Doing "Scrum" does not automatically equal "Agile"

I'm astonished by the number of people that seem to have agile product development confused.

Doing "Scrum" doesn't make you "Agile", it really doesn't. Running daily standups, refinement, sprint planning, reviews and retrospectives doesn't automatically translate to being agile. It's how you immerse yourself in the principals and use Scrum as a framework that define whether or not you're being agile... whatever that means to you.

I've consulted to many people/businesses that have said that "agile is failing" for one reason or another; I dive a little deeper and discover that they've implemented Scrum and their criticisms are:

• Not delivering faster
• Teams are wasting too much time in ceremonies
• The wider business isn't on board with it
• It doesn't scale
• It doesn't work in "my" environment
• etc

Why is this happening?

Through observations, this simply boils down to not sticking to the principals of agile. As a very simple example; whilst teams/businesses are holding regular Scrum ceremonies they are not focussing on the inspection phase in an effective way. Clicking through a demonstration of what was achieved in a Sprint sets a transparent expectation (great) but it doesn't encourage feedback unless you have the pleasure of some loud or engaged stakeholders.

Even if your stakeholders are engaged, watching a presentation isn't the same as putting them in the driving seat and having them talk through the challenges/successes of the solution put in front of them.

Stick to the basics of Agile, you'll go a long way!

• What is the hypothesis that you're testing?
• How are you inspecting?
• How are you immersing the customer in the solution to elicit feedback?
• What immediate/next actions are you taking based on the data you've just received?
• Where's the value to the customer?
• When you sliced a user story, did you cut out scope OR did you work hard to figure out a way of delivering the same value in a more efficient and effective way?
• I could go on and on here...

The point is:

Agile is well defined in the Agile Manifesto and the 12 principals. You need to understand the purpose and the intent for sure but let's be clear, just following Scrum doesn't get you there. Align yourself with the manifesto if you want to be agile... simples :)

If this brings you any value, please let me know. I'm going through years of notes, experiences and coaching advice I've received over the years and I'm publishing them because I lacked good sources of material to further my own learning. This is my way of giving to give back to the community :)

#Agile #Scrum