That is what I call the ‘Medusa effect’ […] don’t look at that system, it’s so ugly […] you’ll turn to stone […]. Still, turning away will not solve the problem.
– Gunther Verheyen, the essence of reversify, at 9:09
I often find that people think of their own organization as a Medusa, originally beautiful, but by some evil twist of faith turned into a hideous monster, deadly to look at. They explicitly state that they do not want to look at certain aspects of their organization and warn me not to go there and look at it. I might get cast to stone!
If we, the people in our organization, feel our organization resembles Medusa, then how does that make us feel about the mirror that is Scrum?
Medusa was not defeated because she looked at her own reflection in a mirror. She was defeated by a brave hero (Perseus), who, before slaying her, approached her backwards looking at her reflections in his mirrored shield.
I’d like to think of Scrum as that shield. That would make the courageous people going through the change process the Perseus (mortal hero) of our story. It’s scary, but it needs to be done.
The shield that is Scrum might proof to be helpful in unexpected ways.
And let’s keep in mind that from the slain body of Medusa sprang Pegasus, a beautiful, winged, dare I say agile, horse.
Further resources
The legend of Medusa, on wikipedia.
Verheyen’s reversify concept and reversify slides.
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