A Scrum Book

A Scaling Sequence

The next pattern, ​¶18 Mitosis​, is a scaling pattern. We often see ​¶7 Scrum Team​s with a desire to scale, with the primary reason to increase output. However, market consumption must rise to match any production increase; otherwise, the excess productivity is just waste. In any case, the best way to grow a team’s output is by removing impediments and by improving the process.

Scaling legitimately occurs under just one circumstance: when the product grows organically to the point where the demand for new features outstrips even a high-performing Scrum Team’s capacity to deliver in a timely fashion. A “high-performing” team is one that has been a Stable Team for some time (see ​¶15 Stable Teams​), maintains a consistent ...