🧑‍🍳Agile in the Oven: Scrum Explained over Moussaka!

I have been a part of the Agile world for a little over a year now. On the other hand, I’ve had a passion for cooking since I was old enough to make my own sandwich. And they were never just sandwiches — I was always trying new ingredients, toppings, sauces, combinations, and adjusting what went well to improve the overall taste.

As my experience in the kitchen built up, so did the complexity of the recipes — from sandwiches to cold platters, and from replicating authentic Greek dishes to trying every interesting recipe that came to my attention from around the world. Over the years, I became faster, more efficient; my outcome improved with each passing dish.

And then Scrum became my working routine. I was guiding teams to gather and order their backlog, plan, adapt to change daily, and celebrate their outcomes.

It all came naturally to me — a process that was efficient and aimed at increasing the value of the outcome, one step at a time. All it takes is studying the framework and following the guide. Almost like following a detailed cooking recipe.

🥘 From Product Vision to Plating the Dish

First, there’s the Product Vision or goal — much like a delicious dish! The ultimate aim of every recipe.

Then, you organize the Product Backlog, an ordered list of everything you might need for the product. A living, evolving list that is continuously refined and reprioritized based on the actual work done. Features, functions, bug fixes, and knowledge — all are part of what needs to be used until we reach the final product. Just like how ingredients, cooking techniques, skills, and kitchenware come together to produce the dish.

In Scrum, there are Sprints — a predefined timebox during which a team delivers an increment of the complete product.
An increment is like the minced meat you must prepare upfront before assembling the famous moussaka.

So how do you organize a Sprint?
You plan its Sprint Backlog, adapt daily to keep it on track, and finally review the outcome — the increment.
And how do you prepare the minced meat?
Chop the onions, heat the pan, and when it reaches the right temperature, brown the meat. Add the marinara, stir, and let it simmer. When it cools off, this part is done.

Time for your Sprint Review:
Acknowledge this increment, present it, and ask for feedback. Then set it aside and begin preparing for the next part that follows. There are still many elements before the moussaka is ready!

But before you continue, don’t forget to have a Retrospective moment for this element of the dish. Taste it!
You might need to add salt, or make a note of that extra spice you added which worked so well — just like you do with your increment. What went well? What didn’t? How can we improve?

Repeat the Sprints until the increments add up and begin to resemble the finished product you planned to deliver.
After the meat, you fry the vegetables, make the béchamel, assemble everything in the tray, and bake it.