Can Pure Scrum Actually Work?

TL; DR: Pure Scrum?

Can you rely on pure Scrum to transform your organization and deliver value? Not always. While Scrum excels in simplicity and flexibility, applying it “out of the box” often falls short in corporate contexts due to limitations in product discovery, scaling, and portfolio management.

This article explores the conditions under which pure Scrum thrives, the organizational DNA required to support it, and practical scenarios where it works best—along with a candid look at where it struggles. Discover whether pure Scrum is a realistic approach for your team and how thoughtful adaptation can unlock its true potential.

Learn about conditions under which pure Scrum thrives and the organizational DNA required to support it — Age-of-Product.com
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Why Leaders Believe the Product Operating Model Will Succeed Where Agile Initiatives Failed

TL; DR: Why Leaders Support the Product Operating Model Despite Agile’s Failure

Why might leaders turn to the Product Operating Model (POM) after a previous Agile transformation, for example, based on SAFe, failed?

This article uncovers the psychological, organizational, and strategic reasons behind this seeming contradiction, exploring what motivates leaders to believe that a new approach will succeed where others have not.

Why Leaders Believe the Product Operating Model Will Succeed Where Agile Initiatives Failed — Age-of-Product.com
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The Scrum Trap: How Unfit Practices Will Harm Return on Investment

TL, DR: The Scrum Trap

Scrum is a purposefully incomplete framework. Consequently, it needs to be augmented with tools and practices to apply its theoretical foundation to an organization’s business reality: what problems shall be solved for whom in which market? Moreover, there is an organization’s culture to take into account. However, the intentional “gap” is not a free-for-all to accept whatever comes to mind or is convenient. Some tools and practices have proven highly effective in supporting Scrum’s application and reaping its benefits. And then there are others — the Scrum trap.

Let’s look at what practices and tools for collaboration and team building are not helpful when used with Scrum.

The Scrum Trap: How Unfit Practices Will Harm Return on Investment — Age-of-Product.com
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How to Sabotage A Scrum Master — 44 Anti-Patterns from the Trenches

TL; DR: How to Sabotage A Scrum Master — 44 Anti-Patterns from the Trenches to Avoid

One of my favorite exercises from my Professional Scrum Master classes is how to best sabotage a Scrum Master as a member of the middle management. The exercise rules are simple: You’re not allowed to use any form of illegal activity. So, outsourcing the task to a bunch of outlaws is out of the question. Instead, you are only allowed to use practices that are culturally acceptable within your organization.

Read on and learn more on how to best sabotage a Scrum Master from the exercise results of more than ten PSM I and PSM II classes. (I slightly edited the suggestions for better readability.)

How to Sabotage A Scrum Master — 44 Practices from the Trenches — Age-of-Product.com
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The Lack of Agile Leadership Qualities — Making Your Scrum Work #15

TL; DR: The Lack of Agile Leadership Qualities — When Change Agents Don’t Act as Role Models

There are plenty of failure possibilities with Scrum. Given that Scrum is a framework with a reasonable yet short “manual,” this effect should not surprise anyone. When Scrum becomes an element of an agile transformation, a lack of agile leadership qualities on the incumbents’ side may impede its overall progress significantly despite the best efforts of all other change agents.

📺 Join me and explore the consequences of a lack of agile leadership qualities and what you can do about it in less than three minutes.

The Lack of Agile Leadership Qualities — Making Your Scrum Work #15 — Age-of-Product.com

Update: Join the LinkedIn Poll: What leadership behavior have you noticed in the past that is impeding an agile transformation?

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Three Essential Agile Failure Patterns in 7:31 Minutes—Making Your Scrum Work #12

TL; DR: Essential Agile Failure Patterns — When Noise Interferes with Signal

There are plenty of failure possibilities with Scrum. Given that Scrum is a framework with a reasonable yet short “manual,” this effect should not surprise anyone. When Scrum becomes an element of an agile transformation, the following three common essential agile failure patterns prove to be an exceptionally tough nut to crack for any Scrum Master.

📺 Join me and explore the consequences of foreseeable failure patterns and what you can do about them in a little more than seven minutes.

Three Essential Agile Failure Patterns in 7:31 Minutes—Making Your Scrum Work #12 — Age-of-Product.com

Update: I am running a poll on LinkedIn—join the voting: “What is your top agile failure pattern in organizations?”

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