital Transformations comprise some sort of agile change. In this blog, Dave West discusses a recent Dare To Lead Podcast where the overlap between Scrum and Digital was apparent. He discusses the six elements of a digital strategy and their relationship with Scrum.

Oct 5, 2022

Adding the Professional Scrum Facilitation Skills Class

Today, Scrum.org announced a new skills-based course focusing on facilitation. Professional Scrum Facilitation Skills (PSFS). This class provides a practical, hands-on learning experience focused on developing facilitation skills and the mindset to apply them. This class responds to the importance of facilitation in working in teams on complex work and how good facilitation can lead to improved Scrum adoption.

Sep 13, 2022

Remote Work and Scrum

For many years the agile movement advocated that all teams had to be co-located for success. Scrum also encouraged that approach. But the pandemic taught us that remote does not always mean bad. However, we are seeing more and more executives force an in-person return to the office as the pandemic resides. But will this improve productivity? Yes and No. Without a clear focus on three things neither in-person nor remote work will be successful, so stop focusing on that and instead focus on the what and the how of working together to deliver value!

Jun 20, 2022

Answering Some Concerns on Product Ownership

Product Ownership is a complex and often confusing idea, but if done right those accountabilities can help the Scrum Team deliver valuable, amazing Products. In this blog, we discuss and address some common concerns about the idea of Product Ownership.

Jun 3, 2022

Productivity and IT Organizations - Some questions answered

Recently I was asked to answer some questions for a journalist on how to structure IT organizations. The questions were interesting and I wanted to share my responses here.

Mar 23, 2022

Sprint Review: Being A Good Stakeholder

In tis blog post, Dave West shares tips on being a good Stakeholder based on his experiences.

Feb 2, 2022

We are entering the Deployment Phase of the Digital Age

In this Blog, Dave West explores how we are transitioning into the deployment phase of the digital age.

Jan 6, 2022

The Agile Hangover

Scrum celebrated its 25 year anniversary last year with an update to the Scrum Guide and lots of socially distanced parties. Over that quarter of a century, Scrum has gone from a niche method used by software developers to mainstream adoption with many millions of people using Scrum or at least parts of Scrum every day. Now Scrum is not just a smart way of delivering software, it is a fundamental part of any enterprise agility transformation.

Oct 27, 2021

Product Owners - Stakeholders Are People

In this blog post, Dave West answers the question - How do you, for the lack of a better word, “manage” Stakeholders?

Sep 29, 2021