The Disastrous Impact Of Framing Scrum As An Incomplete Framework

Scrum can do it all

Scrum is a framework to create valuable products in complex environments. Its rules fit the needs of the whole organisation. Bells and whistles of other frameworks are waste. The strength of Scrum is its simplicity.

But many believe Scrum is incomplete. I understand how people can be taken aback by the simplicity of Scrum. How can one develop a product in a large corporation with only Scrum? There are so many people involved and so many factors to take into account.

But as simple as it is, Scrum is also complete. Yes, I know the Scrum Guide has this quote:

“The Scrum framework is purposefully incomplete…” — Scrum Guide 2020

Many point to this quote from the Scrum Guide to argue Scrum only works for larger solutions when combined with scaling frameworks. They argue Scrum is a team solution only. Scaling frameworks cater for inter-team alignment, product strategy, and product management. Scaling frameworks would address the needs to develop larger products. But there’s more to the quote:

“The Scrum framework is purposefully incomplete only defining the parts required to implement Scrum theory — Scrum Guide 2020

This is crucial. Scrum is a framework to maximize product value in a complex environment. The Scrum Guide proceeds to explain that various processes and tools can be used WITHIN the framework. I will give some…