Scrum framework is the most popular agile methodologies, and it allows you to lead projects in different industries (although it originated in IT).
The creators of Scrum do not call it a methodology, but a management framework, because it covers only some aspects of management. However, it corresponds to our earlier definition of a methodology, so let us call it that.
As they say, “If it looks like a duck, swims like a duck, and quacks like a duck, it probably is a duck.”
The term Scrum means “jostle” and is borrowed from rugby.
History
The approach was first described by Japanese economists Hirotaka Takeuchi and Ikujiro Nonaka in The New Product Development Game (Harvard Business Review, January-February 1986). They compared the new approach to product development to the well-coordinated play of a small team of rugby players. Such teams, they argued, produced faster results than complexly organized structures.
The subsequent formalization of Scrum as a management framework was done by programmers Ken Schwaber and Jeff Sutherland. Thus the first application of the methodology was in IT, but gradually it began to be used in other industries.
The popularity of Scrum these days can be judged by the list of famous companies that use it in different fields:
Philips, Siemens, Nokia, IBM, Yandex, Google Microsoft, Electronic, Arts…
When considering this methodology, it is important to understand that all of its requirements are recommendatory. Thus flexibility is inherent even in the most flexible methodology. However, keep in mind that the more requirements you manage to meet, the smoother the Scrum work will be.
Our articles in the series “Product Management” systematize knowledge of the issues:
1. What methodologies are and why they are needed.
2. What is Agile and how do agile methodologies differ from cascade methodologies.
3. In which projects to apply, and in which not to apply the Agile approach.
4. What is Scrum as an element of Agile.
In the next article, we will begin to learn all the subtleties of Scrum.
