Scrum is not a process

One of the most common discussion that always seem to pop up again an again, is whether Scrum /Agile is good or bad. I don’t know why but in most cases it’s starts with a claim that Scrum is not  good since it … and then state a reason. (or with the claim that Agile is dead),for example Scrum is not a good process cause its not complete, it doesn’t define everything you need in order to succeed. or Scrum is not a good process. Team members are equal, each has his own set of skills and ability and treating them as equals will not work. And although in many cases those argument make some sort of logic, what most of them are missing is that scrum is NOT a process. Scrum is a framework. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t believe in silver bullets,...

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Posted in: Random Thoughts,Scrum

So what is the Product Backlog?

Trying to define what is a product backlog is always a tricky business. One definition I use from time to time is: The product backlog is just another way of describing the system requirements and serves to describe the work needed to be done Which is a good way to simplify it to death. I had reasonable success using this definition with agile beginners, but clearly it doesn’t start to capture its entire meaning. The more official definition taken from the Scrum guide at Scrum.org is: The Product Backlog is an ordered list of everything that might be needed in the product and is the single source of requirements for any changes to be made to the product. Which is more complete, but still raises quite a few questions. for example: What is...

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Posted in: Agile practices,Scrum