#TrueScrumMaster 2: Scrum is not Agile

Hosted and facilitated by Tobias Mayer, and held on the first Thursday of February, March, May, June, July and September 2025, this series of six ninety-minute conversations will help you understand the radically different nature of Scrum, and the role of the scrum master in keeping transitioning organisations on the true path towards a new way of working—and thinking. Each session has a different theme, which will be revealed a week or so ahead of the session. Watch this space.
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#TrueScrumMaster 2: Scrum is not Agile
The Agile Manifesto (sic) and the Scrum Guide—indeed Scrum itself—are often criticised for not being agile. Helping organisations understand that a) this is actually true, and b) that it is by design, can be difficult for scrum masters, working as we do with executives who believe "agile" means they can change their mind whenever they want, and everyone else needs to keep up. It is the rigidity of the scrum framework that holds our work together, and creates a strong container for agility. Let's explore some messaging around this.

References
Not Agile? Good!
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Recommended reading (or listening) in between sessions:
Scrum Notes
The People's Scrum
LinkedIn Posts

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A spirited scrum master is Feste, the court jester in Twelfth Night, speaking truth to power. She is an Old Testament prophet, leading the people back to their true path, and she is Jiminy Cricket in Pinocchio, sitting on the shoulder of the organisation, its whispering conscience. Historically, there has been no role in an organisation quite like this one.
— from Scrum Note 41, 2017