Scrum Guide updated to include valuing commitment, focus, openness, respect, courage

Recently, Ken Schwaber and Jeff Sutherland updated the official Scrum Guide to include the Scrum values, which are:

• Commitment
• Focus
• Openness
• Respect
• Courage

Sutherland emphasizes that teams adopting Scrum must have a commitment to change and to take your company into the future. Without embracing this change, "you can't get there" and Scrum will be of little value to you.

Schwaber highlighted that focus to work on nothing but the sprint goal will yield the best results; working on other items destroys your productivity. Sutherland noted that doing twice the work in half the time is only possible if the teams focus on the sprint goal alone.

Stakeholders and the team alike need to have a spirit of openness. Sutherland stressed that all happenings must be visible; only when everyone knows what is happening can you best decide how to adjust and how long work will take. We should go so far as not to work on anything that isn't visible.

These are only possible with respect for each other; blame and cover-ups result in poor outcomes. If we respect everyone where they are, they can be empowered to grow and achieve. Sutherland says this applies even to high-pressure cutthroat venture capital-driven startups. Schwaber stresses that respect creates a positive hubbub, a buzz that is charged up with work getting done.

Courage, both to do the right thing and to attempt hard things, is necessary because change is risky. Leaders have a big role to encourage taking wise risks and accepting the downside that sometimes results. Schwaber emphasizes that Scrum provides a safety net--you will never waste more than a sprint's worth of work.

Scrum has the power to make your work life more fun, more balanced, and happier.

View the Scrum Guide: http://www.scrumguides.org/scrum-guide.html - The newest changes are near the beginning, under "Scrum Values".