- LeSS Newsletter
- Posts
- Scrum Guide Expansion Pack
Scrum Guide Expansion Pack
Venkatesh Krishnamurthy
June 22, 2025
Welcome to Lean, Agile, LeSS and Systems Thinking newsletter
Agile Section
Latest Scrum Guide Expansion pack
Jeff Sutherland and a few others have come up with an “Expansion Pack” for Scrum guide. This is not a replacement of Scrum guide but a few addition.
This is already stirring up conversations in the agile community. Aimed at helping teams apply Scrum in broader and more complex contexts, this pack introduces new roles, artifacts, and patterns meant to address common scaling challenges.
But here’s the catch: While some see this as a helpful toolkit for evolving teams, others worry it risks complicating what was originally a lightweight, simple framework. The heart of Scrum has always been about empirical process control, clear accountability, and delivering value frequently. The Expansion Pack raises an important question: are we expanding Scrum’s potential—or diluting its essence?
Here are some key changes. You can read the complete expansion pack here
New Roles Introduced: The Expansion Pack adds three new roles to the Scrum framework: Stakeholder, Supporter (an impediment-removing change agent), and Artificial Intelligence (AI), with an emphasis on human oversight for AI contributions. This broadens the framework to recognize the importance of organizational support and technology in Scrum teams.
Distinction Between Output and Outcome: The traditional "Definition of Done" is now split into "Definition of Output Done" (technical completion) and "Definition of Outcome Done" (validation of actual value delivered). This shift encourages teams to focus on delivering meaningful results rather than just shipping features.
Emphasis on Value and Empiricism: Value is now treated as a hypothesis that must be validated with evidence, reinforcing empiricism and continuous learning. The Expansion Pack provides clearer guidance on how to measure and realize value in complex environments.
Expanded Theoretical Foundations: The guide now incorporates concepts from Complexity Thinking, Systems Theory, Lean Thinking, and frameworks like Cynefin and the OODA loop. This theoretical depth helps teams better navigate uncertainty and adapt to different problem domains.
Leadership and Systemic Change: The role of the Scrum Master evolves from servant leadership to being a systemic change agent, influencing not just the team but also culture, strategy, and organizational design.
Refinement as a Continuous Activity: Backlog refinement is formalized as an ongoing process rather than a single meeting, promoting continuous alignment and adaptation.
Scaling and Multi-Team Guidance: The Expansion Pack offers detailed advice for scaling Scrum across multiple teams, including shared product goals, backlogs, and cross-team learning, making it more practical for large organizations.
AI and Modern Technology Integration: The guide addresses how to work with AI in Scrum teams, ensuring that Scrum remains relevant in tech-heavy and rapidly evolving environments.
Psychological Safety and Feedback Loops: There is increased emphasis on psychological safety, feedback loops, and value realization within Scrum events, supporting healthier team dynamics and better decision-making.
After going through the above article, what is your view of the expansion pack ?
My view is, when organisations are still struggling to adopt Scrum Framework, the expansion pack is more like a band-aid. We need to address the root cause of the issue rather than adding more stuff.
AI Section
AI is more likely to create a generation of ‘yes-men on servers’ than any scientific breakthroughs, Hugging Face cofounder says
You can read the complete article here. The author talks about why AI is not yet ready to find the cure for cancer or solve the world’s problem yet.
Here are some of the good quotes from the article
For Wolf, the problem isn’t that AI lacks knowledge but that it lacks the ability to challenge our existing frame of knowledge. AI models are trained to predict likely continuations—for example, the next word in a sentence—and while today’s models excel at mimicking human reasoning, they fall short of any real original thinking.
“To create an Einstein in a data center, we don’t just need a system that knows all the answers, but rather one that can ask questions nobody else has thought of or dared to ask.”
He argues that what we have instead are models that behave like “yes-men on servers”—endlessly agreeable, but unlikely to challenge assumptions or rethink foundational ideas.
LeSS Section
What is a Culture from Edgar Schien’s perspective ?
One of the foremost though leaders who has done extensive study about the Culture in the organisation is Edgar Schien. Edgar talks about culture in many of his books and here is the collated ideas at one place
Culture is real, powerful, but often invisible. It shapes behavior in organizations even if we don’t notice it.
Without cultural awareness, leaders are led by culture instead of leading it.
Organizational behaviors often resist change because they are rooted in shared assumptions that must be uncovered and understood.
Culture is not just ‘the way we do things’ — it’s shared learning over time, stabilized into deeply held, often unconscious assumptions.
Formal definition of culture: “A pattern of shared basic assumptions… learned by a group… taught as the correct way to perceive, think, and feel…”
Culture emerges from shared experiences of success and failure. If a group solves problems together, their shared approach becomes cultural norms.
Culture includes both visible elements (language, rituals, norms) and invisible ones (beliefs, assumptions).
Culture serves two functions: 1. Helps a group survive in its external environment. 2. Helps group members integrate internally.
Leadership and culture are two sides of the same coin.
Leaders create and shape culture. Over time, culture defines who becomes a leader.
Changing culture requires deep work, because challenging assumptions triggers discomfort and anxiety.
Large organizations often have multiple subcultures, but they may still share foundational assumptions.
Culture is like DNA — some assumptions are core and define long-term behavior and adaptability.
Culture is transmitted through socialization, both explicit and implicit.
Overt behavior does not always reflect culture, so it’s critical to explore what drives behavior beneath the surface.
Leaders must study culture not just to understand their organizations, but to transform them. Otherwise, culture will shape them unconsciously.
Systems Thinking Section
Key ideas of Systems Thinking in the context of Organisational behaivor
Linear thinking dominates organizational design—assuming control, prediction, and plan-driven causality.
Complexity science reveals emergent behavior, where outcomes are unpredictable and not traceable to a single root cause.
Systems that are too tightly controlled lose adaptability.
Leaders in complex systems are facilitators, not commanders.
The role of leadership shifts to shaping initial conditions, influencing feedback loops, and enabling autonomy.
Power in complexity is distributed, not hierarchical.
Traditional structures often suppress creativity and adaptation by overemphasizing order.
Organizational effectiveness is emergent, cannot be engineered.
Upcoming Course Schedule
Certified LeSS Practitioner (Provisional) - Aug 25th - 29th AEST
Certified ICAgile Systemic Coaching Profiessional - July 2025 (12th, 13th,14th)
If you are keen to join the course, please reach out to me directly
ICAgile Systemic Coaching
Certified LeSS Pracitioner
Certified LeSS Executives
Systems Thinking for Leaders