If your team keeps saying we do Scrum while skipping the parts that hurt then welcome to scrumbut. It looks like Scrum on the outside but the feedback loops and shared discipline have quietly left the building. Think of it as process cosplay with worse outcomes.

What scrumbut looks like

Signs are subtle until they are not. Watch for these warning lights.

• Claims of doing Scrum while daily standups are optional or missing
• Sprint reviews turned into status slides for managers instead of real customer demos
• Retrospectives skipped because people are busy or polite conflict is alive and well
• Teams measure task completion counts instead of learning and outcomes
• Roles and artifacts are half implemented and nobody can explain the goal

Why this matters for Agile and continuous improvement

Scrum is a framework for managing complexity by creating fast feedback loops. Remove transparency and rhythm and the benefits vanish. Productivity metrics alone will not tell you if you are delivering value or just pretending to be busy. Continuous improvement is not a sticker you slap on the wall and forget.

How to audit your team process

Run a quick audit that lists ceremonies roles and artifacts and mark what is done well what is patched and what is missing. This will show whether you have Scrum or a Frankenstein variant that should have its own name.

1. List the ceremonies like sprint planning daily standup sprint review and retrospective
2. List roles such as product owner scrum master and development team
3. List artifacts such as product backlog sprint backlog and definition of done
4. Mark each item as present working well or absent

Pick one practice to restore

Do not try to fix everything in one meeting. Pick the ceremony that will increase transparency fastest. For many teams that is the daily standup or the sprint review. Restore it for two weeks and observe what changes.

Shift to outcome metrics

Stop counting tasks like they are trophies. Track cycle time quality customer feedback and whether you shipped something that changed customer behavior. Good metrics force better conversations and reveal if your adaptations actually help deliver value.

Use honest language

If the workflow evolved into something that is not Scrum call it that. Name the process and choose practices that match your goals. That stops the polite pretending and makes continuous improvement easier to target.

Run a two week experiment

Try restoring a single missing Scrum practice for two weeks and compare results. Look at customer feedback defect trends and team morale. If things improve keep going. If not try a different practice or adjust the approach. Experiments are how Agile becomes real instead of ornamental.

Final tip Run the simple audit pick one practice and watch transparency return. It will sting for a day and pay off for many sprints. If nothing else you will get a better name for what you are actually doing and that itself is worth the honesty.