Scrum Values

Successful use of Scrum depends on people becoming more proficient in maintaining five Scrum values:

• Commitment
• Focus
• Openness
• Respect
• Courage

These values give direction to the Scrum Team about their work, actions, and behaviour. The decisions, the steps taken, and the way Scrum is used should reinforce these values, not diminish or undermine them.

When these values are embodied by the Scrum Team and the people they work with, the empirical Scrum pillars of transparency, inspection, and adaptation come to life and build trust. The Scrum Master helps create an environment where the values can be realised.

The values are multidimensional and can be described and interpreted in many ways. Here are some examples:

Courage

Using Scrum and taking an empirical approach is a shift in behaviour and thinking for those new to it. It takes courage to implement a new approach and deal with the consequences that come with it.

We need to respect that it will be difficult for some to be courageous. We must focus on supporting people to find the courage necessary to adopt new working methods.

We need people to commit to being courageous and to stick with it even if things feel more challenging than before. We should encourage people to be open, which may require courage.

Focus

In the complex domain, focus is essential to allow people the distraction-free space and time to tackle work that requires deep concentration.

It takes courage to maintain focus when others may have shifting and conflicting priorities. People must commit to creating and supporting environments where people can focus. We must respect people who are focused and seek to maintain that focus. We need to be open about the importance of focus and the incurring cost when lost.

Commitment

Adopting Scrum and an empirical approach is often a significant change for people and organisations. It will take time to become effective, and people must be patient and committed to the change required.

Committing to new approaches and sticking with them takes courage. We must remain focused on maintaining and supporting people’s commitments. We should be open about and respect the challenges that come with commitment.

Respect

We need to respect the challenges that people face when doing complex work.

Where respect is not present, we must be courageous to challenge things. We may need to focus and commit to creating a respectful environment where people better understand the challenges others face. While increasing levels of openness, we will need to maintain respect so that openness does not create problems.

Openness

When working in a complex domain, there is much we do not know ahead of time and much that is likely to change as work proceeds. Openness allows better decision-making by maximising what is known.

It takes courage to be open. We must be open and focus on the most critical issues as we reveal the situation. We need to respect people’s viewpoints and respect one another as we tell things that may have remained hidden in the past.