What happens when managers cherry-pick Scrum practices?

One team practiced standup meetings only. The manager thought this was quite enough, and other Scrum events were a waste of time. He felt that people needed to put their heads down and work.

What happened with this team?

People started to leave. And the project incurred a significant delay. When the team finally delivered the product, it was not as valuable to the customers as expected.

What makes each of the Scrum events important? And what happens when managers start to cherry-pick Scrum practices?

The idea here is that Agile creates an environment where talented individuals can innovate and perform.

Suppose anything needs to change, including the product, process, and tools. In that case, the team is empowered to do it. Innovation is essential in all aspects of work.

As a central decision maker, the role of the manager limits innovation and subsequently hinders Agility.

Even the brightest person can’t innovate for everyone. And innovation contradicts the idea of keeping the process “in control” and making it predictable. Therefore, the concept of central management contradicts Agility at the core.

Scrum events are designed to enable innovation and process improvements by the teams. And it unlocks a tremendous opportunity! As innovation at a rapid pace yields more outcomes than any controlled process.

Scrum has remained a viable framework for decades. It helps find a good balance between developing products, innovating, adapting to changes, and improving processes. Scrum provides all the necessary ingredients for successful self-regulated operation and improvement.

Sprint planning provides focus and commitment. Sprint review creates the required feedback loop. Retrospective improves the process, and Daily Scrum ensures smooth work and progress towards the Sprint goal.

When managers cherry-pick Scrum practices, they limit the potential of the team to innovate and perform. Therefore, the modern organizational structures that are flat and based on Scrum get ahead of the traditional hierarchical companies. Scrum teams deliver better products faster.