Missing Value

4 min readJan 12, 2023

Let’s start the discussion with what Value is. As per Ethics Sage, “Values are basic and fundamental beliefs that guide or motivate attitude or actions.” [1]. Scrum has five core values that not only make empiricism alive but also build trust [2]. These values also help us to work professionally and ethically [3]. All of our actions and activities in Scrum should reinforce these values, not diminish or undermine them [4]. Nagesh Sharma describes five excellent metaphors for Scrum values, which are “Glue, foundation, identity, compass, and magnet.” [5] And even if this is not enough, Stephenie Ockerman depicts why values matter [6].

It is essential to understand the difference between “Values” and “Principles.” Stephen Covey explains the difference between these two very well in his famous book “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People”. In his words, “Principles are not values. A gang of thieves can share values, but they are in violation of the fundamental principles … . Principles are the territory. Values are map.” [7]

Scrum without Scrum values is like a Scrum without any soul or Zombie Scrum. In that case, we follow the practice without really understanding its intent of it. I am yet to experience the full benefits of Scrum without its core values. Besides, whenever there is a problem, usually, the root cause is one or more Scrum values do not uphold. I was trying to explore the possibility of a missing Scrum value and its impact, and this reminds me of the Knoster model, one of the famous models for complex change [8].

The Knoster Model

Let’s take a quick look at the Knoster model. Knoster described that for any successful complex changes, five factors, “vision,” “skills,” “incentives,” “resources,” and “action plan” are required. If any of these elements are missing, then we cannot achieve success. It explains the impact on the outcome for each missing factor. Some literature also discusses two additional factors, “alignment” and “communication” or “buy-in” and “assessment,” but the primary intention is the same. Here we keep our discussion to five factors. This simple diagram explains the Knoster model.

Missing Scrum Value

Let’s take a look at Scrum values and apply the same concept there and see what the impact will be if any “value” is missing. There can be multiple impacts of any missing value; here, I just picked one, which is the most important one to the best of my understanding.

Scrum value “focus” helps to achieve concentration and complete the work with the highest quality, which is evident from the Scrum elements such as the Sprint Goal and “Definition of Done.”

Openness creates transparency, and without it, there is a lack of transparency. In the world of empiricism, even if there are inspections and adaptions, without transparency, it is just an “illusion” [9].

In an environment where there is no respect, everyone feels insecure and unsafe. That not only hampers openness and transparency but also causes people to start doing unethical behavior by hiding information that may hurt the team goal due to safety.

Courage helps the Scrum team to make tough decisions, admit mistakes, and ask for help to improve continuously and self-correct. Without courage, there is less improvement and a lack of self-correction.

Commitment helps the Scrum teams to do the best they can, and deliver value and success as a team. A team without commitment lacks dedication.

Here is a diagram, similar to the Knoster model, illustrating the impact of missing Scrum value, as discussed in this article, on the team.