Key takeaways
- Scrum is a lightweight framework that helps people, teams and organizations generate value through adaptive solutions for complex problems.
- Scrum is founded on empiricism and lean thinking, with three pillars: transparency, inspection and adaptation.
- A Scrum Team has one Scrum Master, one Product Owner and Developers, typically 10 people or fewer.
- Scrum defines 5 events (Sprint, Sprint Planning, Daily Scrum, Sprint Review, Sprint Retrospective) and 3 artifacts (Product Backlog, Sprint Backlog, Increment).
- The official definition of Scrum is the Scrum Guide by Ken Schwaber and Jeff Sutherland, last updated in November 2020.
Scrum in one sentence
According to the Scrum Guide, Scrum is a lightweight framework that helps people, teams and organizations generate value through adaptive solutions for complex problems.
Three words in this definition matter. Lightweight: Scrum defines only a few rules, roles, events and artifacts. Framework: Scrum is not a detailed method; it is intentionally incomplete and leaves room for the practices each team needs. Complex problems: Scrum is designed for work where more is unknown than known, so that the plan must evolve as the team learns.
In short, a Product Owner orders the work for a complex problem into a Product Backlog. The Scrum Team turns a selection of that work into a valuable Increment during a Sprint. The team and its stakeholders inspect the results and adjust for the next Sprint. Then the cycle repeats.
Where Scrum comes from
Scrum was developed by Ken Schwaber and Jeff Sutherland, who first presented it publicly in 1995. The name comes from rugby, a metaphor already used in 1986 by Hirotaka Takeuchi and Ikujiro Nonaka to describe product development teams that move forward together.
In 2010, Schwaber and Sutherland published the first Scrum Guide, the official definition of Scrum. It has been updated several times since. The current version dates from November 2020: it is shorter, less prescriptive and less focused on software than earlier versions, and it introduced the Product Goal. Read more about this history on our Origins of Scrum page.
Scrum theory: empiricism and lean thinking
Scrum is founded on empiricism, the idea that knowledge comes from experience and that decisions should be based on what is observed, and on lean thinking, which reduces waste and focuses on essentials. Scrum uses an iterative and incremental approach to optimize predictability and control risk.
Empiricism rests on three pillars:
- Transparency: the process and the work must be visible to those who perform it and those who receive it. Decisions based on artifacts with low transparency can reduce value and increase risk.
- Inspection: Scrum artifacts and progress toward agreed goals must be inspected frequently to detect problems early.
- Adaptation: if any aspect deviates outside acceptable limits, the process or the product must be adjusted as soon as possible.
Every Scrum event is a formal opportunity to inspect and adapt.
The five Scrum values
Successful use of Scrum depends on people living five values:
| Value | What it means in practice |
|---|---|
| Commitment | The Scrum Team commits to achieving its goals and to supporting each other. |
| Focus | The primary focus is on the work of the Sprint, to make the best possible progress toward these goals. |
| Openness | The team and its stakeholders are open about the work and the challenges. |
| Respect | Team members respect each other as capable, independent people. |
| Courage | Team members have the courage to do the right thing and to work on tough problems. |
The Scrum Team
The fundamental unit of Scrum is a small team of people: one Scrum Master, one Product Owner and Developers. There are no sub-teams or hierarchies. The team is cross-functional (its members have all the skills needed to create value each Sprint) and self-managing (it decides internally who does what, when and how). A Scrum Team is typically 10 people or fewer.
Each of the three accountabilities is detailed in our guide Scrum roles explained.
Events and artifacts at a glance
Scrum combines five events and three artifacts, each artifact being linked to a commitment:
5 events
- The Sprint (one month or less)
- Sprint Planning
- Daily Scrum (15 minutes)
- Sprint Review
- Sprint Retrospective
3 artifacts + commitments
- Product Backlog → Product Goal
- Sprint Backlog → Sprint Goal
- Increment → Definition of Done
When to use Scrum
Scrum is most useful when:
- the problem is complex: requirements, technology or user needs are uncertain and will be discovered along the way;
- delivering value early and often matters more than following an initial plan;
- a small, dedicated team can own the work from end to end.
For simple, repeatable work where everything is known in advance, a defined process may be more efficient. Scrum is used well beyond software: product development, marketing, research, education and operations.
Want to go further? Explore the Scrum Library, the Scrum Glossary, or validate your knowledge with a Scrum certification.
Frequently asked questions
Sources
- Ken Schwaber and Jeff Sutherland, The Scrum Guide, November 2020.
- Manifesto for Agile Software Development, 2001.
- SCRUM Framework, How our certification exams work.
Exam content is based on the Scrum Guide by Ken Schwaber and Jeff Sutherland, licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (CC BY-SA 4.0). SCRUM Framework is an independent certification body. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by Scrum.org, Scrum Alliance or Scrum Inc., whose names and trademarks belong to their respective owners.
