Course Preparation Certified Scrum Professional - ScrumMaster (CSP-SM)

We are delighted that you will be joining us for your Certified Scrum Professional – ScrumMaster course.

We will be building on a foundational familiarity with the material below during the training. As such, being familiar with this material will accelerate and enhance your learning.

Even if you are generally familiar with a topic that an item below relates to, please read/watch this specific material on it.

Please put aside several hours for this. If your course is scheduled over two separate weeks then note the “Prior to Session X” guidance to help to schedule your preparation.

For convenience, all of the videos in the list below are available as the CSP-SM Pre-work playlist. Note that that playlist does not include the non-video material in the study material list.

If you have read an older version of the Scrum Guide than the November 2020 version, please read the latest. Also review the changes.

• Team Launch Facilitation (PDF) on Scrum WithStyle site based on book by Diana Larsen and Ainsley Nies.
• How to Form Teams in Large-Scale Scrum: A Story of Self-Designing Teams by Ahmad Fahmy and Craig Larman.
• Team Models – The Katzenbach Smith Praxis Framework by Michael Küsters
• Five Dysfunctions of a Team by Patrick Lencioni.
• The Five C’s of Team Accountability (Updated for 2019) by Cathy McCullough

• The Difference Between Lean and Agile by LongDa Yin.
• Lean and the 5 essential principles of Lean by Bzhwen A Kadin 
• The Lean Primer by Craig Larman and Bas Vodde
• Steve Jobs on Quality
• Deming Library Video with Dr. Deming Discussing the 14 Points

• Facilitation Skills Training: Managing Difficult Meeting Personalities by Dana Brownlee – only up to 3:44
• How to Be a Virtual Meeting Hero by students in Lecturer JD Schramm’s Strategic Communication at Stanford Graduate School of Business

• The Synergies between ORSC™ Coaching and Agile Coaching by Zuzana (Zuzi) Sochova 
• Team Coaching Explained by Linda Berlot
• Designed Alliance 2 and Designed Alliance 3

• SCARF Model – Influencing Others with Dr David Rock 
• The Responsibility Process™

• Systems thinking: a cautionary tale (cats in Borneo): 
• Systems Thinking by Craig Larman and Bas Vodde: 
• Systems Thinking: Causal Loop Diagrams by Dr Donna Gurule – MOST IMPORTANT

• Large-Scale Scrum Scaling Agile – Challenges of Adoption – Interview with Craig Larman  – up to at least 8:13
• Feature Team Primer by Craig Larman and Bas Vodde – MOST IMPORTANT
• How Misconceptions About the Scrum Product Owner Role Harm Your Organization and What To Do About It by Michael James

• What is BDD? What is Behavior Driven Development? (4:05)
• What Are Scenarios and Outlines Using (Gherkin) Given-When-Then Format (5:40)  – MOST IMPORTANT
• The Programmer’s Oath by (Uncle) Bob Martin 
• Manifesto for Software Craftsmanship 

That’s it. Thanks very much for investing in being well prepared and maximising the value that we can attain from our time together.

You will receive a calendar invite for a pre-course Orientation Call during which we can discuss any questions that you have about your preparation for the training sessions as well as the assignments. We look forward to seeing you on the Pre-course Orientation Call.