Implementing Scrum·October 19, 2023·1 min read

A Tool Is Just A Tool: Don't Be A Tool When Using Scrum Tools

People love their Scrum tools. But if you're not solving a real problem for your customer or end user, someone else will do that for you. Guaranteed.

We published a Scrum Cartoon referencing the “Blackberry” back in 2007. Lots has changed since then. One of the consistent reminders I have thrown in my own face, year after year, decade after decade, is that people love their scrum tools.

Some people reading this don’t even know what a Blackberry was. It was THE tool professionals needed back in the day — it solved a very specific problem. And like many teams I work with today, that company got wrapped around the axle and became obsolete because they focused on their solution as the only solution (they thought the idea of Apple and the iPhone was the dumbest idea around). The tech world has an infinite graveyard of solutions for problems that no longer — or even worse, never — existed.

Scrum Tools: Understand The Problem First

I’ve written about focusing on the end user versus the customer and the importance of delivering a working Increment to get feedback by the end of each Sprint at the Sprint Review when Implementing Scrum.

If you are not solving a real problem with your solution, someone else will do that for you. Guaranteed. If you create a perfect solution to a problem that doesn’t exist, someone else will solve the real problem for your customer or end user instead.

What Next?

Focus. #deliver.

Have a conversation with your team and stakeholders in your organization today about using the right tools to get stuff done. Don’t forget why you exist as a team.

My guess is that if you, each member of your team, and each team in your organization cannot summarize that reason in one sentence, you might be focusing on a tool (solution) to a problem that doesn’t exist. And that is the nail in your coffin. Really.

I can help with the conversation. Contact me (with feedback) or connect with me on LinkedIn to discuss this more together. Also, check out AgileMentoring.com while you’re here.