Spikes And Stories

Scrum tips and agile insights from a Silicon Valley agile coach

But Why Is It So (Fr)Agile?

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If this agile thing is so great, then why doesn’t it always stick? And if we can get it to stick, why does it require so much upkeep? Why can it sometimes be so fragile? Time and again, I’ve helped teams, people, and organizations with their transformations, and in many cases, I’ve seen it either go sideways or slowly regress. Why though? Shouldn’t it be able to stand on its own? After teams see its benefits, shouldn’t the transformation gain momentum by the better outcomes it creates? Today, let’s talk about why that’s not always true.

Is it us?

Better yet, is it me? Maybe I’m a terrible coach. It’s certainly a possibility, but it would make for a rather bleak blog post. So for the moment, I hope you’re willing to suspend the skepticism. So what about us?

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Can We Rotate the Scrum Master Role?

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So can teams rotate the Scrum Master role? Sure, but should they? No, it most circumstances I don’t believe so.

First, I think high-performing teams can rotate the role, but I’ve run into only a handful of teams that I’d say meet that bar. Is your team one of those? Likely not. Maybe that’s cynical of me. However, over the years I’ve uncovered more collections of individuals than I have teams, and I like to believe that 10 years as a U.S. Marine has given me a trained eye for identifying kick ass teams.

Disheartening but true. Over time, I hope my contributions and the contributions of so many others tilt the scales, but the reality is we’re not there yet. Years from now, I intend to re-read this post, smile, and realize how far we’ve come.

So why do so many teams wish to rotate the Scrum Master role? Let’s talk about that today. And let’s start with a truly surprising tweet I ran across recently.

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A Survival Guide for Navigating Conflict

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I’m difficult but with purpose. 

I’ve said this about myself on numerous occasions, and I’m sure many of the bosses I’ve had over the years had a hell of a time managing me.  Then again, like Grace Hopper said:

You manage things.  You lead people.

And it’s not that I’m trying to be difficult.  I just enjoy debate. No, that’s not right. I enjoy understanding what makes others tick, and that can be more easily explored where we disagree.  I believe it’s this mindset that’s helped me with navigating conflict. 

In fact, it reminds me of the highest praise I’ve received as a coach. A few years ago, three team members were talking privately, and I came up.  One of them later shared with me the screenshot you see here.  My wish is that all of us receive this kind of feedback at some point in our careers.

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Four Things Becoming a Pilot Taught Me About Coaching

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Have you ever wanted to learn to fly? Who wouldn’t want to enjoy a bird’s eye view of San Francisco or have a beautiful view of rush hour traffic as you speed over packed highways. Every year, I set a goal for myself to learn or do something new in the spirit of continuous learning. I think we all should. After all, shouldn’t we coaches have a thirst for knowledge?

Usually, my goals are professional in nature, but I decided to make an exception, and I’m glad I did. Working toward my private pilot’s license has taught me a lot about myself and my craft, and today I thought I’d share some of those lessons.

Certificated Not Certified

On a wall in our school, there’s a white board that lists all our Certified Flight Instructors (CFI). My CFI looked at it once and said:

It’s not Certified Flight Instructors; it’s really Certificated Flight Instructors.


The same applies to Certified Scrum Masters. We’re not certified; we’re certificated. Further, those newly minted CSMs aren’t masters; they’re novices. Unfortunately, Certificated Scrum Novice doesn’t quite have the same ring.

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