There has been a lot of chatter recently about the value of [enter Agile methodology here] certification. I think a lot of the chatter is due to the controversy surrounding the Scrum Alliance’s letters to various user groups, asking them to “license” the Scrum name. And I believe the other reason is the huge number of trainers out there making quite a living doing the Scrum certification thing.

Part of that last sentence isn’t fair. People need to make livings. And, there is immense – if not, with the right people, priceless – value in those who have led teams down the Agile path teaching and coaching others to do the same. But as with anything that looks really cool and works, you have folks who go through the certification motions just for the sole purpose of being able to make good money. It’s those who don’t see their career as a craft or who have real passion in what they do – they just want more money. Not that capitalism and the desire to be wealthy is bad, no judgments there. But I get the feeling that many of the “Agile trainers” out there just aren’t of the quality that many teams need. To extend the idea in my last entry (“architects who don’t code are like fashion designers who don’t sew”), there are a lot of people out in the field training novices how to design clothes without ever having picked up a sewing needle. Certified trainers, no less. I know, I’ve run into a few.

I really like Elisabeth Hendrickson’s take on certification, and the alternatives to official certification: WeVouchFor.

And, like Elisabeth, I must confess – I got started in Agile by going to Ken Schwaber’s CSM class in 2004. At the time I did not think much of the whole issue with certification. But now? Well, I’ve simply met too many Agilists who still just don’t get it.

And I’m not going to sit here writing in my holier-than-thou blog trying to convince myself that I know everything and I totally get everything. At least, I hope that’s not what I’m trying to do. I hope the day where I stop learning never comes. But, I can say that I have some good experience, both on a small-company level and at a large-company level, in rolling out and/or practicing Agile techniques. And by experience, I mean, I have been blessed with the ability to totally and royally fuck up beyond belief, get my ass burned by my various managers/clients, and learn from it and move forward. :)

My point? How can we “certify” experience? In Agile (and I would assume in RUP, Waterfall, etc other process), experience counts for so much more than simply education. Agile techniques at their basic level are taught, but they are further refined at the company, team, and individual level through tweaks after doing. A.K.A. screwing up, learning-through-retrospective, moving on. How in the world do we certify that? The closest thing I can think of is something along the lines of WeVouchFor. I like that I am  able to describe my own skills (i.e., “Coached teams”) and have people specifically vouch for that piece (“Michael coached me”) and provide evidence/testimony to it (“result was a team practicing Agile and still is!”).

Of course, I see a small danger here too.  I see a danger of “you scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours.”  Again, it’s not a bad thing if the scratching really happened.  But “official certification” does offer potential employers and clients some sense of understanding that the certified person did, in fact, attend a class and did, in fact, pass it.  Vouching does not.

I don’t have an answer.  I have some ideas.  I need to think about them some more.  I like the idea of possibly letting certain “vouches” carry more weight than others, and that reciprocal vouches are worth the least.  Again, the logic still has problems. How would you quantify the value?  Points?

This particular topic was the one thing I wanted to bring up during the AgilePalooza Open Space, until I was rudely interrupted by my employer and had to leave.  Perhaps next time.

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