Themes from 2025

In my practice, I get the chance to talk to a lot of different individuals from many organizations. Here are some of the things that really stood out to me about 2025.

1) The Product Model

One of the brightest spots of 2025 is that organizations really are beginning to adopt the Product Model — and this is where they are getting the most value.

For too long, organizations have been adopting Agile but keeping a Waterfall mindset. In the misguided name of “efficiency,” they separated teams by technology, so that in order to create value for the end user, work had to go through multiple teams. This creates unnecessary barriers to communication and collaboration.

That began to change in 2025. Organizations started asking a much better question: What are we really trying to deliver? Then they formed cross-functional teams consisting of people with different skillsets to do it.

This is much closer to what Agile originally intended. The article that started it all - the “New New Product Development Game” - emphasized the need for people with different skills to work together to deliver value and create products. In addition, the very name of name Scrum comes from a Rugby formation where everyone has a different role and removing one breaks the whole system. Cross-functionality was a part of Agile from the beginning - and yet for more than 20 years it has been somehow overlooked.

Rather than organize teams based on their skillset, we need to take a step back and ask, "what are we trying to deliver?" and then bring together all of the different skillsets that are needed to deliver that product, and let them work together to achieve goals, not tasks.

In 2025, we finally started moving the needle back toward that idea. I hope to see this continue in 2026.

2) Measuring Success

Leaders are struggling with how to measure success in Agile environments.

Many still rely on output-based measures: utilization, velocity, ticket counts, and deadlines. Meanwhile, teams are being asked to focus on learning, adaptability, and customer outcomes. That disconnect creates confusion and frustration on both sides.

In 2025, this misalignment became harder to ignore — and in some organizations, it finally triggered real conversations about what success should look like. (hint: measure success by customer and business outcomes rather than ticket count.)

3) Product Owners Are Not Empowered

This remains one of the most persistent challenges.

Product Owners are often accountable for outcomes without having real authority over priorities, scope, or funding. They’re expected to act like product leaders while being treated like backlog administrators.

In 2025, more organizations are at least recognizing this problem — even if they haven’t solved it yet.

4) Diversification of Agile Approaches

Organizations are experimenting more with frameworks.

Scrum is no longer treated as the only answer. Kanban, flow-based practices, and hybrid approaches are being explored — and in the best cases, thoughtfully combined with Scrum rather than replacing it entirely.

The healthiest organizations aren’t dogmatic. They’re asking, What problem are we trying to solve? and then allowing their teams to choose practices accordingly.

5) From Transformation to Delivery

Many organizations are no longer in the early adoption phase.

Instead of asking “How do we transform?” they’re asking:

• How do we deliver better?

• How do we empower teams?

• How do we grow people?

• How do we improve our existing Scrum implementation?

This shift toward delivery maturity is a positive sign. Agile isn’t new anymore — expectations are higher. To borrow from The Mandalorian: Agile is the way many organizations deliver value in complex environments. Or as one of my clients put it, Agile is the best thing out there.

Closing Thoughts

2025 feels less like a year of new ideas and more like a year of reckoning. Organizations aren’t asking whether Agile works anymore. They’re asking why it isn’t working for them — and that’s a much more interesting question. Organizations are starting to realize that they can't just say Agile three times fast - they can't just adopt it - they need to apply it in their environment by asking questions like, "What are our Products?", "How do we measure success", "How do we improve delivery?" and "what's holding us back?".

Asking questions is the first step to finding answers. I am hopeful that in 2026 we will see a more nuanced approach to Agile. One where we are not just checking the boxes and doing the Scrum events, but we are being more thoughtful about how to apply Scrum in each unique environment.

Rebel Scrum is the host of the annual Scrum Day conference.