By Ada Jacques-Leahy
March 13, 2022
Hello World! I am here on this fine Spring morning to delineate the difference between Scrum Methodology with an Agile mindset and the Waterfall Methodology. After much research, I have deduced that the main difference is that the Waterfall Methodology and Scrum is that the Waterfall Methodology has two set rules. One is that the Waterfall methodology is for small projects and the second is that it has very distinct phases where one has to have finished before the other one can start. I personally believe that this methodology should get renamed to something like “Brick and Mortar Methodology” because you need one brick as foundation before you can set the next brick. is Waterfalls are fluid and not rigid like this methodology. Haha.
The Waterfall Methodology is the traditional method from the 1950’s of doing things whereas Agile in Scrum Framework is a newer approach where the customer is (as it should be if need be) closer to the center of it all. The Scrum method is also more lenient with less rules (structure).
With the Waterfall Method, you have: poor amount of customer input, documentation, a strict hierarchy and Sequence Principles at the forefront; whereas, with the Scrum Method the workflow works more Agile-like and seems to be more relaxed. With the Waterfall Method, if you fail in one area, you cannot go back and fix it; you have to start from scratch (which is senseless and ineffective in my opinion). Like in the cybersecurity world where you prepare for the big hack all day long/every day, documentation is essential just like in the Waterfall Method. The basic steps in the Waterfall Method’s project are: planning, designing, performing, testing, and the final deployment.
The Scrum Method, developed in 1993, has more of a King’s Arthur’s Round Table approach where there is not only one Boss (like in the Waterfall Method) but rather many people contribute and have equal say and vote as how to approach the project, which is more modern type of democratic rule (Scrum) versus a monarchy type of rule (Waterfall). The Scrum Method calls for a Coach (Mentor) and no Boss. The Scrum method calls for stages called Sprints stopping somewhere in the middle to have the Product Owner (Customer Rep) evaluate it. Flexibility throughout the project exists to change the final outcome unlike the Waterfall Method. Scrum is also sometimes referred to simply as the iterative work cycle of Sprints that last about two weeks on average, but can last from one to four weeks as well.
In conclusion, both methodologies should get you to the same place at the end and depending on your project’s needs and the team players employed in your team, you can choose either methodologies that best suit your, and your organization’s, needs tailored to a specific project.
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