Agile vs. Scrum — is it the same or different?
- What’s the difference between Agile And Scrum?
- Are they the same or different?
- Isn’t Scrum mean agile?
- Which is better agile or Scrum?
These are some of the common questions that are asked on the internet and social media.
If you’re a newbie to project and product management, then the term Agile and Scrum might sound alien to you. However, it is becoming a standard way of working in many organizations.
So what is the difference?
Agile
There are various definitions of agile. Here are a few of them.
Agile is a flexible way of executing projects where either scope, time, or cost get adjusted based on the pace of the project.
Agile is a mindset that enables us to embrace change and respond to it quickly and deliberately while controlling risk.
But agile is much more than just mindset. Agile that we refer to has originated from the manifesto for agile software development. A manifesto crafted by 17 people in 2001.
Agile software development is an umbrella term for frameworks and methodologies that share common values and principles described in the manifesto. These values and principles enable adaptiveness in approach while solving complex problems. Scrum is one of the frameworks that serve as a foundation for agile software development.
I have described agile values here and principles here.
Scrum
Scrum is a lightweight framework that helps people, teams, and organizations generate value through adaptive solutions for complex problems. Let’s discuss Scrum theory and values in detail. Scrum framework consists of principles, values, and rules, and not following rules means not doing Scrum.
Do you want to learn the principles and values behind Scrum? If yes, then you can explore more here.
Now, to learn more about how Agile and Scrum are different from each other, let’s look at their differences.
Agile
- Agile is an umbrella term for many frameworks, including Scrum, XP, FDD, LeSS and SAFe, etc.
- Agile manifesto consist of 4 values and 12 principles
- Agile is not equal to Scrum, but Scrum is agile. Organizational agility can be achieved through other approaches also including lean, XP, and even your process. Make sure you pay attention to agile values more than you focus on mechanisms of frameworks.
Scrum
- Scrum is one of the types of Agile software development framework.
- Sprint is a core of Scrum, and the sprint cycle can’t be more than one month.
- In Scrum, the cross-functional teams are self-managed
- Scrum has five values — courage, commitment, focus, respect, and openness that helps team to self-managed
- Scrum has three roles that help in defining clear accountability
- Scrum has three artifacts to enable transparency
- And Scrum has five events that provide opportunities to inspect and adapt.
Scrum is the most popular framework for agile software development and mainly because it is easy to understand and implement. I wrote about how to start developing a product using Scrum. Please read and share your feedback.
You learned the difference between Agile and Scrum.
Do you still have any doubts? Reach out to Agilemania, and we’d be happy to help you.
