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Scrum Definition

Part of the Scrum Guide chapter index. Read the canonical version inline in the app: Scrum Definition on app.prettyscrum.org.

Video: What is Scrum? Scrum Framework Explained

Why this chapter matters for the PSM I exam

This is the most quoted paragraph in the Scrum Guide. Memorize it. The exam will test whether you can recognize what Scrum is — and what it is not. Scrum is purposefully incomplete: it defines just enough to enable empiricism and lets teams fill in the rest with their own practices.

The Scrum Guide text

Scrum is a lightweight framework that helps people, teams and organizations generate value through adaptive solutions for complex problems.

In a nutshell, Scrum requires a Scrum Master to foster an environment where:

  1. A Product Owner orders the work for a complex problem into a Product Backlog.
  2. The Scrum Team turns a selection of the work into an Increment of value during a Sprint.
  3. The Scrum Team and its stakeholders inspect the results and adjust for the next Sprint.
  4. Repeat.

Scrum is simple. Try it as is and determine if its philosophy, theory, and structure help to achieve goals and create value. The Scrum framework is purposefully incomplete, only defining the parts required to implement Scrum theory. Scrum is built upon by the collective intelligence of the people using it. Rather than provide people with detailed instructions, the rules of Scrum guide their relationships and interactions.

Various processes, techniques and methods can be employed within the framework. Scrum wraps around existing practices or renders them unnecessary. Scrum makes visible the relative efficacy of current management, environment, and work techniques, so that improvements can be made.

Source: 2020 Scrum Guide by Ken Schwaber and Jeff Sutherland, © CC BY-SA 4.0. License.

Key points to remember

  • Scrum is a framework, not a methodology or process.
  • The Scrum Master fosters an environment for the rest of the framework to function.
  • Scrum is purposefully incomplete — teams must add their own practices.
  • The four-step loop (Product Backlog → Sprint → inspect/adapt → repeat) is the heartbeat of Scrum.

Common exam trap

When an answer option claims Scrum is “a process” or “a methodology,” it is wrong. Scrum is a framework. The same goes for “Scrum solves complex problems by giving detailed instructions” — the Guide explicitly says the opposite.

Practice this chapter

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Related chapters

Or jump back to the Scrum Guide chapter index or the PSM I hub.

Author: Maurice Heinze (PSM I, certified by Scrum.org). Last updated: 2026-05-04. Scrum Guide content licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.