A role-play, outfits, light saber duel and all-around Agile meditation show. Luke is a young developer set out to change the IT galaxy one Agile Transformation at a time. As our hero, the apprentice Scrum Master is going out facing the trials and ordeals, his first step towards his destiny puts him in front of The Empire, a Global Investment Bank. The Empire was traditionally run in Waterfall and they are now looking to achieve greatness through Agile. Luke’s 3 teams, Gold, Blue and Rogue squadrons are lined up to assist in the Agile Transformation and Delivery. Now Luke is facing Darth, the Product Owner. Darth led The Empire’s product development since ages past, being considered one of their best Business Project Managers. Follow our hero in his daily clashes with his nemesis. Will the Force, Agile, help him overcome Darth’s strong Waterfall roots, forced persuasion skills and bullied commitment goals? Is Luke prepared to help him? The young padawan himself is still on the journey towards Agile mastery.

2. Luke is a young developer set out to change the IT galaxy one Agile Transformation at a time.
As our hero, the apprentice Scrum Master is going out facing the trials and ordeals, his first step
towards his destiny puts him in front of The Empire, a Global Investment Bank. The Empire was
traditionally run in Waterfall and they are now looking to achieve greatness through Agile.
Luke’s 3 teams, Gold, Blue and Rogue squadrons are lined up to assist in the Agile Transformation
and Delivery. Now Luke is facing Darth, the Product Owner.
Darth led The Empire’s product development since ages past, being considered one of their best
Business Project Managers.
Follow our hero in his daily clashes with his nemesis. Will the Force, Agile, help him overcome
Darth’s strong Waterfall roots, forced persuasion skills and bullied commitment goals? Is Luke
prepared to help him? The young padawan himself is still on the journey towards Agile mastery.

3. 3
Global Investment Bank
Traditionally run in Waterfall and they are now looking to go Agile
PO appointed from Business Project Management
Agile Transformation and Delivery with 3 teams
A long time ago, in an IT galaxy
far, far away ...

4. 4
In the Board Room
after the Backlog Discovery workshop, Luke the SM talks with the PO Darth

5. 5
Role Play Transcript
- D: I thought UC Definition workshop
went well, you have what you need for
the Plan
- L: good BL Discovery Session, we
have clarity over High Level Epics
- D: given these clear details, give me
the deadline for this phase
- L: the backlog is not clear, US not
ready, more Acceptance Crit, split epics
- D: AC don’t concern me, in the last
phase you gave me a plan the next day
- L: we had good BL, existing
arch, now new module, tech solution
not chosen, 3 options
- D: unacceptable, my Tech Lead says
specs ok, should be 5-6 sprints
- L: I need team estimation
session, this won’t work without more
detail
- D: no PokerPlan talk, I need the
deadline for budget approval tollgate
- L: hmm, ok, I get it, in this case…
about… maybe… 9 sprints?

6. SM failed to transmit and enact the
Agile Planning concepts
PO ignores the lack of clarity of Backlog items
Ignores Tech Solution is not chosen
PO focused on getting a deadline by any means
(bullying, anchoring)
SM committed to a release date
without clarity of Backlog or team buy in
Methodology mix, terminology misalignment
(use cases, project plan, deadline vs user stories, release plan)

7. SM to coach and help PO to understand
Agile Planning principles
Choosing and clearly formulating the
delivery framework. SCRUM potentially
Release Planning to factor in Backlog uncertainty
Focus to identify Backlog items at risk
due to uncertainty or complexity
Avoid commitment based on uncertain Backlog
items and without input from the team

8. 8
PO’s Office
SM Luke catches up with Darth the PO on Release Plan updates

9. 9
Role Play Transcript
- L: trying to reach you, can you talk
- D: was heading home, but yes
- L: eager to give good news, I’ve clarified
the backlog: Epics split, ready US, InVeST
- D: yes, interesting, looks at watch
- L: I’ve clarified the tech solution:
prototype the 3 options, with your Tech
Leads, looked at all implications, now
technical US in BL
- D: yes, interesting, looks at watch
- L: with refined BL, we sized, I can now
give an updated accurate plan
- D: wait, 3 sprints after deadline commit
you are changing the plan?
- L: now with BL sizing and average
velocity, RD between 16-18 sprints
- D: unacceptable, 6 wks ago you commit
to 9 sprints, with best practice10%
contingency I budgeted for 10 sprints
- L: but only now I have what I need and
can project the Cone of Uncertainty and
give realistic RD
- D: agile mambo jumbo again, ConeU
does not concern me, you failed me for
last time, does death grip and kills him

10. PO does not understand the progress
or what the team is working on
Different interpretation of Commitment
vs Release Plan and their accuracy
Methodology mix, terminology misalignment
(contingency, plan, budgeting cycle vs cone
of uncertainty, average velocity)
Expectations misalignment. Contract terminated?
SM worked in isolation to clarify the Backlog
and to update the Release Plan

11. Agile information radiators to support a constantly
shared view over work and plan
Inspect and Adapt agile pillars adopted
via Planning, Review and Retrospectives
Introduce Release Planning via Cone of Uncertainty
and synchronize with Budgeting cycle
Expectations alignment and management

12. http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=81fwEmP2CKY

13. o 15+ years experience in IT
o Passionate Agilista, consulting blue-chip clients in the
design and effective implementation of large scale
distributed Agile from nearshore
o Over 100 projects in
consultancy, shaping, coaching, Agile
Transformation, Agile and Iterative Delivery
using 1 to 20 scrum teams
o 15+ years experience in IT
o Agile Expert with wide consultancy experience in
shaping enterprise agile engagements
o Extensive agile coaching experience, has helped over 30
teams and scrum masters in adopting agile and growing
their skills
George Anghelache
Delivery Manager
george.anghel@gmail.com
LinkedIn: georgea
Cristian Cazan
Delivery Manager
cazan.cristian@gmail.com
LinkedIn : cristiancazan

15. This material draws inspiration from a massive community of Agile enthusiasts, our own experience and that of many clients and
companies we've engaged with through the years.
• People that have inspired us through many trainings, workshops , articles and webinars: Mike Cohn, Jeff Sutherland, Henrik
Kniberg, Ken Schwaber, Roman Pichler, Anna Forss, Serge Beaumont, Mike Beedle and many others we’ve not intentionally forgot
• Sites and whitepapers with excellent knowledge: www.agilealliance.org; www.mountaingoatsoftware.com;
www.scrumalliance.org; www.controlchaos.com; www.implementingscrum.com; www.jeffsutherland.org; www.agileforall.com;
www.infoq.com; www.rapidscrum.com; www.slideshare.net; www.agile42.com; scrum.jeffsutherland.com;
www.agilemanifesto.org; www.scrum.org; www.wikipedia.org; www.projectmanagement.com; www.romanpichler.com;
www.agilesherpa.org; www.cathycarleton.com; www.implementingscrum.com; www.gantthead.com;
• Books that have added invaluable knowledge: Ken Schwaber - Agile Project Management with Scrum; Mike Cohn - Agile
Estimating and Planning; Mike Cohn – Introduction to user stories; Roman Pichler - Agile product management with Scrum;
Anna Forss - Confessions of a serial product owner; Ken Schwaber - The Enterprise and Scrum; Mike Cohn - User Stories Applied;
Carl Larson and Frank LaFasto - Teamwork; Serge Beaumont - Practical Tools for the Product Owner: Focus, Value, Flow; Jim
Highsmith - Agile Project Management; Jeff Patton - Story Maps; Mike Cohn - Succeeding with Agile; 37 Signals: Getting Real; Jeff
Sutherland - The Power of Scrum ; Tobias Mayer - Scrum Roles; Donald Reinertsen - The Principles of Product Development
Flow; C. Jakobsen and J. Sutherland - Scrum and CMMI – Going from Good to Great; Donald Reinertsen - Managing The Design
Factory; Scrum Sense – What every product owner should know; Ken Schwaber, Beedle Mike - Agile Software Development with
Scrum;

16. • Images:
• Star Wars characters are copyright of Lucasfilm Ltd. and www.starwars.com
• Images of Death Star from http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/DS-1_Orbital_Battle_Station
• Images of the X-Wing from http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Xwing
• Images of the Tie Fighter from http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Tiefigter
• Images of Darth Vader from http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Anakin_Skywalker
• Free icons used from https://www.iconfinder.com/
• Other icons from http://www.turbosquid.com/3d-models/
• Other images purchased from http://www.shutterstock.com/
• Acknowledgments:
• Darth Vader plays golf video from http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=81fwEmP2CKY