Kane Mar

Someone asked me recently what where the five top reasons why companies adopt Scrum. I had difficulty answering this question, because, without doing a reasonably rigorous survey it’s difficult to provide a comprehensive answer. I do however, have some experience with companies adopting Scrum and I could provide the top five reasons that I’ve personally witnessed.

This isn’t a comprehensive list, nor should the be treated as authoritative. Rather it’s just one persons point of view of the software industry. I should also point out that the industry is changing (as it always does), and the reason why companies have adopted Scrum may be different from why companies will adopt scrum.

Okay, so here’s my list of the top five reason’s why companies have adopted Scrum:

1. Early adopters. There will always be early adopters. Companies that are early adopters are frequently lead by reactionaries, or visionaries, or both. Regardless, these companies will always live life on the bleeding edge seeking to make a living by doing what others consider impossible.

   Naturally, these companies tend to be smaller and there are dozens of examples from within the Scrum community, including Mountain Goat Software and Danube Technologies.

2. No longer producing code. Have you ceased to deliver software? Does you’re last requirements document make “War and Peace” look like light reading? Do you measure the completeness of your documentation by the “thud”[1] test? Does your company spend three months producing a PRD that is never read by the development team and is only ever referenced in a contract?

   Companies derive value from the software that they produce, either because the software is sold, or because the software enables a service. Without that software, there is no value. And a large requirements document that doesn’t contribute to the software, is waste.

   Companies that need to release software on a regular basis in order to survive understand this. They understand the they can only charge for code in production, or the services enabled by code in production … they cannot change for a PRD.

   So, when management want code in production and are told that they have to wait, they begin to look for different ways of delivering software. With it’s emphasis on always delivering the highest priority items and potentially shippable code, Scrum is a natural fit for these companies.

3. Failed Project(s). Failed projects have been fertile group for introducing Scrum for some time. Projects that have failed (especially if they’ve failed more than once) have an incredible amount of freedom; anything they do has got to be better than what they’re currently doing. I’ve introduced Scrum to a number of failed, or failing, projects for companies including Metlife, Nationwide and Progressive.

   However, introducing Scrum to a failed project is different than successfully changing a company’s culture. Although each of the projects listed above were successful, the ultimate goal of introducing Scrum to the wider organization was unsuccessful because we’d removed the pain. Which leads to my next point …

4. Losing money. If a company is making a good profit there is really no need for change; but when a company looses money, it’s becomes clear to everyone that something has to change. What is the point of

   I’ve consulted for several companies they were very profitable. In these situations it’s difficult to introduce Scrum, simply because there is no urgency. And without this sense of urgency it’s difficult to make the hard choices that introducing Scrum involves.

   Scrum doesn’t solve a company’s problems … it simply raises them so that they are visible and so that someone can address them. Without the will to address these difficult problems, then it’s unlikely anything will change. Financial stress within a company is one of factors that can force a companies management to address underlying problems and help bring about change.

5. Competitive advantage. Few talk about this, and that’s because nobody wants to tell you the secret of their success. Until recently it’s been difficult to get Scrum case studies simply because many of the early Scrum adopters viewed its use as a competitive advantage; as a consequence they’re reluctant to talk. This is slowly change and there are now many companies that openly talk about using Scrum, including large companies such as Nokia, Siemens, Capital One, as well as many mid-sized and small companies.

   One of the most successful ways of encouraging Senior management that adopting Scrum can be a strategic advantage is simply to say “Well, if we don’t adopt it you can be sure that our competitors will.” And then just remaining silent as you watch their thought processes working overtime.

Footnotes:
[1] Thud test: A measure of the completeness of one’s documentation. The Thud test is preformed by taking a printed copy of the document and dropping it onto the floor. If it doesn’t make an impressive “thud” then it’s not complete and needs to be added to.
[2] PRD: Product Requirements Document – One of the artifacts from the Rational Unified Process (RUP).