You’re Fired!

“Agile Coaches / Scrum Masters should be willing to get fired.”

Given recent layoffs of similar roles, I know it’s a sensitive statement, but let me explain where it’s coming from. 👇

Agile Coaches and Scrum Masters can face various impediments related to value delivery, release frequency, team morale, trust, and psychological safety (amongst others). These impediments are often unresolved because of a lack of management/leadership support.

In almost all my (freelance) assignments, I’ve experienced the expectation towards me of becoming a whistleblower. Teams would share problems they often faced for a long time, but nobody dared to discuss them. Or they didn’t know how to address it constructively. They tried, but nothing changed, and over time, people got frustrated and accepted that ‘this is just how things work in our organization.” 🤷‍♀️

I’ve always considered it my responsibility to share my observations without judgment.

“This is what I see, hear, notice, and feel. What do you make of it?” 🤔

Sometimes, these are positive observations, but more often, they are related to teams’ persistent impediments. It can trigger a tough conversation when it’s not resolved because of a lack of management support, especially if it’s a conversation with the manager who hired you in the first place.

Is this a reason NOT to share your observations? 
I don’t hope so…

I’ve probably shortened some assignments because of this, but I believe it might have planted a seed to improve the situation. 🌱

A pitfall of an Agile Coach or Scrum Master is that you get too attached to your role. You don’t address impediments anymore because you fear you might lose your freelance assignment or it might impact your career.

I can totally understand it, but I don’t believe it’s a healthy position. You can’t be an effective coach when you’re stuck in this ‘golden cage’ you don’t want to lose.

So, this is what I mean by saying that an Agile Coach or Scrum Master should be prepared to get fired.

Additional thoughts by Fortune (Elkins) Buchholtz

I posted this article as a LinkedIn post some time ago. I loved a comment by our community member Fortune (Elkins) Buchholtz:

At all my consulting engagements, I ask to speak to the highest-up person I can reach during the interview process. At this time, I will politely & constructively ask:

“How much change are you interested in? What’s your appetite for Agile?”

Then, I will follow up with a picture of the J Curve to ask:

“Change will bring up new situations & difficult emotions. This can be challenging. You may hear challenging conversations & receive feedback. What is your response to positive challenge & constructive feedback from your peers, staff & stakeholders?”

Then, I continue with two more questions:

“What has your experience with coaching been? What is your view on coaching in this organization?”

Finally, I close with the following:

“What does psychological safety in this corporate culture mean to you? What does it look like?”

The answers will tell you whether you can succeed in that position. This will help you avoid hopeless situations and be transparent about the coming process.

Closing

I’ve probably shortened a few contracts due to my willingness to get fired, but I believe it might have planted a seed to improve the situation. A pitfall of an Agile Coach or Scrum Master is that they get too attached to their role. They no longer address impediments because they fear losing their freelance assignment or impacting their career.

What’s your take on this? I’m very interested in learning from your personal experiences.