The Zombie Scrum Survival Guide
Are you experiencing Zombie Scrum too? Zombie Scrum is something that looks like Scrum from a distance, but is anything but on closer inspection. There is no working software after a Sprint, stakeholders are not involved, teams have little autonomy and nobody is trying to improve.
Don't give up! The Zombie Scrum Survival Guide is here to help. We - Christiaan Verwijs, Johannes Schartau and Barry Overeem - poured all our creativity, experience, strategies and insights into a single book that gives you what you need to start recovering today. Our book is richly illustrated by Thea Schukken.
4 Reasons To Get Our Book
Understand Scrum
Get crystal clear on Scrum, and how Zombie Scrum often starts when the purpose of Scrum is misunderstood in four key areas: ship it fast, build what stakeholders need, continuous improvement and team autonomy.
By Scrum Masters
We wrote this book as Scrum Masters, for Scrum Masters. We draw from our experience as Scrum Masters, share personal stories and present the research we've done with hundreds of Scrum Teams.
Powerful experiments
We help you start small and where it matters the most. Try one or more of the 41 powerful and engaging experiments to start your recovery today - many of them based on Liberating Structures.
Even for the worst cases
We wrote our book with the most traditional and rigid organizations in mind, where you probably have little autonomy yourself. Create transparency with our book and help others see the effects of Zombie Scrum.
Available Editions
Regular Edition
- The book, with 320 pages filled with insights, illustrations, experiments and personal stories
- A digital first aid kit with additional experiments, exercises and posters
- A Zombie Scrum sticker set
Plus Edition
- The book, with 320 pages filled with insights, illustrations, experiments and personal stories
- A physical first aid kit with additional experiments, exercises and posters
- A digital version of the first aid kit
- A Zombie Scrum sticker set
All prices are excluding 21% VAT (only for countries in the EU) and shipping costs. We ship globally.
Blog
Actual stakeholders? Or just your audience?
Why Zombie Scrum Teams Don’t Ship Fast
How the Efficiency Mindset Leads to Zombie Scrum
Meetups & Events
The Purpose of Scrum
Build What Stakeholders Need
Ship It Fast!
How Is Your Team Doing?
Diagnose your team for free
Is your team suffering from Zombie Scrum? Something that looks like Scrum from a distance, but is missing a beating heart of valuable software. Invite your team and find out with our symptom tracker
Diagnose your teamShip It Fast
Build What Stakeholders Need
Improve Continuously
Self-Organize
First Aid for Zombie Scrum
The first response to Zombie Scrum might be to panic, run around and hide below your desk. That doesn't usually work. So we created a simple poster that tells you exactly what to do, in clear and simple language.
Get the free poster
What readers say
The Zombie Scrum Survival Guide is like a bathroom cabinet: a well-lit mirror that merciless reflects the situation, with cures, quick fixes, and painkillers inside.
Ton Sweep
This book is a huge recipe book to help teams who are stuck [...] that makes it so absolutely valuable. We highly recommend it. listen to the podcast
Ton Sweep
Every scrum master will recognize the situations described in this book. The practical experiments are explained very well, topped off with funny illustrations, it is a very pleasant book to read.
The Zombie Scrum Survival Guide is beautifully different from other books as it does not offer solutions. Instead, it focuses on asking powerful questions and experiments, that are way more impactful and suit the complexity of the domain.
The book is a must-read for any team member willing to become more self-aware on how not to fall into the Zombie Scrum trap and is a meta for Scrum Masters.
This book not only gives insights, but also practical suggestion on how to experiment together with your teams to improve your way of working. I wasn't even done with the book before I had planned the first couple of experiments. The journey has just started, and I'm feeling energized and optimistic
I found it a very tiring book to read because it made me constantly jump out of my chair, to put the great idea, suggestions, and advice directly into practice. Great job guys!
This book is for all Scrum practitioners who are disappointed that Scrum doesn't unfold its full potential. It helps sense possible causes and gives a ton of tangible interventions to start changing this today.