People tend to highlight that Scrum is best suited as training wheels. However, what most people forget is Scrum is a means to an end; it's not a silver bullet. It is only as good as the members of the Scrum Team. If your team is not getting the desired results with Scrum, then it probably is not Sc...

Our Professional Scrum Trainers have worked to gather many of the questions that are asked by their students, the Scrum.org Forum and other places to provide answers to your Frequently Asked Questions about Scrum. How do we handle spill-over between Sprints?There is no spill-over (or carry-over) of ...

This is a quick-start guide that provides all the use cases for the Product Owner, Scrum Master, and Developers who can benefit from the power of AI and recommends AI tools.

New Scrum Teams aren't perfect, but when you use Scrum to get better, you get better at Scrum. So often, when you first start using Scrum, it can feel like you're just going through the motions. And while that can be frustrating, it's also a part of learning.

Are you ready to lead like a Chief Learning Officer? That’s what the best leaders are already doing. And that’s what the future demands of us all.

This article explores how AI interview analysis can be a powerful sense-making tool for agile practitioners who need to quickly synthesize unstructured, qualitative data, particularly when joining a team mid-crisis.

In this post, PST Alex Ballarín explains what OKRs (Objectives and Key Results) are, and why they can significantly improve the effectiveness and value delivered by Scrum Teams.

Scrum is built on more than practices—it's grounded in theory. Explore the two foundational theories behind Scrum—Empirical Process Control and Lean Thinking—and how they shape the way Scrum helps teams navigate complexity and deliver value.

In this episode of the Scrum.org Community Podcast, guest host Lindsay Velecina is joined by Professional Scrum Trainer Joanna Plaskonka to answer lingering questions from her recent webinar on psychological safety in Scrum Teams. (52:34 Minutes)

AI is transforming product management across the entire Planning Onion, from vision to validation. Learn how AI enhances market analysis, backlog prioritization, and customization while rethinking technical debt. Discover how the Model Context Protocol and AI code generation are revolutionizing how ...

OpenAIs neues (Stealth) LLM Optimus Alpha analysiert Teammetriken und übersetzen diese in umsetzbare Retrospektivenkonzepte.

In the third blog of this series, I'll explore Evaluation as a core competency of a 'Professional Teacher' stance. Using examples and practical ideas, I'll argue that professional teaching means inspecting both delivery and impact, using evaluation to drive real change.

Struggling to get real buy-in for agile at the executive level? You’re not alone. Too many agile transformations stall because senior leaders remain stuck in old ways of thinking while teams push for change. We need to break down why executive traction is the missing ingredient in enterprise agility...

In this experiment, OpenAI’s new stealthy LLM Optimus Alpha demonstrated exceptional performance in team data analysis. It quickly identified key patterns in complex agile metrics and synthesized insights about technical debt, value creation, and team dynamics.

Great facilitators don’t just “run” meetings. PST Sanjay Saini outlines how effective facilitators design experiences, ensure psychological safety, and amplify the collective intelligence of the group.

Die 15-minütige KI-gestützte Vorbereitung für Scrum Master und Agile Coaches zum Aufbau von Vertrauen

In a recent ProdPad webinar, I sat down with Janna Bastow for a fireside chat. This was an opportunity to explore how the principles of surfing can revolutionize product leadership and business agility. In this article, I share highlights of our conversation in order to offer a unique perspective of...

The 15-Minute AI-Enabled Prep for Scrum Masters and Agile Coaches to Build Trust

The Product Owner role is evolving rapidly with the integration of artificial intelligence. As we move further into 2025, we're witnessing the emergence of AI-powered Product Owners who can deliver more value with less effort.

In the fast-paced world of leadership and career growth, the right guidance can make all the difference. But are you seeking coaching when you actually need mentoring—or vice versa? Coaching helps unlock your potential by guiding you to your own solutions, while mentoring provides wisdom and strateg...

The cost of experimentation is low; the potential career advantage, on the other hand, is substantial. A reason to embrace generative AI in Agile?

How do you develop your company/operating model using product techniques? How do you use an Agile Product Operating Model to build your Agile Product Operating Model? Here's a somewhat concrete playbook bringing this thinking to life.

How "Strategy Knotworking" turns ideas and ambitions into reality, and why it's an excellent structure for your Sprint Retrospective.

This blog explores why traditional project management methods fall short in AI initiatives and how adopting an Agile mindset can significantly enhance AI success.

Scrum is described as ‘simple,’ but many teams still struggle. Why? Because simple doesn’t mean easy. Mastering Scrum requires discipline, collaboration, and continuous learning. Explore what ‘simple’ really means in Scrum and how to make it work effectively.

At the end of our first Sprint, during the Retrospective, someone pointed out that the Daily Scrum alone would add over 250 meetings a year. It felt excessive. We were already frustrated with too many meetings, so why would we willingly add more? But as we kept going, something changed. We started ...

A structured approach to prompting AI models designed specifically for Agile practitioners who want to leverage this technology as a powerful ally in their journey.

Scrum’s repetition isn’t about doing the same thing over and over—it’s about evolving with every cycle. Learn how the rhythm of Scrum drives continuous improvement, reduces complexity, and ensures teams deliver value Sprint after Sprint.

In this episode of the Scrum.org Community Podcast, Dave West chats with Accenture’s Professional Scrum Trainer Dimitris Dimitrelos about how companies and organizations introduce the Agile Product Operating Model (APOM). (33:15 Minutes)

How AI-driven approaches enable agile product teams to gain deeper customer insights and deliver more innovative solutions.

This blog post describes a 1-hour Retrospective format to help teams reflect on the empirical pillars of Scrum.

How can you focus on continuous improvement if you think everything is already perfect? Scrum Masters who become too emotionally attached to their teams can lose the ability to assess improvement opportunities objectively.

A glue role connects different parts of an organization, ensuring smooth team communication, collaboration, and integration. These roles are essential for implementing change and solving systemic issues that impact multiple departments. It’s easy to see the connection to the purpose of a Scrum Maste...

Scrum isn’t about blindly following a plan—it’s about inspecting, learning, and adjusting. But not all changes are improvements. Discover how small, goal-oriented, data-driven tweaks can make the difference between continuous improvement and chaotic change.

In some of my classes, people tell me they are using Scrum—but they can't call it Scrum. Why? Because someone in their organization had a bad experience with it.

Psychological safety isn’t about fluffy “niceness”—it is the foundation of agile teams that innovate, adapt, and deliver.

Some teams struggle. They flounder in chaos, miss deadlines, and suffer from constant firefighting. Eventually, the pain becomes unbearable, and they take action—hiring an agile coach, changing their approach, or even replacing key team members. Other teams just get by. They hit their deadlines (so...

Scrum - when done well - actually promotes even greater accountability than waterfall, because the Scrum team is accountable for value delivery. And great Scrum teams measure - and reflect upon - customer outcomes so that they can adjust course and improve their ability to deliver value.

You can't force a team to improve; instead, create the conditions where they want to. Improvement must come from within, and your role as a Scrum Master, leader, or manager is to make that journey possible. In this article, I'll share questions to reflect on and offer tangible recommendations to get...

Scrum has been around for almost 30 years now yet there are so many misconceptions about what needs to be done and how it can be done effectively. Even today, as I coach and consult many teams I often see that the purpose of events is mostly lost. And people simply go through the motions, probably t...

Leverage AI tools in your day-to-day work and move to a new level of Scrum Mastery.

What is the relationship between Scrum and Lean Thinking? Please explain how Scrum enables Lean Thinking or how Lean Thinking fosters Scrum? These are my two favorite questions when I typically want to gauge the knowledge of Scrum Masters. And over the many interviews in the past couple of years I h...

Scrum Masters are human. And sometimes - even when they are trying to help - they can unintentionally overstep their authority. In this article, we will discuss the most common ways that Scrum Masters overstep themselves, and why.

The Scrum framework offers clear rules, guidelines, and constraints. Teams can use these as boundaries to self-manage and self-organize their work, minimize risk, and deliver value to their stakeholders. When teams are relatively new to Scrum, strictly following the rules and constraints makes sense...

Personal retrospectives can help you improve your life. This approach, similar to team retrospectives, encourages self-reflection. By assessing different areas of your life and identifying areas for protection and improvement, you can focus on a few small, actionable steps to achieve your goals and ...

Start-up Agility describes the mental disposition within which leaders can learn to swim through uncertainty, build their teams in ebbs and flows, and deliver value at every growth point. By fostering connections, empowering teams, and remaining flexible, agile leaders set up the engagement for ...

Adopt one of these New Year's resolutions at your next Sprint Retrospective!

In this vlog, join hosts Andreanna Marshall and Grand Scrum Master Scott as they dive into practical strategies for implementing Scrum principles seemingly solo. 🚀 Discover how to navigate resistance and transform your workplace from the ground up!

Elevating Katas: Driving Continuous Improvement in Organizational Topologies In the evolving landscape of software development and organizational design, Elevating Katas play a crucial role in fostering continuous improvement. These structured, repeatable exercises help teams refine their workflo...

This article explores the conditions under which pure Scrum thrives, the organizational DNA required to support it, and practical scenarios where it works best—along with a candid look at where it struggles.