scrumbut [skruhmbut] noun.
1. A person engaged in only partially Agile project management or development methodologies
2. One who engages in either semi-agile or quasi-waterfall development methodologies.
3. One who adopts only SOME tenents of the SCRUM methodology.
4. In general, one who uses the word "but" when answering the question "Do you do SCRUM?"


You wouldn't want your surgeon to follow just *SOME* of the steps in that procedure you're getting, would you?

SCRUM works great, if you can just follow the (whole) program. It's not surprising how many organizations say they have failed using SCRUM, when they have only picked and choosen a few of the aspects to implement.
For those of you who need a 12-step program... and you know who you are...


1. Use a 2-week or 4-week sprint. 2-week preferred
2. Appoint a scrummaster who will hold the team accountable, AND also keep the wolves at bay.
3. Make sure the entire team is jointly accountable for the success of the project.
4. Have a prioritized product backlog ready before the sprint. This can include both bugs and features
5. Have a REAL planning meeting where the team commits to stories and they are thoughtfully tasked out and estimated.
6. Team members commit to stories, and then break them down into tiny pieces (tasks). If any estimates are over 4 hours, break them down further.
7. Do a daily stand-up. What did you do, what are you going to do, and what's blocking.
8. Don't do anything that's not estimated and in the sprint backlog.
9. Establish, post, and meet DONE criteria. It's only real if it's posted and visible to everyone.
10. Post a sprint backlog task burn-down chart and update it daily.
11. Keep the product owner in the loop at all times.
12. Hold a stakeholder review a the end of the sprint - this is the fun part!
(13) Then, have a retrospective meeting to discus what went well, what could use improvement, and action items.

That's SCRUM!
Now, you'll never have to be a SCRUMBUT again!