Great points about the current state of Scrum!
This resonates strongly with what many development teams are experiencing. The challenges you've outlined - passive resistance, management overload, and the disconnect between technical and non-technical decision-makers - are consistently reported across organizations implementing Scrum.
I particularly appreciate your emphasis on technical practices. The reality is that many teams struggle with test flakiness and maintaining automation in fast-paced sprints, which directly supports your point about Scrum not shipping technical excellence out of the box.
Technology as the Solution
What excites me is how modern technology can actually address many of these pain points. AI-powered tools are emerging that can:
- Automate much of the ceremony overhead (smart sprint planning, predictive burndown analysis)
- Enhance technical practices through intelligent code review and automated testing
- Bridge the communication gap between technical and non-technical stakeholders with better visualization and translation tools
The Future is Hybrid + AI-Enhanced
Rather than completely abandoning Scrum, I see the future in intelligent hybrid approaches. Teams are increasingly successful with combinations like "Scrumban" or incorporating Lean principles within Scrum frameworks, supported by AI that can adapt the methodology in real-time based on team performance and project characteristics.
Your point about technical literacy in management is spot-on, and this is where AI can serve as a translation layer; helping non-technical leaders understand engineering complexity while enabling developers to focus on what they do best.
The "zombie Scrum" you describe often dies when teams embrace technology that automates the bureaucracy while preserving the collaboration and continuous improvement that makes Agile valuable in the first place.