Enterprise Scrum

Enterprise Scrum Introduction - Mike Beedle

Enterprise Scrum, as defined by Mike Beedle, is an adaptation and extension of Scrum that utilizes abstraction, generalization, and parameterization. It is designed to be a scalable and generic framework for any management purpose, allowing organizations to remain agile at all levels and across various domains.

Tragically, Mike Beedle lost his life in Chicago in 2018 during an apparent robbery, preventing him from further advancing his work on Enterprise Scrum.

In some respects, AME3 builds upon the foundation established by Enterprise Scrum. However, there are significant differences, largely because AME3 was developed nearly eight years after Mike Beedle’s work, allowing us to incorporate broader community experience and our own insights.

Comparing AME3 and Enterprise Scrum

The concept of applying Scrum as a framework to manage an entire company dates back to the early days of Scrum itself. This idea inspired us to found DasScrumTeam in 2010, an organization fully operated using Scrum. More and more organizations have adopted this approach.

Enterprise Scrum captured this idea explicitly by generalizing Scrum’s concepts—such as roles, ordered work, and iterative cadence—to any business context.

AME3 follows the same spirit, but adds a clearer enterprise structure, an explicit leadership system (Owner, System Lead, Team), and strategic doctrines to guide long-term evolution.

AME3 does not focus solely on Scrum; within an Arena, a variety of methods and frameworks can be used. In addition to Scrum, approaches like Kanban, LeSS, or custom team-based methods are also supported.

At the Enterprise level, methods like Wardley Mapping are an option but not mandatory. This flexibility is one reason why AME3 considers itself a Metaframework.

What AME3 and Enterprise Scrum have in common

• Leadership functions align in purpose and accountability: Enterprise Scrum defines a Business Owner, a Coach, and a Team; AME3 defines Owner, System Lead, and Team. In both, the owner role steers for value, the coach/system lead enables an effective work system, and the team executes and improves.
• Ordered work and value focus: Enterprise Scrum works from a generic Value List with Value List Items (VLIs) prioritized to maximize business value; AME3 works from ordered Enterprise Backlog and Arena Backlog with Goals and Improvements prioritized for customer and business impact.
• Empirical, iterative cadence: Enterprise Scrum runs iterative Cycles (PC3R) and supports recursive cadence across levels; AME3 runs nested Matches (Arena cadence) and Tournaments (enterprise cadence), grounded in Empirical Control/the Empirical Product Control Loop.
• Pull and self‑management: In both, teams pull a feasible amount of work into each cycle, commit to getting it Done against clear rules of completion, and self‑organize to deliver value.
• Multi‑level applicability: Enterprise Scrum instances and canvases generalize Scrum to any domain and scale; AME3 explicitly structures work at Enterprise and Arena levels with consistent rules and shared cadence.
• Continuous improvement: Both emphasize regular inspection and adaptation of the work and the way of working to increase effectiveness and value.

The Differences

• Structure and scope: AME3 prescribes two explicit levels (Enterprise and Arena) with defined artifacts, constraints, and leadership functions (e.g., Enterprise Product, Arena Product, Match, Tournament). Enterprise Scrum provides generic instances and templates that can be configured for many domains without prescribing an enterprise/arena split.
• Terminology and artifacts: Enterprise Scrum uses generalized terms such as Vision, Value List, Value List Items (VLIs), Cycles, and canvases. AME3 uses product‑oriented artifacts and backlogs (e.g., Enterprise Backlog, Arena Backlog) and names cadence explicitly as Matches and Tournaments.
• Separation of accountabilities: AME3 makes separation explicit (e.g., the Enterprise Owner cannot be a System Lead or Enterprise System Lead; the System Lead focuses on the effectiveness of the work‑system). Enterprise Scrum’s Coach and Business Owner are roles within the team configuration and the definition does not impose AME3’s specific separations.
• Strategic doctrines: AME3 embeds explicit doctrines such as Empirical Control, Evolution Focus (and Overall Optimization) to guide enterprise evolution. Enterprise Scrum focuses on business agility outcomes and configuration guidance rather than naming such doctrines.
• Cadence naming and nesting: AME3 standardizes shared cadence across Arenas via Matches/Tournaments; Enterprise Scrum emphasizes recursive/nested Cycles and configurable canvases for different business contexts.

Further Reading and References on Enterprise Scrum