Scrum: It's not a one size fits all solution

Scrum is the most popular Agile approach in the world, but are you using it correctly? Many organizations and teams assume Scrum is the gold standard for software development, but it's important to remember that Scrum serves a specific purpose and not more.

Scrum is best suited for situations where:

• You create or maintain one product at a time
• You regularly verify if your work helps to achieve your objectives
• Your knowledge of how to build the product emerges while working on it
• You can create product increments within no more than a month, preferably faster
• You need a team to build the product
• You have stakeholders that should be involved in the product journey
• If any of these prerequisites do not apply, it's time to reconsider using Scrum. It's not suitable for situations where multiple products are being worked on at the same time, where there is only one component or feature, or where there is no product at all.

Don't let Scrum be an illusion for your team. Make sure you understand its purpose and use it where it's most effective. Scrum is a valuable tool, but it's not a one size fits all solution.

Another important point to consider is that if your environment is predictable, and you don't need to verify if you are working on the right things, then Scrum may not be the right approach. A Sprint Review, a key part of the Scrum framework, exists to increase transparency and to verify if the team is working on the right things.

It's also crucial to remember that Scrum is a framework to maximize the value of your product, and without a product, it doesn't make sense to use a framework that aims to maximize the value of a product.

Scrum is a powerful tool that can help teams deliver value and improve their productivity, but it should only be used in the specific situations where it will be most effective.