Demand respect. Why “Scrum-ish” can be better than Scrum

The Scrum Guide tells us “Scrum’s roles, events, artifacts, and rules are immutable”

This presumes people need this structure and can’t think on their own without it. Structure is good, but it can be achieved by specifying outcomes and principles while providing a starting point that can be changed as long as the outcomes are still achieved. Agile adopters should be focused on getting their work done, not on following a single set of rules that some people are advocating for everyone.

If you’re a new adopter of Agile don’t accept less than someone who respects your knowledge and experience. Get a coach, not a shepherd. Coaches provide clarity on the intentions and principles of Agile. Learn the how by doing your work. If that’s not in your vendor’s syllabus, get another vendor. If they say it can’t be done, find someone who does it.

You have more experience in your company than any outsider will ever have. Starting with immutability is the anti-thesis of Agile and it leaves an impression. Avoid the discussion of “Agile tells us we must do …”. It doesn’t. Scrum might but Scrum != Agile.

And it isn’t “Scrum And” over “ScrumBut.” Sometimes you don’t want to do something Scrum says.