The Scrum methodology of agile software development marks a dramatic departure from waterfall management. In fact, Scrum and other agile processes were inspired by its shortcomings. The Scrum methodology emphasizes communication and collaboration, functioning software, and the flexibility to adapt to emerging business realities — all attributes that suffer in the rigidly ordered waterfall paradigm.

4th
JUN

Flaccid Scrum?

Posted by admin under Scrum Discussion

In a post on agile luminary Martin Fowler’s blog, he identifies a new strain of Scrum dysfunction that’s wreaking havoc on software development projects: “flaccid Scrum.” Here’s Fowler’s description of how this anti-pattern gets started:

  • “They want to use an agile process, and pick Scrum
  • They adopt the Scrum practices, and maybe even the principles
  • After a while progress is slow because the code base is a mess”

What Fowler is describing here is an organization that has begun to use Scrum—and Scrum only—to manage its projects. For organizations developing software (or other chaotic technology deliverables), Scrum is not a substitute for agile engineering practices—not even close. In fact, Scrum intentionally omits engineering practices to give organizations as much flexibility as possible. That is, Scrum is about people and teams and believes that decisions about engineering practices should be left up to them, rather than prescribed.

Of course, Fowler understands this and is quick to say that a recent outcropping of so-called “flaccid Scrum” projects has more to do with Scrum’s surge in popularity than any inherent flaw with the framework.

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Reader's Comments

  1. David Koontz | June 4th, 2009 at 8:42 pm

    Did you see the post on LinkedIn’s Scrum Practitioners Discussion

    “Can we have a new Scrum variant for the Waterfall guys”

    http://www.linkedin.com/groupAnswers?viewQuestionAndAnswers=&gid=52030&discussionID=3850869&sik=1244171421561&trk=ug_qa_q&goback=.ana_52030_1244171421561_3_1

    I say NO!

  2. Ravichandran Jv | June 17th, 2009 at 12:33 am

    I read the post as well. I have been an XPer as the post remarks and i do kinda think that the project management practices in Scrum make it less flexible than you say. Giving the team the flexibility to adopt whatever engineering practices they want, still can be overridden by the project management constraints, dont you think?

    I would like a response to my question, please. Thanks

    Regards,

    Ravichandran Jv

  3. admin | August 21st, 2009 at 10:39 am

    Hi Ravichandran Jv. I think it’s difficult to answer your question absolutely. Yes, Scrum’s decision to not prescribe engineering techniques does leave an opening for organizations to adopt the wrong techniques or simply lose themselves in analysis paralysis. But the opposite is also true. Because Scrum doesn’t mandate specific agile engineering practices, it allows an organization to utilize those practices that make the most sense at their organization and for the project they’re working on. That is, Scrum attempts to avoid superfluous components so that the framework can be flexibly customized to cater to the unique needs of its users.

  4. Laszlo | October 9th, 2009 at 8:42 am

    Scrum’s co-founder Ken Schwaber responded to the Flaccid Scrum article with an article of his own here: http://www.scrumalliance.org/resource_download/745

    In addition, he’s embarked on a speaking engagement to

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