Avoid Scrum, and what to do instead

hasen.substack.com

> "A well functioning engineering team needs a well defined hierarchy".

This is the exact opposite of what most skilled teams would say. Defined hierarchies stifle technical innovation, and build friction when they don't match the reality of people's talents. In reality, the technical teams will self-organize around the actual skills and leadership of the members, regardless of any formal hierarchy or org charts. Scrum lets that happen, deliberately.

So yeah, Scrum sucks. It truly bites. But not for the reasons posted here.

I'd argue that most skilled teams would say an overly large hierarchy stifles technical innovation, but no hierarchy leads to anarchy. You need a well defined hierarchy, but you also have to keep it small.

Also, from the article:

> Leadership roles within a software development team should be clearly defined. If there's no leader, infighting and bitterness ensues, as everyone tries to be a leader.

100% accurate, in my experience.

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