The Updated 2020 Scrum Guide: Cleaner, Clearer, and more Universal

It is amazing to think that this year marks the 25th anniversary of the presentation of the first paper on Scrum. It’s even more amazing to think about all that the Scrum community has accomplished using the framework Ken Schwaber and I first officially described at OOPSLA back in 1995. 

Twenty-Five Years and a Global Reach

Since then, Scrum has become globally ubiquitous. Each day millions of people, tens of millions, the world over, gather for their Daily Scrum for 15 minutes. It’s humbling to think about. Twenty-five years ago I had no idea that Scrum would be the force that it has become.

For all you Scrum Masters, you Product owners, coaches, trainers, practitioners, and visionaries, I want to say thank you.

 We spend enormous amounts of our lives going to work. And for a lot of people, work sucks. In the creation of Scrum, my vision has always been to make work fast, easy, and fun. If it’s not fun, you’re doing it wrong. 

A Clearer More Universal Scrum Guide

The first Scrum Guide was published in 2010. This latest iteration is cleaner, clearer, and more universal. At just 13 pages, the updated 2020 Scrum Guide is even less prescriptive than before while maintaining the standard of a minimally viable framework. In a very real way, Scrum hasn’t changed at all, our description of it simply gets better as we get feedback on how people are using it. Iterating to a better outcome.  

Scrum is easiest when Scrum Teams and organizations see how the framework works for them, no matter their industry, domain, product, or function. This is why we’ve made the updated 2020 Scrum Guide more accessible and understandable for everyone, far beyond the technology business. 

Finally, Scrum is the most fun when Scrum Teams and organizations live the Scrum Values and achieve their goals. The updates in the 2020 Scrum Guide are intended to drive the culture, focus, and alignment needed to innovate, create, and succeed.

The 2020 Scrum Guide is The Best Yet.

I truly believe that the updated 2020 Scrum Guide is the best iteration yet. I want to thank everyone, and there were many of you, who helped provide the insights, data, and real-world experiences that help make it. Thank you.

Learn more about the updates and hear from experts in our 2020 Scrum Guide Update video.