Questioning the Experts

My formal introduction to agile software development, specifically Scrum, came when the very small, privately held, niche company was purchased by a subsidiary of a large international conglomerate.  I was working as a full stack developer: MS SQL, ASP.NET Web Forms, SOAP Web Services, JavaScript, HTML, CSS, XSLT, etc.  The code base was over a decade old and had been cobbled together quickly and somewhat carelessly by the long gone founders.  Older technologies such as ASP.NET 2.0 and ActiveX really needed to be replaced.  The opportunity came with the sale of our company. The new parent organization said they wanted us to use Scrum and that they would train us.  The onsite training was scheduled without regard for their Operations team's schedule which resulted in many issues.  We did not have a Product Owner or Scrum Master, so a new to the company (and industry) Development Manager became the Scrum Master and a tenured Development Manager became t...

It seems to be a common occurrence for some experts to avoid addressing counters to their points: Mr. Mike Cohn ignores those who disagree, Glen Alleman simply deletes dissenters' comments, Professional Scrum Trainers fail to address challenges, and others.  There is also the issue of those spreading misinformation, perhaps simply due to ignorance, as their reputation makes their answers and comments seem more valid to those who are seeking knowledge. While I am certainly no expert, I do have knowledge and experience.  More importantly, perhaps, I have a desire to learn and grow.  One method is through reading blogs and attempting to engage in conversation.  Some of the sources and people share different view points; it's not helpful to stay within the comfort zone or echo chamber. The motivation for this blog is a continuation of the reason that I participate on Stack Exchange, Disqus, and YouTube.  One comment from another user is the final reason to try...