The Purpose of an Agile Coach

The flippant answer to the question, "What's the difference between a Scrum Master and an agile coach?" is "about ￡200 a day."??

Is an agile coach merely a seasoned Scrum Master?? Or one with a coaching qualification?? Someone who rejects feline herding, instead showing that a well-supported, autonomous team, given the catnip of engaging work, can transform from a clowder of cats into a pride of lions? And yes, 'clowder' really is the collective noun for cats.

As Scrum Masters, our purpose is clear.? We're accountable for establishing Scrum and our Scrum Team's effectiveness.? We serve the Scrum Team, the Product Owner, and the organisation.? We draw organisational sharks from teams that become SEAL-like in their effectiveness at delivering value.

With Scrum, agile coaches should flip this service priority:

1. Serve the organisation.
2. Serve (Several) Product Owners.
3. Serve (Several) Scrum Teams.

However, the definition of agile coaching itself is more mutable.

Why does this matter?

• This matters because the Agile community respects Dan Pink's Drive.? Mastery, autonomy, and purpose are at its core. Moreover:
• Part of our role is to simplify. We live in a world where people once tried to make pigeon-guided bombs, and things have only become more complex. Therefore, we should provide clarity for our customers or employers and clarity for recruiters.
• Part of our role is inspection.? Why not inspect our purpose?????
• Moreover, this matters to us because coaches want to help.

Defining an agile coach

The term 'agile coach', as we use it now, originated around 2010. We usually credit Lyssa Adkins with coining it, though I've had people argue it was Henrik Kniberg; let's start with them.

Adkins' definition encompasses several elements.? In Coaching Agile Teams, she mentions that an agile coach should have coached multiple teams and that they use both coaching and mentoring skills (and so differ from professional coaches).? She says:

"This role name, agile coach, plays the field and keeps its options open.? Should one agile framework be superseded by another, the more generic name will likely still be used in common conversation.? And, it honours my previous experience of using Scrum as a base and adding other tools that make sense for the situation at hand.? That's why I use it in this book."

She says, "The context of agile makes you a mentor, the focus on team performance makes you a coach."

She went on with Michael Spayd to develop the Agile Coaching Framework, which later evolved into the Agile Coaching Wheel. Both provide excellent roadmaps to growing into the role and are vital learning tools, but we're concentrating on definitions here.

Kniberg's definition is concise.? Scrum only took Spotify so far as they started to scale.? They felt that being agile was more critical than doing Scrum, that principles were more important than practices, and that they needed servant leadership more than process masters.? Hence, they favoured agile coaches over Scrum Masters.

I like this because it chimes with Ahmed Sidky and IC Agile's Agile Mindset:

An Agile Mindset, according to Sidky, "embraces challenges and views failures as learning opportunities."? As such, it's closely related to Carol Dweck's 'Growth Mindset,' which she contrasts with a 'Fixed Mindset,' wherein a person (or an organisation) feels they are born with a specific intelligence and cannot develop beyond it.? They become trapped by their beliefs, like the elephant and the chain.? Sidky emphasises being Agile rather than doing Agile, which is the closest we've come to purpose so far, but let's look at a few further definitions.

According to Scrum Alliance: "An agile coach teaches, inspires, and leads individuals, teams, and organisations as they transform the way they work."

Atlassian (a company frequently referred to by Dan Pink in Drive) provided a comprehensive answer - which I like - in a 2022 community article:

"When companies hire Agile Coaches to assist them … they are hiring a change agent, not just a framework expert who will come in and apply one of the Agile frameworks. [Most] Agile transformations fail because the coaches don't grasp the organisation's real challenge, which is "What is the need for change?"

Half of the remedy is to recognise and acknowledge the problem. The focus should be on identifying the problem that the company is facing. The Agile Coach … takes the time to understand the company as a system with many moving parts, such as people, processes, policies, and structures. Individuals will have multiple mental models, teams will have mental models and an organisation as a whole will have mental models that obstruct the solution to the problem and achievement of the objectives. Individuals and teams in the organisation can use Agile Coaching to achieve their goals and solve difficulties."

These definitions focus on organisational change.? Contrast them with the thoughts of Jeff Lee from agilityIRL, who wrote an article for Scrum.Org, stating that agile coaches are "facilitators who ask more questions than provide answers. Good coaches make themselves expendable by mentoring Scrum Masters to take on that accountability."?

Finally, for coaching itself, I like Jenny Rogers' 2016 definition:

"The whole aim of coaching is to close the gap between people's potential and their current state."

All these definitions are helpful and get us closer. However, a definition is not the same as a purpose.??

The Purpose of an Agile Coach

If a definition is the statement of the meaning of something, purpose gives it that meaning.? It’s a mission, a raison d’etre.? Purpose, here, is meant in the sense that Dan Pink intends it.

A clumsy start is to incorporate all of the above into a single sentence.

How about:

An agile coach's purpose is to embody and encourage the Agile Mindset habitually. They are not just change agents but also inspirers. They help people overcome their fear of inevitable change while ensuring it is practical and kind.? They are the driving force behind organisations realising their potential, primarily by realising the potential of their people.? They are committed to never, ever accepting the 'Hornsby Defence.'? This is not just the way it is.

Hmm.? Maybe:

"Agile coaches seek to personify the Agile Mindset.? They help habituate effective change by illuminating - and helping to realise - the potential of people and organisations.? They find alternative paths to better outcomes."

Is that getting closer or more pretentious?? What about courage? That's part of this: it's a Scrum Value for a start and a crucial one for Scrum Masters. It follows, therefore, that agile coaches must demonstrate courage, and that extends to protecting Scrum Masters, giving difficult feedback and gently, firmly, constructively encouraging its use. Change hurts. It's stressful. It's also inevitable; it's better to choose your own.

Our purpose also involves embracing discomfort, like publishing an article for a knowledgeable, potentially sceptical audience.

Of course, your purpose is your own. But this does matter. Transparency, scrutiny, and guidance matter.

So, what do you think?? Do you agree?? If so, how would you describe the purpose of an agile coach?