A Wrinkle in the Promise of Scrum

Background

Scrum has been widely adopted over the last 15 years and continues to expand its impact not just on software and product development but in other areas as well (ScrumAlliance.org, 2017). However, there are plenty of examples of bad Scrum in the industry mostly due to the gross misinterpretations of the intentions embedded within the framework (Chee, 2018; Handscomb et al., 2018). Changing this is a huge task that is not easily undertaken unless enterprises everywhere fundamentally change their understanding of its application. However, as big a task as it is, it is also imperative that the task be undertaken. With Scrum adoption growing year over year, the impact of poorly implemented transformations can have deep and negative consequences for organizations (State of Agile, 2020). This chapter will not discuss Scrum events, roles or artifacts. Rather it will focus on why good Scrum is hard to implement, the consequences of bad Scrum, and its impact on organizational culture. It will end with a call to action to all leaders who are in the midst of a Scrum adoption or are contemplating inviting Scrum through their doors.