Scrum is not an acronym, which is a common misconception for a term so frequently used in a business context. This framework is recognized as the most popular structure for implementing Agile project management, guiding teams in developing, delivering, and sustaining complex products. It provides a lightweight yet powerful method for organizing work, team structure, and continuous improvement. Understanding the history, mechanics, and underlying philosophy of Scrum helps clarify why it has become the standard for adaptive product development across various industries.
The Origin of the Name Scrum
The name itself was drawn from the sport of rugby, a connection first established in a 1986 Harvard Business Review article titled “The New New Product Development Game.” Authors Hirotaka Takeuchi and Ikujiro Nonaka used the term to describe a holistic approach to product development that contrasted sharply with the traditional, sequential “relay race” method. Their research on high-performing companies, such as Honda and Fuji-Xerox, highlighted the success of small, cross-functional teams working together across the entire product lifecycle.
The authors chose the name “scrum” to emphasize a collective, integrated effort where a team works as a cohesive unit, continuously passing the “ball” back and forth to advance toward a goal. This metaphor stresses teamwork, constant communication, and self-organization in complex, unpredictable environments. This approach was later codified into the formal framework by Jeff Sutherland and Ken Schwaber in the early 1990s, who were inspired by the article’s vision for adaptive development.
Defining the Scrum Framework
Scrum is formally defined as a lightweight, iterative, and incremental framework designed to help organizations generate value through adaptive solutions for complex problems. It breaks down large projects into manageable, fixed-length cycles known as Sprints. The core philosophy of Scrum is built on empirical process control, which asserts that knowledge comes from experience and making decisions based on observation.
This empirical approach relies on three foundational pillars: transparency, inspection, and adaptation. Transparency ensures that the process and all work are visible to the team and stakeholders, allowing for informed decision-making. Inspection involves frequently reviewing the Scrum artifacts and progress to detect variances. Adaptation is the process of making necessary adjustments to the product or process as soon as deviations are noticed during an inspection.
The Essential Components of the Scrum Framework
The framework is structured by three sets of components—roles, events, and artifacts—which work together to facilitate the empirical process. Modifying the core design or omitting any of these elements can diminish the benefits and effectiveness of the framework.
Scrum Roles
The Scrum Team is a self-managing unit of ten or fewer people, encompassing all the skills necessary to deliver a usable product Increment. This team consists of three distinct accountabilities. The Product Owner is accountable for maximizing the value of the product resulting from the work of the Scrum Team and is the sole person responsible for managing the Product Backlog.
The Scrum Master acts as a servant-leader for the Scrum Team and the larger organization, coaching the team in self-management and helping everyone understand Scrum theory and practice. Their focus is on removing impediments and ensuring the framework is correctly applied. The Developers are the people committed to creating any aspect of a usable Increment each Sprint. They are accountable for creating the Sprint Backlog and adhering to the quality standard known as the Definition of Done.
Scrum Events
The five formal events provide the necessary rhythm and structure for inspection and adaptation. The Sprint is the container for all other events, defined as a fixed-length timebox of one month or less during which a valuable, usable Increment is created. Sprint Planning is the first event, where the entire Scrum Team collaborates to define the Sprint Goal and select the Product Backlog items that will be worked on.
The Daily Scrum is a 15-minute event for the Developers to inspect progress toward the Sprint Goal and adapt the Sprint Backlog as needed. At the end of the Sprint, the Sprint Review is held with stakeholders to inspect the Increment and collaborate on what to do next, resulting in a revised Product Backlog. The final event is the Sprint Retrospective, where the Scrum Team inspects itself and creates a plan for improvements to the process, tools, or relationships for the next Sprint.
Scrum Artifacts
The three required artifacts represent work or value and are designed to maximize the transparency of key product information. The Product Backlog is an emergent, ordered list of everything that might be needed to improve the product, with the Product Goal serving as its long-term commitment. This list is refined to ensure items at the top are clear and ready to be selected for a Sprint.
The Sprint Backlog is the set of Product Backlog items selected for the Sprint, plus the plan for delivering the Increment, with the Sprint Goal serving as its commitment. Finally, the Increment is the concrete, usable, and potentially releasable product resulting from the Sprint. Its commitment is the Definition of Done, which is the formal description of the state of the product when the work is complete.
Core Principles and Values of Scrum
The successful application of Scrum depends on people living the five core values: Commitment, Focus, Openness, Respect, and Courage. These values underpin the framework, creating the environment necessary for empiricism to thrive. Without them guiding the team’s behavior, the events and artifacts often fail to deliver the intended results.
The values are defined as:
- Commitment involves the entire Scrum Team personally committing to achieving the goals of the team and supporting each other.
- Focus means the team concentrates on the work of the Sprint and the Sprint Goal to ensure maximum progress.
- Openness requires the Scrum Team and its stakeholders to be transparent about all the work and any challenges that arise during the process.
- Respect is demonstrated when team members acknowledge each other as capable, independent people and trust their decisions and skills.
- Courage enables the team members to do the right thing, to work on difficult problems, and to be honest about progress and impediments.
These values establish a foundation of trust, allowing the team to share risks, offer alternative ideas, and conduct the frequent inspection and adaptation required by the framework.
Key Benefits of Using Scrum
Adopting the Scrum framework offers significant business advantages, enabling organizations to thrive in complex and uncertain environments. Increased flexibility and adaptability are key benefits, as the short, iterative Sprints allow teams to respond quickly to new information, market changes, or shifts in customer requirements. This contrasts with traditional approaches where changes are difficult and costly to incorporate late in the project lifecycle.
Scrum also leads to a faster time-to-market because the focus is on delivering a usable Increment of the product at the end of every Sprint, rather than a single large release at the end of a long project. This frequent delivery allows stakeholders to provide early feedback, enhancing customer satisfaction and ensuring the team is building the right product. The continuous inspection inherent in the framework also provides risk management, as problems are identified and addressed sooner.
Practical Steps for Implementing Scrum
Organizations looking to adopt Scrum should approach it as an incremental, organizational change rather than a massive, instantaneous overhaul. The first step is securing executive buy-in and establishing a clear product vision that aligns with business goals. This support is important for empowering teams and removing organizational impediments that might hinder the shift to a self-managing structure.
Next, organizations must establish their first Scrum Teams by selecting a Product Owner, a Scrum Master, and the Developers. Providing training on the framework’s mechanics, roles, and values is necessary to build a shared understanding. The initial Product Backlog should then be created, listing all known work and prioritizing items based on the value they will deliver. Teams should start with a short, consistent Sprint length—typically two weeks—and commit to holding all the formal events, using the Retrospective to refine their process and improve with each cycle.