The Scrum Masters Paradox

Years ago whilst cycle touring in the wilds of Connemara, Ireland and a bit disoriented on some back lanes, I asked a local chap the way to my destination.?

?'Ah, you can't get to it from here'? was his enigmatic reply. ?'No, no you can't.? You're in the wrong place entirely' ?

Momentarily scared of spending the rest of my days on a barren rocky headland, I pressed him further.? He conceded ?'first you have to get yourself to [the village],? then you can find your way'.?

A fond memory, and thankfully a short term paradox.???

He was telling me "You need to be somewhere else before you start"

A metaphor I'm going to use for what I'm calling the Scrum Masters Paradox

Why might a Scrum Master who has invested themselves in the role, educated up, ?banked a few years experience and generally seems to 'know their stuff' not actually put those skills to use ????

You might recognise this, or be a little bit of this person yourself.? (At times, I have been)

This Scrum Master is safe within their peer group.? They're clear and articulate about what the problems are, and needs to be done.? They express it well, with the flavours of servant leadership and team empowerment running through it.

But this Scrum Master avoids meaningful intervention.? It's as if they are waiting for benign conditions to arrive before leading change.?? Or maybe they can see the current condition is what needs their attention, but they can't get to it from where they are. They need to be somewhere else before they start

What might be going on ?

A fear of conflict ?? Most people don't seek conflict, but navigating disagreement is a core Scrum Master skill

Exploring fear of conflict within Lencioni's theory of team disfunction will quickly lead us to consider is it...

Lack of trust ????? Often the trust between a Scrum Master and their team is good, but fades quickly beyond that boundary - not through mistrust but through emptiness.? No relationship and then assumed mistrust: "out there, beyond our team is the system - the enemy"

Learned Helplessness ?

Previous experiences shape beliefs. ?"don’t go there, my experience in April 2013 is reminding me that it doesn’t work"

Maybe there are other forces.

A burn out leading to the Scrum Master running on minimum energy levels and avoiding potentially challenging choices.

Maybe there's a commercial or career element at work saying “don’t rock the boat".? Now that's a conflict of interest.

Scrum Masters have two accountabilities.

(i) for establishing Scrum in their teams and organisations — with understanding of theory and practice

(ii) the Scrum Team’s effectiveness — by enabling the team to improve its practices within the Scrum framework

These days I'd say (ii) is by far the most important. Organisations are more likely to want tailored solutions rather than Scrum theory. So how any given Scrum Master achieves that effectiveness is wide open to all the range of human style and nuance, and it’s where the power of the role comes in.

?

Is there a paradox you or your Scrum Masters are facing, and how is it being approached ?

I’ve pointed to healthy conflict, to building trust, to being resilient, to having a positive mindset and to growing new beliefs to help teams and organisations achieve their goals.?

These are just some of the values taught to Scrum Masters through deep supported learning at the Agile Mastery Institute.

If learning more about that resonates with you as a Scrum Master, you may be interested in the Scrum Mastery Pathway from the AMI . This is a 6 month cohort based, supported learning programme which looks at these and around 100 other techniques which you can embody to become a great Scrum Master.