Scrum is no silver bullet, but it taught us how to shoot

Time and time again, I've heard my Scrum Masters remind the teams, "...but Scrum is no silver bullet"—and this week's EnvisionConnect User Training and Conference was no different.

Kevin opened events with a description of how Scrum shined for the development team this year—describing our record breaking year for both delivery and quality, boasting of our near-zero defect goal for the coming year, and explaining how we were now using Scrum in the Design and Implementation groups.

Our clients came from all 50 states. Conference attendance also broke all records. Kevin and I co-hosted a facilitated panel of EnvisionConnect stakeholders, attended by 97 users—the most we've ever had in a single presentation outside of the opening address.

The stakeholders I spoke to were very upbeat. Those on the panel were so positive, some customers swore the event must have been rehearsed. Of course, it had not been, but the main thing we had all learned from Scrum—the importance of truth, trust, and transparency—we had shared with those customers we had been working with.

During implementations, we found problems on both sides, but the openness and honesty of real teamwork allowed everyone to make corrections quickly, rendering the negatives almost non-issues.

Mingling, I found many customers with questions regarding our success, and—as you know by now—I relish any opportunity to talk about Scrum.

However, when some of these same customers thought they were out of my range, I overheard some expressing doubts that Scrum had anything to do with our success.

I actually heard some say...

• Scrum is too simple.
• It's common sense.
• Teamwork and honesty—that doesn't really work.
• Decade has a secret that they're not telling us.

Busted!—I have no choice but to come clean...

I want to thank John Stender in Sacramento, Terri Williams and Leilah Kelsey in San Bernardino County, and Pat Ditrovati in Nevada for helping me pull off this scam.

The truth is we had everything we needed to solve our problems years ago, but we didn't know how to use them. Genuine teamwork and great teams were the real silver bullets.

Scrum just taught us how to shoot.