How can it be a sprint if nobody is running? /s

Also known as the No True Scotsman argument https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_true_Scotsman. "You weren't doing real Agile™".

The only reason I'm posting this is because we have had similar things happen in almost every attempt at using sprints. They're just not suited for any sort of formal/business context where you don't have absolute and frankly religious buy-in to the concept.

The “No true Scotsman” fallacy is when you introduce unrelated criteria to disqualify something that would ordinarily be a member of a group. It’s perfectly reasonable to point out that somebody who was not born in Scotland, does not have Scottish family, does not hold any kind of British citizenship, and has never even set foot in Scotland is not, in fact, a Scotsman. That’s not a fallacy.

A sprint is a discrete period of time in which discrete software development tasks happen. A “rolling sprint” is conceptually void. You can’t have a discrete period of time that lasts indefinitely any more than you can have dehydrated water. The “rolling” part and the “sprint” part are mutually exclusive.

I’m not even saying that they weren’t “doing real Agile” – I’m pointing out that what is being described has literally no meaning at all. You can’t be good or bad at it because it’s a meaningless term.

The purpose of language is to communicate, and audiodude did that quite effectively given the fact I chuckled when I read their comment, because I knew exactly what they meant. A "rolling sprint" might be an oxymoron, but it certainly isn't conceptually void. It quite literally does have meaning considering I and many others clearly understood the point he was making through his personal anecdote.