The name was inspired by the scrum formation which is part of Rugby. It’s all about harnessing the combined physical might of the team members. For modern teams solving complex problems we need the combined intellectual might of the team. Seeking to harness that will pay off greatly.
Yet far too often teams are all about divide and conquer, assigning each individual to their own product backlog item. If there aren’t any elements of collaboration, swarming, pairing, building ideas off of each other, then you don’t have a team. You have a collection of people assigned to work on the same backlog.
Image by Kate Baucherel from Pixabay
A short history lesson. Frederick Taylor invented what’s known as scientific management. He observed that in the factory there were craftsmen that all used different approaches to produce the same thing. Over time he replaced the skilled workers with repeatable instructions, teaching the managers to create the instructions and the workers to only repeat them. This created a huge surge in productivity and out if it the industrial revolution was fueled.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frederick_Winslow_Taylor
However the problems they were solving were not complex, they were merely repeating simple steps. And for that there’s wasn’t a need to respect people, value differences, innovate, or seek to help each team to jell and thrive. Now it’s a different era and those things, people-focused ideas, are paramount to success.
Somehow unfortunately we still have a lot of leaders who believe that scientific management is applicable to modern work. Instead of swarming on problems we see leaders that want individuals that can do it all on their own. Or only by working with the “manager” when needed.
This style of working is outdated. It’s soul crushing. We know how to do better. We must do better. Harness the combined intellect of your team and you will be amazed.
How does one go about changing to a happier and more productive way to work?
I highly recommend using these basic approaches.
Co-create a purpose and vision
Establish shared values and strive to exemplify them
As a leader work on the culture, environment, and supporting teams
Scrum is a framework to help teams function well. The scrum guide implies much related to the type of trust and support that will best help each team to thrive.