If the same problems return Sprint after Sprint, something in the team’s learning is not working. Action Learning strengthens Scrum by turning inspection into disciplined learning and adaptation into deliberate action.
Scrum is intentionally lightweight and incomplete. It provides a clear framework with defined accountabilities, events, artifacts, commitments, and a strong empirical foundation based on the pillars of transparency, inspection, and adaptation. Yet in practice, many Scrum Teams struggle to turn inspection into meaningful adaptation that helps them learn fast. Sprint Retrospectives generate insights, Sprint Reviews surface feedback, and Daily Scrums expose impediments, but learning often remains superficial and action inconsistent. In some cases, teams even miss the moment to decide and act. This is where Action Learning naturally complements Scrum.
Scrum Creates Opportunities for Learning - Action Learning Makes Them Count
Scrum events are designed to create moments for reflection and decision-making. However, simply creating space for inspection does not guarantee learning. Across many teams, discussions become dominated by a few voices, while others remain silent or disengaged. Interruptions and parallel conversations make it difficult to stay focused, objectives remain unclear, and meetings end without concrete actions. As a result, teams move too quickly to solutions, defend existing positions, or repeat familiar patterns without questioning the assumptions that keep the same problems in place.
This is where Action Learning makes the difference. Action Learning is a structured problem-solving process in which a small group works on a real, current problem, takes action, and reflects on what it is learning — both as individuals and as a team. Central to this process is the belief that meaningful learning emerges through questioning insight rather than through advice-giving or premature solutions.
At its core, Action Learning can be expressed simply:
Action + Learning = Action Learning
Every Action Learning session intentionally pursues two objectives. The first is action: making progress toward a breakthrough solution for the problem being addressed. The second is learning: developing participants’ capability to think more clearly, collaborate more effectively, and work with complexity — both as individuals and as a group. Learning is not a by-product; it is an explicit outcome of the process.
Action Learning transforms Scrum events from open-ended discussions into focused learning spaces that lead to clear decisions and intentional action. As a result, Scrum Teams improve the quality of their meetings, strengthen collaboration, and simultaneously develop problem-solving and leadership capabilities while working on challenges that truly matter.
First Things First: Understanding the Problem Well
As human beings, we have a natural tendency to move quickly toward solutions. This impulse is usually driven by good intentions — a desire to help, to make progress, and to resolve issues efficiently. However, when insufficient time is spent on understanding the problem, teams risk solving the wrong issue altogether. In complex environments, speed without clarity rarely leads to meaningful improvement.
Action Learning deliberately addresses this tendency by shifting attention away from immediate solutions and toward deeper understanding through thoughtful questioning. Genuine curiosity, careful listening, and the discipline to stay with the problem long enough to examine assumptions are central to this process.
“If I had an hour to solve a problem and my life depended on the solution, I would spend the first 55 minutes determining the proper question to ask, for once I know the proper question, I could solve the problem in less than five minutes.”
― Albert Einstein
In Scrum Teams, this discipline of investing time in understanding the real problem creates transparency where it matters most. With that transparency, teams are far better positioned to plan actions that address causes rather than symptoms.
Action Learning in a Scrum Context
Action Learning can be applied wherever Scrum Teams and leaders face real, complex problems that require deeper understanding and willingness to question underlying assumptions. It is equally effective for individual challenges, team-level issues, and cross-team or organizational problems. Within Scrum, Action Learning fits naturally into Sprint Retrospectives when teams address recurring issues, into process improvement efforts, and into situations where impediments cannot be resolved through quick fixes alone.
Action Learning is also valuable in other contexts, such as improving stakeholder engagement, developing leadership skills, resolving conflicts, or navigating situations where authority, accountability, and influence are unclear. In all of these cases, Action Learning provides a structured way to slow down thinking and surface assumptions, enabling teams to move closer to resolving the problem rather than merely reacting to it.
Learning is a Choice
Scrum creates the conditions for learning, but learning itself is not automatic. It requires attention, discipline, and the courage to question one’s own thinking. Action Learning strengthens Scrum by making learning explicit and by helping teams consciously choose to act on what they discover.
When teams learn to learn, Scrum becomes a living, truly adaptive way of working; one where improvement is intentional rather than accidental. In such teams, questions carry more weight than quick answers, and action is guided by understanding rather than the habit of jumping into solutions as quickly as possible.
If you would like to explore Action Learning further, visit https://wial.org or reach out to me for a conversation.