Leadership + Organization
Redefining Success for Scrum Masters and Leaders
In a leadership meeting, an executive leaned back in his chair and asked the question that often lingers unspoken: “How do we know if our Scrum Masters are actually doing...
Business Transformation
Scrum Masters at the Enterprise Level: Coaching Beyond Product Development
I recall working at an organization where the Scrum Master noticed a frustrating pattern.Teams discussed collaboration during retrospectives, but at the end of the year, individuals were still evaluated based...
Leadership + Organization
Coaching Toward Independence: Why Scrum Masters Aim to Be Redundant
It was Sprint Planning, and the Scrum Master was unexpectedly pulled into a leadership workshop. The team carried on without her. They reviewed the Product Backlog, clarified the top stories...
Career
How Scrum Masters Prove Their Worth
The team had started to wonder aloud: “Do we really even need a Scrum Master anymore?” Their standups ran smoothly, retrospectives felt familiar, and the board was updated. From their...
Agility
The Cadence is the Secret Sauce of Scrum: Why Rhythm Matters More Than Rules
Introduction: Music, Rhythm, and Scrum Share a Common BeatI love music. Don't you love music? Some people don't. I love music. What I really like about music is the container...
Leadership + Organization
Beyond Velocity: What Leaders Should Measure
At the quarterly business review, the VP of Engineering proudly highlighted the team’s velocity chart in our monthly metrics review with senior leadership. The graph showed a steep climb: the...
Career
The Future of the Scrum Master: From Facilitator to Catalyst
Scroll through LinkedIn or Twitter and you’ll see the headlines: “Agile is dead” or “Scrum Masters are obsolete".The debate rages with skeptics pointing to failed transformations, rigid processes, or teams...
Agility
From Dogma to Pragmatism: The Scrum Master’s Balancing Act
At a client site, I observed a well-meaning leader insist that the Daily Scrum must be run “by the book.” Each developer had to answer the three questions in order...
Agility
Scrum Masters as Flow Enablers: Beyond the Ceremonies
A product team I once collaborated with was consistently frustrated by the same issue: their work kept getting delayed by security reviews. Each sprint, progress slowed, delivery dates slipped, and...
Leadership + Organization
Scrum Masters Under Fire: Addressing Criticism with Pragmatism
During a Sprint Planning session, a frustrated developer whispered under his breath: “Our Scrum Master just slows us down. Why do we even need them?” The room went quiet, but...
Leadership + Organization
Managing Team Capacity: A Budget-Based Approach to Agile Product Management
Why Organizations Need Answers About Project DeliveryI hear it all the time. The organization wants to know when is this work going to be done? How much does it cost...
Agility
Why Scrum Masters Still Matter
Not long ago, a team I worked with decided they no longer needed their Scrum Master. “We know Scrum,” they said. “We’ll save time if we just do it ourselves.”...