What’s essential for you to go on holiday?
You only have so much space in your luggage and so many days to enjoy—so what makes the cut?
From the Scrum Guide:
“Lean thinking … focuses on the essentials.”
From Cambridge Dictionary:
- Focus: “to give your full attention to what you are doing or to what is happening”
- Essentials: “a basic thing that you cannot live without” or “one of the basic or most important ideas or qualities in something”
In Scrum, this isn’t just a nice-to-have—it’s survival. Focus is even one of the Scrum Values. Without it, your energy leaks into the trivial.
Some examples:
- A Product Backlog with 200+ feature requests → Which ones move you toward the Product Goal?
- A 65-page process document → Which steps truly ensure quality?
- A long list of skills to learn → Which ones help you deliver value now?
- A market of 7.9 billion people → Which segment matters most for your product?
- An improvement log for the next 6 months → Which changes will make the biggest impact in the next Sprint?
- A shelf full of dev tools → Which ones are essential to delivering Done Increments?
Scrum already gives us three built-in essentials, each a commitment to sharpen focus:
- Product Goal → What’s essential in the long run?
- Sprint Goal → What’s essential right now?
- Definition of Done → What’s essential for quality?
Lean thinking tells us: stop scattering your attention. The essentials are the few things without which your product, Sprint, or quality standard simply cannot exist.
Time to check yourself:
- Are your Backlog items tied to your Product Goal?
- Does every Sprint Goal act as a true filter for the team’s attention?
- Is your Definition of Done crystal clear and actually respected?
Because in the end, focus isn’t about doing more—it’s about protecting what matters most.
So, what’s essential in your Scrum right now? And what’s just taking up space in the suitcase?
I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below!
I hope you find value in these short articles and if you are looking for more clarifications, feel free to make contact.
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Wishing you an inspiring read and a wonderful journey.
Scrum on!
