Welcome to Scrum Myths Debunked!

Did you know ... that there's more myths ranking around Scrum than there are topics in the Scrum guide? Or am I just making that up, adding one more item to the list of myths?

There are so many things you might have heard about Scrum that are really close to what Scrum is, and you might actually believe that Scrum means that - but the concept is still ... off.

Here are the three categories of myths that we're dealing with:

Attribution myth

Some statements are simply being attributed to Scrum, despite not being mentioned in the Scrum guide.
We can even find anecdotal evidence to support the claim. The real myth would be that it's actually Scrum.
Attribution myths cause no significant harm. Occasionally, they even might result in slight improvements to understanding or practice.

They're merely distractors that might send you off on a tangent, increasing implementation complexity  without reason. We'll examine some of the common attributions, but they are not what we really need to be cautious of.

Hoax

Other claims are made about Scrum that are neither specifically mentioned in the Scrum Guide, nor are they supported by a relevant amount of evidence. We can even procure evidence that the claim will not result in any organizational improvement. However, the myth still pops up frequently and is very hard to debunk.

Falling for a hoax might be harmful. The team will be doing something wrong - in the worst case, they will suffer damage to morale, credibility and sustainability. Work needs to be invested simply returning to a "sound state". Scrum practitioners should always be cautious about such hoaxes. 

Promoting a hoax is a great disservice to one's own reputation, business - and the agile community.

Dangerous misrepresentation

A number of claims are so close to what the Scrum Guide says that they may be difficult to spot as deviations. However, they misrepresent both the essence of agility and the intention of the original statement in Scrum.

We can provide substantial evidence that the claim will result in significant damage to the organization. These claims are often used as reasons to dismiss or abolish Scrum.

Implementing such misrepresentations will harm the team, potentially even cause irrecoverable damage, such as burning the term "agile", or even getting people fired. From a business perspective, misrepresentations will cost significant amounts of money without Return On Investment. 

Exposing and steering clear of misrepresentations provides significant benefit to an organization.