How Can Sprints Be Viewed as Experiments?
A Sprint functions like a test of the team’s assumptions about what will be valuable. The Increment created in the Sprint is the vehicle for running that test, allowing the Scrum Team to see whether their ideas about customer value hold true in practice.
Metaphor
Sprints are like clinical trials, where each round tests a treatment in the real world with actual patients. Both generate evidence that shows whether the idea works as intended.
Each Increment validates or challenges assumptions about value before scaling further.
Works Consulted
In addition to any sources cited above, the following works informed my thinking:(1)
1.
Developing Valuable Product Increments [Internet]. Scrum.org; [cited 2025 Aug 28]. Available from: https://www.scrum.org/learning-series/developing-valuable-product-increments/the-importance-of-producing-a-valuable-product-increment