The Three Increments
Reimagining Value in Scrum
Scrum defines an Increment as a "concrete stepping stone toward the Product Goal." But what if we're missing two crucial dimensions of progress?
Here's a thought: Let's expand our view of Increments into three empirical dimensions:
🚀 The Product Increment: Potentially releasable features that demonstrably add value. Not just code shipped, but measurably solved problems. This could be:
A new feature that addresses a key user need
A significant improvement in performance or user experience
A bug fix that resolves a critical issue for users
🧠 The Knowledge Increment: Real-world, validated learnings about users, market, or technology. This could be:
Feedback from a prototype that reshapes our understanding
Discoveries about user needs and their context from field observations
Insights from A/B tests that challenge our assumptions Sometimes, this empirically proven knowledge is the most valuable outcome of a sprint.
📈 The Growth Increment: Measurable, data-driven improvements in team and organizational capabilities. Often, this is the result of implementing improvement actions identified in the previous sprint's retrospective. For example:
Improved velocity after addressing a bottleneck in the development process
Enhanced collaboration following the adoption of a new communication tool
Increased quality due to the implementation of pair programming
Each sprint might emphasize different dimensions based on empirical needs. Some sprints might not produce shippable features at all – and that can be valuable if they yield critical insights or significant team growth.
The key? Every sprint should move us forward, as proven by data and observation. But 'forward' isn't always more features. Sometimes, it's a deeper, validated understanding from real-world interactions. Sometimes it's measurable team growth.
Building features that miss the mark isn't always pure waste – we often learn from these experiences. However, repeatedly building the wrong things can be an expensive and time-consuming way to learn. Over time, users may lose patience, and resources may be drained. In any dimension, a true increment brings us measurably closer to our goal, ideally through the most efficient means possible.
This view aligns with and expands on Scrum's empirical core. It's about delivering maximum value, recognizing that value comes in multiple forms, all validated through inspection and adaptation in the real world.
Here's the paradigm shift: Let's break free from the feature factory mindset. Reimagine Scrum not just as a framework for churning out features but as a powerful engine for learning and innovation. By embracing all three increments - product, knowledge, and growth - we transform every sprint into an opportunity for discovery and improvement, not just delivery. In this new world, progress isn't measured solely in features shipped but in insights gained and capabilities enhanced. Are you ready to unleash the full potential of Scrum as both a learning and building framework?
(Note: This proposal aims to expand how we think about increments in Scrum beyond just a “product increment”; some small functionalities that work. It builds on Scrum's empirical foundation, encouraging us to consider and measure a broader spectrum of valuable outcomes, all grounded in real-world evidence.)