The Five Scrum Values

Overview

• What you’ll learn: The five Scrum values, what each means in practice, and why values matter more than rules.
• Prerequisites: Lesson 4 — Empiricism
• Estimated reading time: 12 minutes

Introduction

Rules tell you what to do. Values tell you how to do it and why. Scrum has few rules but five core values that determine whether those rules produce results or just produce meetings. A team that follows Scrum events mechanically but ignores the values is doing what’s called “Zombie Scrum” — it looks like Scrum from the outside, but nothing of value comes out.

The Five Values

1. Commitment

The Scrum Team commits to achieving its goals and to supporting each other. This is not a commitment to a specific scope — it’s a commitment to doing your best and to the Sprint Goal.

• What it looks like: Team members follow through on what they say they’ll do. They commit to the Sprint Goal, not just individual tasks.
• Anti-pattern: “I finished my task, so I’m done” — ignoring that the Sprint Goal hasn’t been met.

2. Focus

Everyone focuses on the work of the Sprint and the goals of the Scrum Team. The Sprint provides a timebox that limits work in progress and creates focus.

• What it looks like: The team works on Sprint Backlog items, not random requests that come in mid-Sprint.
• Anti-pattern: The Product Owner adds “urgent” items to the Sprint every other day, destroying focus.

3. Openness

The Scrum Team and its stakeholders are open about the work and the challenges. Transparency requires openness — you can’t be transparent if you’re hiding bad news.

• What it looks like: When something goes wrong, the team discusses it openly rather than blaming individuals or covering it up.
• Anti-pattern: Developers say “everything is fine” when they’re actually stuck because they fear being seen as incompetent.

4. Respect

Scrum Team members respect each other as capable, independent professionals. Respect is earned through competence and demonstrated through trust.

• What it looks like: Developers’ estimates are respected, not overridden by management. Everyone’s perspective is valued in discussions.
• Anti-pattern: A manager tells the team “you must finish all 20 items” regardless of the team’s capacity assessment.

5. Courage

Scrum Team members have the courage to do the right thing, to work on tough problems, and to challenge the status quo when necessary.

• What it looks like: A developer says “this feature needs refactoring before we can add more” even when the PO wants new features immediately.
• Anti-pattern: Nobody brings up the elephant in the room during the Retrospective because it involves criticizing a senior person.

Why Values Matter

Without the values, Scrum events become hollow rituals:

• Without openness, the Daily Scrum becomes a status report to the boss.
• Without courage, the Retrospective avoids real issues.
• Without respect, Sprint Planning becomes management dictating tasks.
• Without commitment, the Sprint Goal is just a wish.
• Without focus, the Sprint is a random collection of work.

Key Takeaways

• The five values — Commitment, Focus, Openness, Respect, Courage — are the behavioral foundation of Scrum.
• Values determine whether Scrum practices produce results or just produce meetings.
• Each value has observable behaviors and anti-patterns that indicate whether it’s truly practiced.
• A team that follows Scrum mechanics without the values is doing Zombie Scrum.

What’s Next

In Lesson 6, you will explore the Cynefin Framework and understand why Scrum works for complex problems but not for simple or obvious ones.