As you may know, Agile is a popular software development methodology. And Scrum is a popular Agile framework. But what you may not know is that there are some pretty funny and witty quotes out there about Agile and Scrum. These one-liner agile and scrum quotes can be as impactful as reading a whole article.
Check out these thought-provoking and Inspiring Agile & Scrum quotes.
All software is tested. The real question is whether the tester is you or your users
Allen Holub
An organization that treats its programmers as morons will soon have programmers that are willing and able to act like morons only.
Bjarne Stroustrup
Do the planning, but throw out the plans.
Mary Poppendieck
As ScrumMasters, we should all value being great over being good.
Geoff Watts
If you want a guarantee, buy a toaster.
Clint Eastwood
The important thing is not your process. The important thing is your process for improving your process.
Henrik Kniberg
Scrum is like your mother-in-law, it points out ALL your faults.
Ken Schwaber
That which is a feature to a component team is a task to a feature team.
Ken Rubin
The goal is NOT to write code. If we could ship products and make all this money without writing any code, we would. Your job is ship products EXACTLY on time. It doesn’t matter whether you’re a developer, tester, program manager, product manager whatever. Everybody’s job is the same
Chris Peters
The more elaborate our means of communication, the less we communicate.
Joseph Priestley
Scrum without automation is like driving a sports car on a dirt track – you won’t experience the full potential, you will get frustrated, and you will probably end up blaming the car.
Ilan Goldstein
As an Agile coach, you don’t need to have all the answers; it takes time and a few experiments to hit on the right approach.
Rachel Davies and Liz Sedley
First-time product owners need time, trust, and support to grow into their new role.
Roman Pichler
If you tell people where to go, but not how to get there, you’ll be amazed by the results.
General George S. Patton
People are remarkably good at doing what they want to do.
Joseph Little
As the tests get more specific, the code gets more generic.
Robert C. Martin (Uncle Bob)
To say that companies or CIOs are reluctant to embrace agile is like saying they wouldn’t take aspirin for a headache. And they’re not only not taking the aspirin, they’re banging their heads against the wall and wondering why it hurts.
Jim Johnson
As a rule of thumb, for every user who tells you about a problem, there will be between 10 and 100 other users who experienced the same problem and didn’t think to get in touch.
Paul Butcher
Every great product owner needs a great ScrumMaster.
Roman Pichler
It doesn’t matter how good you are today; if you’re not better next month, you’re no longer agile
Mike Cohn
Focus on idle work not idle workers to achieve fast, flexible flow.
Ken Rubin
Agility means that you are faster than your competition. Agile time frames are measured in weeks and months, not years.
Michael Hugos
Agile leaders lead teams, non-agile ones manage tasks.
Jim Highsmith
Agile teams produce a continuous stream of value, at a sustainable pace, while adapting to the changing needs of the business.
Elisabeth Hendrickson
Multitasking Makes You Stupid. Doing more than one thing at a time makes you slower and worse at both tasks. Don’t do it. If you think this doesn’t apply to you, you’re wrong—it does.
Jeff Sutherland
My advice is to stop emphasizing the process frameworks and start focusing on the company culture and mindsets.
Selena Delesie
Trying to speed project schedule by reducing testing is like trying to lose weight by donating blood.
Klaus Leopold
Any Scrum without working product at the end of a sprint is a failed Scrum.
Jeff Sutherland
Agile is all about teams working together to produce great software. As an Agile coach, you can help your team go from first steps to running with Agile to unleashing their full Agile potential.
Rachel Davies and Liz Sedley
Although self-organizing is a good term, it has, unfortunately, become confused with anarchy.
Jim Highsmith
A sprint would only be a failure if the team didn’t deliver anything and didn’t learn from it.
Mike Cohn
Estimates are like the best lie we can give you
Mike Beedle
The benefit of allowing a team to self-organize isn’t that the team finds some optimal organization for their work that a manager may have missed. Rather, it is that by allowing the team to self-organize, they are encouraged to fully own the problem.
Mike Cohn
Any fool can write code that a computer can understand. Good programmers write code that humans can understand.
Martin Fowler
Optimism is an occupational hazard of programming: feedback is the treatment.
Kent Beck
Agile Quotes for Motivation and Inspiration
1. “The Agile methodology is not a destination, but a journey. It’s about continuous improvement, not just in our products, but in our people, processes, and culture.” – Sutherland, Jeff
2. “Agile is not a methodology, it’s a mindset. It’s a way of thinking that values individuals and interactions over processes and tools.” – Larman, Craig
3. “Agile teams are empowered teams. They have the freedom to innovate, experiment, and take risks.” – Cohn, Mike
Agile Quotes for Teamwork and Collaboration
1. “Agile is not about doing more work faster. It’s about creating an environment where teams can work together more effectively.” – Kniberg, Henrik
2. “Agile methodologies are all about collaboration. They encourage cross-functional teams to work together and share their knowledge and expertise.” – Cockburn, Alistair
3. “Agile teams are like sports teams. They work together, support each other, and celebrate their successes together.” – Lacey, Dave
Agile Quotes for Productivity and Efficiency
1. “Agile methodologies help teams work smarter, not harder. They allow teams to focus on high-priority tasks and avoid wasting time and resources on low-value activities.” – Highsmith, Jim
2. “Agile methodologies are all about delivering value to customers. They prioritize the most important features and deliver them quickly and efficiently.” – Poppendieck, Mary
3. “Agile is not just about speed, it’s about efficiency. It’s about doing the right things at the right time.” – Sutherland, Jeff
Agile Quotes for Continuous Improvement and Learning
1. “Agile methodologies are all about continuous improvement. They encourage teams to learn from their mistakes and adapt to changing circumstances.” – Schwaber, Ken
2. “Agile is not a fixed process. It’s a flexible framework that allows teams to adapt and evolve based on feedback and changing requirements.” – Fowler, Martin
3. “Agile is all about learning. It’s about experimenting, trying new things, and learning from the results.” – Little, Lisa
Agile Quotes for Embracing Change and Adaptability
1. “The only constant in Agile is change. Agile methodologies encourage teams to embrace change and adapt quickly to new circumstances.” – Martin, Robert
2. “Agile methodologies are all about embracing uncertainty. They encourage teams to experiment, learn, and adapt to new situations.” – Shore, James
3. “Agile is like a river. It flows and changes constantly, and teams need to be able to adapt and navigate it to reach their goals.” – Rising, Linda
Agile Quotes for Customer Satisfaction and Value
1. “Agile methodologies are all about delivering value to customers. They prioritize the most important features and deliver them quickly and efficiently.” – Poppendieck, Mary
2. “Agile is not just about delivering software. It’s about delivering value to customers and meeting their needs.” – Cohn, Mike
3. “Agile is all about customer satisfaction. It’s about delivering high-quality products that meet or exceed customer expectations.” – Little, Lisa