Empiricism — The Philosophy Behind Scrum

🎬 Video Lesson · 11 min

Scrum is founded on empirical process control theory (empiricism). Empiricism means knowledge comes from experience and decisions are based on what is known — not what is predicted.

The Three Pillars of Empiricism

Transparency: The process and work must be visible to those responsible for the outcome. Everyone shares a common definition of ‘Done.’

Inspection: Scrum artifacts and progress must be inspected frequently to detect undesirable variances. Inspection happens in all five Scrum events.

Adaptation: If an inspector determines that aspects of a process deviate outside acceptable limits, an adjustment must be made. Adaptation becomes harder when people are not empowered or self-managing.

Why This Matters for Exams: Every Scrum event is an opportunity for Inspection and Adaptation.