I have to admit that when I first started hearing about Extreme Programming and Agile methodologies, I was pretty skeptical. Another software fad that will come and go, I thought. What first started to open up my mind was a conversation that I had with a young developer a number of years ago. I was interviewing him for a position and he was talking about Extreme Programming and I was thinking “Yeah. OK.” Then he said that without Extreme Programming he didn’t think he would still want to be doing development because Extreme Programming had made software development fun again. And that’s when I stopped and thought to myself, “Well, yeah, you know – it should be fun. It’s supposed to be fun.”

When traditionally managed organizations first adopt Scrum—an agile project management approach that includes the roles of Product Owner, ScrumMaster, and Team Member(s—there is often an assumption that project managers are the default choice to serve in the role of ScrumMaster. But examining the definitions of these roles as found in leading sources suggests that this assumption is probably wrong or at least misguided. In fact, the responsibilities of project management as defined in traditional literature are not aligned with the ScrumMaster role at all. Despite this apparent disconnect, the Scrum framework incorporates more traditional project management practices than is at first apparent.

Games, like the ones described on TastyCupcakes.org, provide the opportunity for agile teams to quickly build on a shared experience, realize better ways of working and most importantly, to have fun!

Retired Marine colonel and long-time test consultant Rick Craig describes how using the Marine Corps Principles of Leadership will help you become a better leader and, as a result, a better test manager or tester.