You make an executive decision. "We're canceling half the ceremonies. The team needs time to actually work."
You cut: backlog refinement, stakeholder syncs, and reduce standup to 10 minutes hard stop.
Week 1: Team productivity doubles. Morale improves. People are actually shipping features. This feels like progress!
Week 2: Your Scrum Master looks concerned. "Are we still doing Agile?" they ask.
Week 3: The company's Agile Center of Excellence sends you an email requesting a "process compliance review."
Week 4: You're in a conference room with three Agile coaches you've never met. They have a checklist.
"You committed to Scrum framework," Lead Coach says. "But you're not doing backlog refinement. You've reduced standup duration. Where are your burndown charts?"
"We're shipping features," you say. "Isn't that what matters?"
"Agile isn't about shipping features," they reply seriously. "It's about following the Agile process."
Your process compliance score: 42%. Status: Non-compliant.
You're required to attend a 3-day Agile re-certification workshop. All the ceremonies get reinstated. Productivity drops again.
The coaches congratulate you on being "back on track."