Agile vs Scrum: Clearing Up the Confusion (Because Everyone Still Asks)

Whenever someone finds out I work in Agile, the inevitable question follows: "Oh, you mean Scrum, right?" Cue eye roll.

Here’s the thing: Agile is not Scrum. It’s time we set this straight once and for all.

Agile is a mindset, a way of thinking and working that prioritises flexibility, collaboration, and rapid adaptation to change. It's about continuously delivering genuine value to your customers. At its heart, Agile seeks to optimise the flow of work from start to finish, ensuring you build the right things, the things your customers actually need, and do so in the right way, protecting quality and integrity every step of the way. Think of Agile as the philosophy guiding your actions; it shapes how and why you approach work differently and ideally, better.

Scrum, meanwhile, is just one of the frameworks you can use to implement Agile. It’s structured, prescriptive, and has clear roles, events, and artefacts: daily stand-ups, sprint planning, retrospectives, product backlogs—you know the drill.

So why the confusion?

Because Scrum is easy to teach and even easier to tick off on a checklist. Once a team is attending stand-ups and retrospectives, many Agile Coaches and Scrum Masters are quick to say, “Look, they're doing Scrum!" Job done.

But guess what: most teams struggle to unlock Scrum’s true benefits. Simply following ceremonies without embracing the Agile mindset doesn’t make you agile. It just makes you busy.

Why Kanban might be a better starting point

Personally, I prefer Kanban. It’s simpler, less prescriptive, and focuses directly on improving the flow of work. Kanban encourages teams to visualise tasks clearly, limit work-in-progress to maintain momentum, and focus relentlessly on getting the right stuff done faster and with higher quality.

Agile isn’t the goal. Delivery is.

Remember, your ultimate goal isn’t to "be Agile." Agile is just one tool (a good one!) that helps you focus on what truly matters: delivering high-quality work, quickly and effectively.

My advice? Don’t get caught up in doing Scrum perfectly. Instead, pick the tools and practices (Scrum, Kanban, or your own tailored hybrid) that help you consistently deliver the right outcomes.

Because the real measure of success isn’t how many ceremonies you attend, it’s about delivering valuable stuff, sooner.

Let's talk about you.

Have you experienced Scrum turning into more of a tick-box exercise than a genuine improvement? Have you found Kanban, or perhaps another approach, more effective at actually improving the flow and quality of your work?

Share your thoughts, especially if you’ve ever caught yourself thinking, "Yeah, we’re a Scrum team…but just as slow as before." Let’s chat about what truly works.