Zappos' Journey to Go Agile

When Zappos, the online shoe and clothing retailer, decided to implement Scrum in their organization, they knew it would be a significant change for their company. They brought in an outside consultant to help guide them through the process and ensure that the transition was successful. Everyone involved understood that this would be easy feat, but they also realized that they needed to change the way they worked as competition was catching up and they wanted to take things to the next level.

One of the main challenges that Zappos faced during the implementation of Scrum was the fact that their employees were not familiar with the framework. Many of them had never even heard of Scrum before, and so there was a steep learning curve as they tried to understand the principles and practices of Scrum. What began as a slow start ramped up as team members eventually began to catch on and understand the Agile methodology.

Another challenge that Zappos faced was the fact that they had a very decentralized organization, with teams spread out across different locations. This made it difficult to implement Scrum in a consistent way across the entire organization. One way they addressed this challenge was by creating a "Scrum of Scrums" model. This involved having a representative from each scrum team come together to discuss progress and any obstacles that needed to be addressed. This allowed for better communication and coordination across teams, and helped to ensure that work was being done efficiently and effectively.

Despite these challenges, Zappos persevered and was able to successfully implement Scrum. They saw a number of benefits as a result, including improved communication and collaboration among teams, increased transparency, and the ability to continuously improve and adapt to changing needs. Overall, the implementation of Scrum at Zappos was a challenging but rewarding process that ultimately led to improved efficiency and productivity for the company. It serves as a great example of the power of Scrum to transform organizations and help them work more effectively.