Scrumpocalypse

The end of Scrum. The beginning of something better.

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Introducing Curling: A New Paradigm

Introducing Curling: A New Paradigm

In my previous post, I argued that Scrum has become the bureaucratic overhead it was designed to eliminate. But tearing something down is easy. The harder question is: what do we replace it with?

Let me introduce you to Curling — not just a methodology, but a metaphor for how high-performing teams actually work.

Why Curling?

If you've ever watched Olympic curling, you know it looks deceptively simple. One person slides a stone down the ice toward a target. Two teammates sweep the ice ahead of it, controlling its speed and direction. A fourth calls the strategy.

But beneath that simplicity is extraordinary depth:

  • The Skip (strategist) reads the entire playing field and calls the shots — not by doing the work, but by seeing the big picture.
  • The Sweepers remove friction from the path, adjusting in real-time based on how the stone is moving.
  • The Thrower executes with precision, releasing at exactly the right moment with exactly the right weight.

Sound familiar? It should. This is how the best software teams already work — they just don't have a name for it.

The Curling Principles

1. The Stone Is the Work

In Curling, the unit of work is a Stone — a single, well-defined deliverable that moves from conception to delivery. Unlike a "user story" that gets sliced, re-estimated, and carried over across sprints, a Stone is released once with clear intent.

You don't half-throw a curling stone. You commit to the delivery.

2. Sweep, Don't Stand Up

Instead of daily standups where everyone reports status, Curling teams practice Sweeping — the active removal of obstacles from the path of work in progress.

Sweeping is proactive, not performative. You don't wait for someone to report a blocker in a ceremony. You watch the Stone's trajectory and clear the ice before friction slows it down.

This means:

  • Reviewing pull requests within hours, not days
  • Answering questions asynchronously when they arise
  • Removing bureaucratic hurdles before they become blockers
  • Deploying infrastructure changes ahead of the features that need them

3. The Skip Sees, Doesn't Steer

The Skip (team lead, tech lead, or product lead) has one job: maintain strategic awareness. They see the whole house (the target), know the score, and call the next play.

But they don't micromanage the throw. They don't tell the sweepers exactly how hard to sweep. They trust the team's expertise and adjust strategy based on outcomes, not activities.

4. Ends, Not Sprints

In curling, the game is divided into Ends — complete rounds where each team delivers all their stones. An End is complete when every stone has been thrown and the score is tallied.

In Curling methodology, an End replaces the Sprint. But unlike a Sprint, an End doesn't have an arbitrary time box. An End is defined by completion of a strategic objective. It ends when the work is done, not when the calendar says so.

5. The House Is the Goal

The House is the target — concentric circles representing the ideal outcome. In software, the House is the user outcome you're optimizing for.

Not every stone lands in the button (the center). Some guard. Some knock opponents' stones out. The point is that every throw has strategic purpose relative to the House.

Curling vs. Scrum: A Quick Comparison

| Concept | Scrum | Curling | |---------|-------|---------| | Unit of work | User Story | Stone | | Time box | Sprint (2 weeks) | End (completion-based) | | Daily sync | Standup (status) | Sweeping (obstacle removal) | | Leadership | Scrum Master (process) | Skip (strategy) | | Progress metric | Velocity | Stones delivered to the House | | Planning | Sprint Planning | Reading the ice |

Getting Started

You don't need a certification to practice Curling. You don't need to buy a book or attend a conference. You just need to embrace three habits:

  1. Define Stones clearly. Every piece of work should be a concrete deliverable with a clear destination.
  2. Sweep constantly. Make it your team's culture to proactively remove friction for whoever is currently delivering.
  3. Trust the thrower. Once someone picks up a Stone, trust them to deliver it. Watch the trajectory, sweep when needed, but don't grab the stone mid-slide.

The ice is ready. Let's play.