??? Breaking Free from ScrumFall: How to Truly Embrace Agile ??
David Tran
Director Quality Engineering | Agile Transformation Leader Quality Leader transforming and modernizing quality practices while fostering a culture of shared responsibility for quality across teams.
Many organizations proudly claim they’ve adopted Agile, yet their delivery model remains trapped in what’s known as ScrumFall—a hybrid approach where Agile ceremonies exist, but waterfall processes persist behind the scenes. This model often leads to delayed feedback, bloated testing cycles, and frustrated teams.
So, how do you truly break free from ScrumFall and achieve the agility your organization strives for? Here’s a practical, experience-driven guide to making the leap.
?? Understanding the ScrumFall Trap
ScrumFall typically happens when teams adopt Agile rituals—sprints, standups, and retros—but still follow a linear, phase-gated process:
1. Upfront Requirements: PMs and BAs finalize requirements before development begins.
2. Isolated Development: Devs build features without continuous collaboration with QA or stakeholders.
3. End-of-Sprint Testing: QA gets involved only after coding is "done."
4. Traditional QA Artifacts: Test plans and manual test cases drive validation instead of automation.
5. Delayed Feedback: Bugs, gaps, and misunderstandings surface late in the cycle.
6. Big Bang Releases: Features pile up until a major release, contradicting Agile's incremental delivery.
This approach leads to bottlenecks, missed deadlines, and a lack of true adaptability.
?? How to Break Free from ScrumFall
To escape ScrumFall, organizations must realign around core Agile principles—collaboration, continuous feedback, and incremental delivery. Here’s how to make that shift:
1. Let Go of Traditional QA Artifacts ?
- Move away from test plans, test cases, and manual checklists that slow down progress. ?
- Shift towards automated acceptance tests written as Features and Scenarios during backlog refinement. ?
- Treat Features and Scenarios as living documentation—evolving with the code, not static documents. ?
?? Impact: Faster alignment, reduced documentation overhead, and more resilient tests.
2. Shift Left with Automation, Not Manual Testing ?
- Once requirements are approved and defined, QA should immediately focus on automation, not manual testing.
- Build automated acceptance tests alongside development, ensuring continuous validation. - Integrate automation into the CI/CD pipeline, running tests with every code commit. ?
?? Impact: Early defect detection, faster cycles, and reduced manual testing overhead.
3. Deliver in Small, Shippable Increments ?
- Break down user stories into thin vertical slices, delivering functionality end-to-end rather than feature fragments. ?
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- Deploy feature flags to release code incrementally without impacting users. ?
- Ensure user stories are refined, testable, and ready for automation before sprint planning. ?
?? Impact: Faster time to market, continuous delivery, and less risk.
4. Empower Cross-Functional Teams ?
- Foster a quality-as-code mindset, where QA, Dev, and PM share ownership of quality. ?
- Encourage pair programming and mob testing to catch issues early. ?
- Promote blended skill sets—QA engineers should be equipped to write automation, not manual test cases. ?
?? Impact: Increased accountability, better collaboration, and higher-quality outcomes.
5. Measure What Matters ?
- Track lead time, cycle time, and defect leakage to identify bottlenecks. ?
- Create executive dashboards to visualize progress, risks, and quality trends. ?
- Use retrospectives to identify recurring patterns and improve continuously. ?
?? Impact: Data-driven decision-making and continuous improvement.
?? From ScrumFall to True Agility: The Transformation Mindset
Escaping ScrumFall isn’t just about process changes—it’s about embracing a cultural shift. Agile success requires:
1. Leadership buy-in: Leaders must support iterative delivery and trust the team. ?
2. Letting go of legacy QA practices: Shift from manual test case execution to automation-driven validation. ?
3. Continuous learning: Encourage skill-building in automation, DevOps, and modern testing practices.
? Final Thoughts: Progress Over Perfection
Transitioning from ScrumFall to true Agile takes time, persistence, and a willingness to challenge the status quo. But the payoff is worth it: faster delivery, higher quality, happier teams, and more satisfied customers.
?? What challenges have you faced escaping ScrumFall? How has your team shifted QA practices to embrace true agility? Let’s discuss!
Ready to implement BDD in your team? Let me know how I can assist!