Story:
Why Scrum Won

A wide array of Agile development methodologies emerged in the 1990s and 2000s. Some came only to eventually fade away, while others stuck around.

Scrum falls in the latter category. You could say it not only survived but also forced other methods to take a backseat.   

It first took the IT industry by storm and then swiftly reached the level of widespread adoption across other sectors. This stellar success due to its inherent characteristics and other factors that play right into its hand.

Scrum’s ability to deliver value to customers and improve project outcomes is well-documented. Apart from performance, its flexibility and integrity are helping it win practitioners left and right.

Let’s take a closer look.

Simply the Best

Today, few would dispute Scrum’s claim to the Agile throne. What is up to debate is where its true power lies. Our money is on its simplicity and straightforwardness.

Scrum is a lightweight framework which is easy to understand and apply to any organization, at least on a team level.

Namely, Scrum isn’t overly prescriptive, despite what many think. There are only a handful of events, roles, and artifacts to work with. Teams get to decide what they will focus on. Practice breeds insights, and they lead to more efficient processes.

Projects are broken down into small, manageable iterations. With frequent iterations, you’re in a loop of fast feedback and learning. The overarching goal is to produce shippable increments often and to do it fast.

Teams are self-organizing and hold meetings on a daily basis. Team members discuss anything that affects their work. There’s a clear system of accountability and responsibility.

Channels of communication are wide open and teams share ownership of work (done). Reliable and comprehensive information isn’t hard to come by. This kind of empowering environment improves the quality of work life and together with it, employee motivation, productivity, and satisfaction.

A Blend of Performance and Flexibility

High performance is one of the main things Scrum has going for it.

Namely, the success rate for projects delivered with the help of Scrum is 62%. The approach has been around for a while and it obviously works wonders for iterative software development and project management in general.

Companies are able to accomplish a faster time to market and also boost the quality of the end product. There’s a range of metrics you can use to evaluate your progress. They go beyond what long used to be the norm: preoccupation with worker-hours and team velocity.

Furthermore, Scrum practices, components, and requirements are flexible enough to be adjusted to different use cases. When we say use cases, we mean projects and organizations of all shapes and sizes.

There are surefire ways to scale Scrum to the whole organization, even if it’s a giant corporation. Take the example of Enterprise Scrum, which demonstrates the versatility of the approach. It enables you to divide a big team into smaller units and do the same with projects.

So, it’s clear that the Scrum is expanding light years away from its birthplace, a small, one-team environment. One other thing to notice is that it can be used in combination with other methods or a stand-alone approach.

This is to say you don’t have to go all in right away. Scrum welcomes other methodologies and allows gradual scaling.

It’s a Certified Pathway to Agile

Another major reason why Scrum is a front runner comes in the form of certifications.

Certificates, courses, and training programs ensure a strong presence of a methodology in the job market. What’s more, they drive codification and standardization of Scrum.

It’s clear what the framework entails. There’s no quarrel about its current state or future direction and evolution.

For example, there are official certifications for Scrum Masters and Product Owners. They are highly sought both by employers and employees. Some managerial Scrum roles are even among the best-paying jobs right now.

Unfortunately, there is a bad side to all of this. Namely, this “marketability” that Scrum possesses has also made it a popular choice for organizations that wish to become Agile in name only. They see Scrum as this thing to buy, slot into their organization and reap the benefits. And very few trainers and coaches will dissuade them from this.

Closing Word

It is not hard to see why Scrum won. First off, it’s on a simple side of things. It promotes quick and efficient project deployment. Secondly, successful implementation is taking place across different organizations and industry sectors.  

Finally, ongoing education, standardization, and certification make a strong case for Scrum to dominate the business landscape for a long time. It ultimately benefits employees, businesses, and customers.

So, there’s little doubt that Scrum represents the present and future of Agile transformation. It would be wise to get on the way of continuous improvement sooner rather than later.