I’m often being asked, “Well, how does Scrum solve these problems?” And my answer might be surprising to you, because what I say next is the following: Scrum isn’t actually supposed to solve problems — it’s just supposed to make them transparent so we can solve them.

Usually, you can see that this throws people off quite a bit, because they’re used to methods bringing solutions to them. Scrum isn’t really about that. Yes, there’s a lot of solutioning built into the whole system, and a lot of problems will actually go away if you just stick to basic Scrum. But the beauty of the system, the core of the system, is not solving something — it’s the transparency that allows us to inspect and adapt what’s actually going on.

In the end, what Scrum is, is a very unforgiving, truth-telling mirror. As soon as you have transparency, as soon as you stop putting your head into the sand, as soon as you have the courage to face and see what is actually being reflected back at you, this becomes a superpower. Because then you have the ability to solve the problem. But it’s not that Scrum will solve everything for you, as if it were some magic creature that can handle every possible combination of factors in the world. Its magic power comes from being this ruthlessly honest mirror that tells us what’s going on — and this is very valuable if you can deal with it.

If you’re a coach or a change agent, what I’d recommend is that you start introducing this idea to people. Because once they let go of the notion of having their problems magically solved, they can actually use the full power of the Scrum system — which is making things transparent. That transparency then helps us inspect and adapt, and ultimately helps us become better. Because finally, someone is telling us the truth about how the organization is doing, how the processes are doing, and how we’re doing in general.

If you’d like to learn more about Scrum, Scrum@Scale, or Business Agility in general, head to teamflow.de. I teach regular seminars on these topics, and you can find more information there.