Journey to complete the suite

When I woke up on September 21st, I saw an email from scrum.org, which came at 3:13 AM eastern time. This email congratulates me on passing the PSPO III exam, which I gave on September 4th, more than two weeks ago. That marks the completion of all the certificates from scrum.org and completion of my suite.

A lot of people asked me in public and in private about how they can do it; therefore, I decided to write about it, hoping it may be helpful for others. Here I am going to share my experience of this journey. Since training is optional in scrum.org certifications, I decided to pass all without attending any training, which I did. However, it doesn’t mean that training is any less value, in fact, you will learn a lot more during the training from instructors and peers.

I will try to explain the certificate one can most likely be able to get as per my understanding; rather than how I did it. As of writing, there are a total of 11 certificates offer from scrum.org, and I break it down into four categories to the best of my knowledge, as shown by the picture. This categorization is neither official nor endorsed by scrum.org

Foundation Level

There are three certificates at the foundation level PSM I, PSPO I, and PSD I. 

PSM I

Here most of the people start with PSM I. PSM I is mostly cover with Scrum Guide with almost nothing from the outside. The only exception I can recall is the understanding of the Burndown chart. This exam covers the basic knowledge of the Scrum, and Hiren Doshi book “Scrum Insight for Practioner” [1] is an excellent book for this exam. “Scrum Pocket Guide” [2] is an excellent book and covers some topics in a bit more detail, but one can pass PSM I without reading it; however, it is highly recommended for anyone who wants to continue learning Scrum. 

PSPO I

The scope of PSPO I is little more than PSM I; therefore, in my opinion, it should be attempted after PSM I. Scrum Framework explicitly doesn’t discuss all the tools necessary for Product Owner, such as Release Planning, Product Backlog Management, Stakeholder Management etc. Although it is a foundation level course, still one can not pass this by reading the Scrum Guide alone. My favorite and highly recommended book for this is “The Professional Product Owner” book[3]. 

PSD I

If you don’t have a technical background and never done coding, this certificate is not for you. Even for those technical persons who never write the unit tests or know the difference between the unit and integration tests find it difficult. It will be challenging to pick only one or a few books to get technical excellence. “Clean Code” by Uncle Bob is a highly recommended book. Anyone who did coding several years ago, it is time to get hands dirty and brush up skills. 

Specialized Certificates

I put four certificates in this category, and the main reason is all four of them validate not only the Scrum knowledge but also knowledge about some specific area. 

SPS

Just like Scrum Guide is a must-read for all Scrum related exams, Nexus Guide is a must-read for SPS. Anyone who tries to attempt SPS without reading “Nexus Framework” written by Kurt Bittner [5] must be brave to put their money and time on risk. I read this book cover to cover (yes, literally cover to cover, including preface and acknowledgment) and clear the exam in the first attempt with a 95% score. One fun fact, as of now, this is the only certificate offer by scrum.org without any number attached to it, like I, II, III, etc. 

PAL I

That was the most confusing certificate for me before attempting it because there was no material available on it other than one book. “Agile Leadership Toolkit” [6]. Besides, the sample test provided on the scrum.org website contains only true/false questions, which is not the case in the real exam. However, when I attempted the exam, I found it the most logical exam among all of the existing ones and got a perfect 100% score. The main thing to consider here is not to think like a Scrum Master or Product Owner but think like a Leader. For every question in it, I was thinking, what will I do if I will be in a similar situation and I got it all the time. If you are strong in leadership, then this exam not difficult at all; however, not valid otherwise. 

PSK I

I heard from a lot that this is the most challenging exam other than PSM III and PSPO III, probably the reason is metrics in it. In fact, lots of people failed in it because of it. If you don’t have a mathematical mindset, at least reading from the graph point of view, then some of the concepts in it are not easy to understand at first. Although it is possible to pass this exam without buying any book only by blogs on scrum.org, which I did, but I found “Actionable Agile Metric” [7] is very useful when I started reading it several months after passing the exam. For those who want to try it without reading the book, I highly recommend reading each and every recommended blog at least four times. The important thing is, do not read it four times at once, but read it again and again after reading other blogs so you will have a different perspective and ability to connect the dots among them. I also wrote an article on Key flow metrics [8], although not providing any new information, but just a different perspective, which may help. If you have a KMP then it will definitely help, although one metric, “Work Item Age” is not cover even in KMP. 

PSU I

It is a very interesting one and gives a unique perspective to look at Scrum and UX together. If you want to read just one book, then “Lean UX” by Jeff Gothelf [9] is a must-read. Do not consider this is an easy exam, especially if you don’t have any UX experience. I recommend attempting this exam after PSM II, so you are most likely to get 100% marks in Scrum related questions, which gives you buffer for UX questions. I admit I am not a UX expert, and I tried this approach too (in fact, I attempted PSU after PSM III) and got 100% on all subject areas of Scrum, which gave me breathing space for UX related questions. 

Intermediate Level

I put PSM II and PSPO II in this category because they are a bridge between the foundation one and the advanced one. Also, these certificates put you ahead of the curve and challenge your understanding of Scrum Master and Product Owner roles. 

PSM II

I am one of the only few who found PSM II is easier than PSM I. Don’t quote me wrong, the reason I found it easier is because here, on average, you have 3 minutes per question, unlike PSM I, on average, only 45 seconds, so you don’t have to run against the time. Besides, I do have experience. I got enough time to think about the possible answers and easily cracked this exam in my first attempt. However, there are only 30 questions, which means you will have significantly less chance for errors; in other words, if you just missed five questions, then you are gone.

Now comes the preparation part. One of the most important tips I can give is to review the result of the PSM I exam and cover the area where you didn’t get 100% score. The second important thing is the scope, the scope of PSM II is bigger than PSM I, and you will surely be tested against scaling. Although there isn’t any question related to Nexus, the concept you learn in SPS will be helpful here; therefore, my recommendation is to try SPS before PSM II.

Now comes the book part; you must read “Scrum Pocket Guide” [2]; it covers some concepts a bit deep. “Mastering Professional Scrum” [10] is such a delight to read and difficult to put down once started. “Scrum Mastery” [11] is not only helpful from the exam but also how to become a great scrum master on the job. “The Art of Doing Twice the work in Half the Time” [12] is such a beauty to read where co-creator of Scrum Jeff Suther land explains “why” of the Scrum framework. Another standout is “Fixing your Scrum” [13] how anyone can afford not to read this. Don’t forget to read PST blogs written on scrum.org

PSPO II

If you don’t have any Product Owner experience, then this exam is a real challenge. In my opinion, this exam is more challenging than PSM II because you have to cover more in less time. Even for experienced Product Owner, I highly recommend not to attempt this until they read “The Professional Product Owner” [3] at least once, preferably twice. If you don’t know what EBM (Evidence-Based Management) [14] is, do not even attempt it until you are comfortable with it. The questions on PSPO II are way more challenging than PSPO. I did review all the subject areas carefully in which I didn’t get the 100% score in PSPO I. I will say put special attention to the “Product Vision” and the same as PSM II, don’t forget to read PST blogs written on scrum.org. 

Advance Level

Ok, ready for the most challenging and most rewarding scrum exams. There are two exams in this category PSPO III and PSM III. One common thing in these two is that both exams have descriptive questions means some human is going to check it and you will not get your results immediately. I can promise one thing for sure, even if you failed in these exams, just by attempting these exams will improve you a lot, so imagine the standard of these certifications.

Time management is critical in both advanced level certificates. Some used the 3 minutes timebox per question method, which I didn’t try. My recommendation is to use the method more suitable and natural for you to do your best. It is essential to use the correct language in both advanced certifications. Another common mistake to avoid is, do not write too much for the answer to one question. Please pay attention to the question it is very common to have more than one sub-questions inside the question, so please answer all the subquestions to get the full marks. 

PSPO III

I start a discussion with PSPO III because it is easier than PSM III. Anyone who first passed the PSM III found PSPO III a bit easier because there are fewer descriptive questions in it. However, easier is a relative term here; it is easier than PSM III, but not an easy exam by any means. My plan of action for this exam was similar to what I tried in PSU that at least I will target 100% in Scrum knowledge so that I would have a buffer on the Product Owner related questions especially descriptive one, and that’s precisely what I did and I am glad that I passed this exam in my first attempt. If review the result of PSPO I for the preparation of PSPO II is helpful, then it is crucial to review the result of PSPO II before attempting the PSPO III and cover all the weak areas.

If it is essential to read “The Professional Product Owner” for PSPO II, then it is more important to read it at least twice, if possible more. During the exam, put yourself in the shoe of the Product Owner, and think how can you provide the maximum value to the stakeholder; this type of thinking will help you to answer not only the MCQ but also descriptive questions. Be comfortable with the EBM, if you can teach it to someone before PSPO III that is even better; maybe writing an article or webinar on it helps you to understand this concept better. 

PSM III

Now comes the real giant. It is by far the most challenging Scrum exam on earth, and there is no shortcut to it. Even after passing the PSM III with 93.8%, I can assure you one thing, you will not get enough time to even review your answers during the exam; you are literally running against the time.

There is no way someone can pass this exam without having a strong understanding of Scrum, specially empiricism. You have to go to the foundations of the Scrum and see how this particular concept is related to scrum values and empiricism. As I mentioned earlier, you have to use the correct language to pass this exam.

If you can’t explain any part of the Scrum framework, then do not try this. I can’t tell how many times I came across a Scrum Master who never read the Scrum Guide; if you are one of them, then read the whole Scrum Guide, word by word. If you did it, then read it again and again and again.

Let me tell you about my secret sauce. I translated the whole Scrum guide in “Urdu,” yes complete guide word by word. This gave me an opportunity to not only read every word in the guide but decipher its meaning and intention of it. If you are bilingual and even the translation is already available in your language, I highly recommend doing it yourself without looking at the existing one. I repeat, do not read the translation alone; reading the translation and doing it will give a completely different level of understanding. Extra point, also do the translation of the history changelog; you will be surprised to learn something new from there too.

Try to explain what you learn to others by any means; it can be writing an article, webinar, public speaking, or training to improve yourself. Keep a healthy discussion of the person who already passed or PST or PST Candidate, so challenge your knowledge and be a better version of yourself, and don’t forget to read. In addition to the books and scrum.org blog, take a look at the blogs written on "medium" with the name of “Serious Scrum,” which are really helpful to understand the concept.

Last but not the least, keep helping others. Soon you will realize that helping others will indeed help you to be a better person not only in Scrum but in life. 

Reference

1. Scrum Insights for Practitioners by Hiren Doshi
2. Scrum Pocket Guide by Gunther Verheyen
3. The Professional Product Owner by Don McGreal and Ralph Jocham
4. Clean Code by Robert C Martin
5. Nexus Framework for Scaling Scrum by Kurt Bittner
6. Agile Leadership Toolkit by Peter Koning
7. Actionable Agile Metric by Daniel S Vacanti
8. Key Flow Metrics by Zeeshan Amjad
9. Lean UX by Jeff Gothelf
10. Mastering Professional Scrum by Stephanie Ockerman and Simon Reindl
11. Scrum Mastery by Geoff Watts
12. The Art of Doing Twice the work in Half the Time by Jeff Sutherland and J. J. Sutherland
13. Fixing your Scrum by Ryan Ripley and Todd Miller
14. Evidence-Based Management by scrum.org