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Though Scrum is an excellent solution for many situations, it is not the proper solution in all circumstances. The Cynefin framework is a framework that helps understand the situation in which we have to operate and decide on a situation appropriate approach. It defines and compares the characteristics of five different domains.

Has anyone developed a scoring matrix using the Cynefin framework or similar to provide consistency in determining the appropriate solution approach to take, and if so, what are they and how have you applied them?

Nev Harvey
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What Scrum is Designed For

Scrum was designed to fit an iterative development model, where each iteration (or "Sprint") delivers a potentially-shippable increment of value. It is also well-suited for projects where time and resources are relatively fixed, but scope is negotiable.

What Scrum Wasn't Designed For

In my personal experience, Scrum is poorly-suited for projects that have heavily-constrained scope, an organizational requirement for upfront planning, or insufficient resources to perform the just-in-time planning and testing that ensures a successful iteration.

Scrum Artifacts

Scrum only defines three artifacts:

  • The Product Backlog
  • The Sprint Backlog
  • The Increment

The team can use other artifacts, tools, and practices such as burn-down charts or project success sliders to assist in decision-making, but these aren't defined by the Scrum framework. Each team is free to select the processes and tools that work best for them within the Scrum framework.

Todd A. Jacobs
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    I would add that Scrum is designed to optimise the value delivered to the customer. If you are not interested in that then it is not for you. – MrHinsh - Martin Hinshelwood Jun 06 '14 at 17:33
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    Hi @MrHinsh, just wondering: if we say *Scrum is designed to optimise the value delivered to the customer, isn't it the same as saying not Scrum is designed to not optimise the value delivered to the customer*? My point is, shouldn't all projects, regardless of being Scrum or not, being interested in optimising the value delivered to the client? Also, if the value delivered is not optimised, would it be caused because Scrum is not being used? – Tiago Cardoso Jun 07 '14 at 13:36
  • @NevHarvey You should edit your original question to incorporate as much additional detail and context as you can, and narrow the scope as much as possible. Otherwise, comments like yours above simply look like follow-on questions that really should be asked separately. – Todd A. Jacobs Jun 08 '14 at 02:15
  • @Tiago, yes they should. However all of the other project management practices are NOT. PMI / Price2 advocate [Budget / Scope / Time] being success criteria and not value to the customer. – MrHinsh - Martin Hinshelwood Jun 10 '14 at 12:04