Scrum is easier to learn in an environment that supports agility. When introducing Scrum to a person, team, or organization, I begin with the Agile Manifesto before moving into the Scrum framework. This gives learners a foundation for discussing values, behavior, collaboration, and adaptation.

Mastery

When you visit AgileManifesto.org, the first statement is:

“We are uncovering better ways of developing software by doing it and helping others do it.”

Shu-Ha-Ri offers one way to think about learning: begin by following established guidance, deepen understanding through practice, and adapt thoughtfully as mastery grows.

Movement vs Progress

1. Individuals and interactions over process and tools: More importance is placed on people and effectiveness of working together. Processes and tools are important but should be tools to help the people rather than dictate how they work.
2. Working software over comprehensive documentation: In similar ways as above, documentation should be something that serves in delivering a working solution. Having too much documentation can be wasteful in time and effort. Having too little will impact future maintenance and hinder agility. How much documentation will vary from project to project depending on the road to working software.
3. Customer collaboration over contract negotiation: Customers and users are important stakeholders. Frequent collaboration helps the team learn whether the product is delivering value and what may need to change.
4. Responding to changes over following a plan: Upfront plans can be incorrect as they cannot extend with any certainty beyond the first encounter with issues that cannot be predicted. Planning is still indispensable as it helps in starting intelligently but you should not be tied to any plan that does not help you achieve your goals.

Conclusion

These values support an agile way of working. Revisit them when teaching Scrum and when a team’s practices stop supporting collaboration, learning, or adaptation.