The world isn’t slowing down. Technology is evolving faster than most organizations can keep up and we all know requirements are constantly changing. But we don’t need a better plan - we need better ways to learn, and we need to keep our options open.
That’s why we need Scrum now more than ever.
Here are five reasons Scrum is not outdated, irrelevant, or “too simple”. It’s a force multiplier.
1) A Learning Organization
Scrum is designed to turn organizations into learning systems. Every Sprint is a deliberate opportunity to deliver something, put it in front of customers and stakeholders, and learn from the feedback. The short duration of the Sprint limits risk so that at least once per month the team meets with stakeholders to ask, "did this create value?"
The days when organizations could write a detailed plan, fund it for a year, and only then discover whether it was a good idea are over.
Success doesn’t come from predicting the future accurately - something we were never good at anyway. It comes from learning faster than everyone else. Scrum provides a framework to do that.
2) Because of AI
AI is accelerating everything.
We can generate ideas faster, build solutions faster, and automate work faster than ever before. But speed alone isn’t the goal. The real question is: are we moving in the right direction?
Scrum helps teams focus on outcomes. By delivering value in small increments, teams can gather feedback sooner, test assumptions faster, and avoid scaling the wrong solution. In a world powered by AI, learning speed beats raw delivery speed every time.
3) A Relentless Focus on Value
Scrum doesn’t allow teams to wander aimlessly. The Product Goal exists to give the Scrum Team a clear direction — a reason for what they are building and a target they are working toward. Every Sprint should move the product closer to that goal.
At the Sprint Review, the Product Owner should not just show what was completed, but share progress toward the Product Goal using meaningful metrics, along with a roadmap or forecast that shows where the product is heading.
The Product Goal isn’t a checkbox. It’s a commitment to maximizing customer value — and without it, teams risk delivering a lot of output with very little impact.
4) Cross-Functional Teams Have Perspective
The article that started it all — The New New Product Development Game — emphasized teams made up of people with different skill sets working together, like a rugby scrum.
Scrum is meant to bring together diverse perspectives so teams can solve complex problems collaboratively. Yet many organizations still silo teams by technology in the misguided pursuit of efficiency.
What they actually lose is perspective.
If you’re building a website, you don’t just need coders. You need front-end design, content strategy, usability, testers, and user insight. Siloed teams miss this entirely. In complex environments, you need people with different skills working together so that they can see the big picture and make better, more informed decisions.
5) Keep Your Options Open
Traditional planning assumes that decisions should be locked in as soon as possible. Scope is fixed, budgets are allocated, and teams are expected to “execute the plan.” When assumptions turn out to be wrong, the organization is left with only bad choices: push forward anyway or absorb the cost of stopping.
Scrum offers a different advantage: the ability to keep options open.
Scrum enables teams and organizations to change direction without starting over. Scrum takes strategy from a one-time decision to a continuous, evidence-based conversation.
Final Thought
Scrum isn’t about events for the sake of events and it’s certainly not about process for the sake of process.
Scrum is about learning, focus, collaboration, and delivering value in a world that refuses to stand still.
And that’s exactly why we need it — now more than ever.