Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast

CTO Series: Jussi Mononen on the Human Side of Software Development and Technical Leadership In this CTO Series episode, we explore the intersection of technology and people with Jussi Mononen, CTO of CarbonLink. Drawing from his extensive experience as an Agile practitioner and technical leader, Jussi shares valuable insights on effective software development, technical strategy alignment, and the critical human elements that drive successful technology implementations. The Transformative Power of Agile "It's all about people." Jussi's journey as a technology leader was fundamentally shaped when he discovered Agile methodologies. Coming from a background of waterfall-like approaches to software development, the introduction of Agile principles opened up a broader perspective that transformed his view of the profession. What began as technical work creating billing software evolved into a deeper understanding of the collaboration challenges in problem-solving. This shift helped Jussi develop a mo

BONUS: From Waterfall to Flow—Rethinking Mental Models in Software Delivery With Henrik Mårtensson In this BONUS episode, we explore the origins and persistence of waterfall methodology in software development with management consultant Henrik Mårtensson. Based on an article where he details the history of Waterfall, Henrik explains the historical context of waterfall, challenges the mental models that keep it alive in modern organizations, and offers insights into how systems thinking can transform our approach to software delivery. This conversation is essential for anyone looking to understand why outdated methodologies persist and how to move toward more effective approaches to software development. The True Origins of Waterfall "Waterfall came from the SAGE project, the first large software project in history, where they came up with a methodology based on an economic analysis." Henrik takes us on a fascinating historical journey to uncover the true origins of waterfall methodology. Contrary

BONUS: Software Engineers are Paid to Solve Problems, Not Write Code! With John Crickett In this BONUS episode, we explore a thought-provoking LinkedIn post by John Crickett that challenges a fundamental misconception in software engineering. John shares insights on why engineers should focus on problem-solving rather than just coding, how to develop business context understanding, and why this shift in perspective is crucial in the age of AI. Beyond Writing Code: Understanding the True Value of Software Engineering "A lot of us come to software engineering because we care about building, and missed the goal: solving a problem for a customer." John Crickett explains the fundamental disconnect many software engineers experience in their careers. While many enter the field with a passion for building and coding, they often lose sight of the ultimate purpose: solving real problems for customers. This misalignment can lead to creating technically impressive solutions that fail to address actual business

BONUS: Beyond Frameworks, A Provocative Guide to Real Agility With Erwin Verweij In this BONUS episode, we dive into the provocative world of Erwin Verweij's latest book: 'How the f*ck to be Agile?' Erwin shares his journey from frustration to clarity as he witnesses organizations adopting Agile frameworks without understanding their purpose. With candid stories from his coaching experiences, Erwin reveals what happens when teams wake up to real agility beyond dogmatic practices and how organizations can find their own path to meaningful change. The Wake-Up Call for Agile Adoption "What the f*ck dude! Do you even know what it means? Do you really know what it means?" Erwin's journey to writing this book began with growing frustration at how companies approach agility. He frequently encountered teams proudly declaring "We're Agile!" or "Our department is Agile" without understanding what that truly meant.  This disconnect between label and understanding became the catalyst for his provocatively-ti

BONUS: Nesrine Changuel shares how to create emotionally connected, delightful products! In this BONUS episode, we explore the concept of product delight with Nesrine Changuel. Nesrine shares insights from her extensive experience at companies like Skype, Spotify, Google Meet, and Chrome to help us understand how to create lovable tech experiences that drive user loyalty and differentiation. We explore the Delight Grid Framework she created, and discuss the importance of emotional connection in product design. We also touch on practical ways to incorporate delight into everyday product decisions. The Essence of Delight in Products "Creating emotional connection between users and products... What I'm usually vocal about is that it's not enough to solve functional needs if you want to create sustainable growth, and more particularly if you want to have your users love the product and create habits using your product." Nesrine explains that while most companies know how to solve functional problems, tr

Carmen Jurado: Beyond the Backlog—How Great Product Owners Embrace Team Collaboration The Great Product Owner: Standing with the Team  Carmen shares that the best Product Owners she's encountered are those who stand with their teams. Drawing from her own recent experience as a Product Owner, she emphasizes the importance of being there for your team, recognizing that they make you look good. Great Product Owners understand that achievements are team efforts, not individual accomplishments. Carmen also highlights that exemplary Product Owners have a deep understanding of the goals, values, and principles of Agile methodologies, allowing them to better support their teams and leverage agile practices effectively. In this segment we refer to the book Generative AI in a Nutshell. The Bad Product Owner: The Novice Who Does Everything Carmen describes a common anti-pattern she encountered: the inexperienced Product Owner who attempts to handle everything independently. This particular PO was preparing

Carmen Jurado: The Power of Constructive Feedback in Building Trust in Agile Teams Read the full Show Notes and search through the world's largest audio library on Agile and Scrum directly on the Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast website: http://bit.ly/SMTP_ShowNotes. Carmen identifies the hallmark of a successful team as one that allows itself to be vulnerable. Success isn't just about positive feedback but creating an environment where team members feel safe to discuss mistakes openly. She shares an experience where a team member made an error that caused a significant project delay, prompting other team members to complain. Instead of allowing this to create division, Carmen facilitated an open discussion where the team member acknowledged their mistake and received constructive feedback from colleagues. This exchange built trust and demonstrated that the team had developed the psychological safety needed to hold each other accountable. Carmen emphasizes that this accountability for work and agreements i

Carmen Jurado: Lean Change Management, How to Design Change with Those Affected Read the full Show Notes and search through the world's largest audio library on Agile and Scrum directly on the Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast website: http://bit.ly/SMTP_ShowNotes. Carmen discusses the critical mistakes organizations make when implementing change without adequate communication and employee involvement. She highlights how employees are often simply informed of new methods without any prior communication, creating resistance and disengagement. Carmen advocates for involving employees early in the change process, suggesting that representatives participate in the design phase and provide feedback on change plans. She emphasizes that Scrum Masters can grow by facilitating this involvement, encouraging co-creation of change through approaches like Lean Change Management. Carmen also shares a practical tip: involve your biggest critics in the change design, transforming them from obstacles into co-creators of the

Carmen Jurado: The Power of Being Heard, Turning Critics Into Agile Advocates Read the full Show Notes and search through the world's largest audio library on Agile and Scrum directly on the Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast website: http://bit.ly/SMTP_ShowNotes. Carmen shares how she was asked to step in as a Scrum Master for a struggling team that had a particularly vocal and critical lead developer. This developer had experienced multiple transitions and transformations, leading to significant resistance that was affecting the entire team's morale and creating unresolved conflicts. Carmen focused on building individual relationships with each team member and setting clear expectations. She discovered that the lead developer simply didn't feel heard. By listening and addressing these concerns, Carmen was able to transform her biggest critic into one of her strongest advocates. She emphasizes that resistance is often a sign of loyalty to something else and that understanding this can help transform a dysfu

Carmen Jurado: Scrum Masters, Your Team Needs to Know Which Hat You're Wearing Read the full Show Notes and search through the world's largest audio library on Agile and Scrum directly on the Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast website: http://bit.ly/SMTP_ShowNotes. Carmen shares a valuable learning experience from her early days as a Scrum Master when she was assigned the additional responsibility of being a compliance officer for her team. During a retrospective, she noticed an uncomfortable atmosphere but didn't address it. After the session, the team requested a private meeting where they expressed their discomfort, explaining they weren't clear when Carmen was acting as their Scrum Master versus when she was enforcing compliance. This experience taught Carmen the critical importance of explicitly stating which role she was performing at any given moment and creating an environment where team members feel safe to provide honest feedback. Self-reflection Question: How clearly do you communicate your dif

Chris Sims: The Empathy Advantage, How Great POs Connect Teams with Users Read the full Show Notes and search through the world's largest audio library on Agile and Scrum directly on the Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast website: http://bit.ly/SMTP_ShowNotes. The Great Product Owner: Deep Market Knowledge Creates Team Empathy Brad exemplifies a truly effective Product Owner through his exceptional understanding of end users and customers in the investment management space. What sets Brad apart is not just his deep domain knowledge, but his established relationships with gatekeepers at customer organizations. These connections provide valuable insights that inform product decisions. Most importantly, Brad regularly spends time with the development team, helping them empathize with stakeholders and understand the real-world impact of their work. His user stories consistently focus on actual users and why the requested features matter, creating clear context for developers and fostering meaningful connection

Chris Sims: Dual Focus, Balancing Agile Team Health with Value Delivery Read the full Show Notes and search through the world's largest audio library on Agile and Scrum directly on the Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast website: http://bit.ly/SMTP_ShowNotes. For Chris Sims, success as a Scrum Master centers on two critical outcomes: creating healthier, happier work environments and helping teams deliver more value. Chris emphasizes that Scrum is only valuable if it helps achieve these fundamental goals. He suggests using surveys to assess team health and happiness, tracking how often team members ask each other for help, and evaluating whether daily scrums focus on problem-solving rather than status reporting. Regarding value delivery, Chris cautions against measuring the wrong things (like velocity) which can drive counterproductive behaviors. Instead, he recommends tracking how frequently teams deliver to stakeholders, having meaningful discussions about business value, and ensuring stakeholder involvement

Chris Sims: Middle Management, The Forgotten Layer in Agile Transformations Read the full Show Notes and search through the world's largest audio library on Agile and Scrum directly on the Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast website: http://bit.ly/SMTP_ShowNotes. Chris Sims recounts his experience with a rapidly growing startup that decided to adopt Scrum to address slowing delivery. When a VP championed the initiative, Chris provided training that generated excitement at the team level. However, they overlooked a critical component: the middle management layer. As teams embraced Scrum, they found themselves caught between multiple sources of direction—their direct managers, project managers, and newly established Product Owners with backlogs. This created confusion as middle managers, who weren't included in the transformation discussions, continued operating in their traditional ways. The result was teams appearing busy yet delivering slowly. Chris emphasizes the importance of considering how management rol

Chris Sims: The Hidden Cost of "No Time for People Stuff" in Software Teams Read the full Show Notes and search through the world's largest audio library on Agile and Scrum directly on the Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast website: http://bit.ly/SMTP_ShowNotes. Chris Sims shares a challenging team situation involving strong personalities with conflicting opinions about how to approach their work. What began as small disagreements evolved into harmful behaviors including harsh criticisms and behind-the-back comments. As resentment grew, conflicts intensified, leading to a toxic environment that ultimately resulted in team members being dismissed. Chris highlights how the team's self-imposed belief that "we don't have time for this people-stuff" prevented them from addressing issues early. He recommends one-on-one coaching, exploring why people react as they do, using retrospectives to address latent conflicts, and explicitly discussing desired team culture with reference to the Scrum value of respect. Chris

Chris Sims: When Terminology Creates Misunderstandings, The "Ideal Days" Story Read the full Show Notes and search through the world's largest audio library on Agile and Scrum directly on the Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast website: http://bit.ly/SMTP_ShowNotes. In this insightful episode, Chris Sims shares a valuable lesson from his early days implementing XP and Scrum. Chris's team had established an effective workflow using relative estimation with "ideal days" rather than story points, achieving good predictability and velocity measurements. However, things took an unexpected turn when a skeptical VP discovered their tracking spreadsheet and misinterpreted their metrics as showing only 2.5 days of work per week. Despite Chris's best efforts to explain the concept of "ideal days," the misunderstanding tarnished the team's reputation. Chris emphasizes the importance of socializing your working methods with stakeholders and communicating in ways meaningful to leadership. Working "under the radar" can bac

BONUS: Maria Chec Explores the Divide Between Agile Leaders and Practitioners In this BONUS episode, we explore Agile leadership with Maria Chec, author and host of Agile State of Mind. Maria shares insights from her analysis of Miro's Agile Survey, revealing a concerning disconnect between how Agile leaders and practitioners experience agile methodologies. We explore the roots of this divide, discuss practical approaches to bridging the gap, and consider the implications of recent industry developments like the PMI-Agile Alliance merger. Maria offers valuable perspectives on creating truly collaborative environments where frameworks serve the teams, not the other way around. The Disconnect Between Leaders and Practitioners "Practitioners feel pressured to comply with agile practices when they don't seem to add value." Maria highlights a stark divide revealed in Miro's survey of 1,200 agile practitioners and leaders. When asked if agile is living up to its original values, leaders and practitioner

Richard Brenner: Hypothesis-Driven Product Ownership, The Experimental Mindset Read the full Show Notes and search through the world's largest audio library on Agile and Scrum directly on the Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast website: http://bit.ly/SMTP_ShowNotes. The Great Product Owner: The Experimenter Richard describes great Product Owners as "experimenters" who understand that everything they do is a hypothesis requiring validation. The best POs establish feedback loops early, actively engage with users and clients, and approach product development with a scientific mindset. Richard shares an experience working with a "coaching PO" who excelled at involving everyone in defining what needed to be done.  This PO was inspiring and helped the team participate in both building and decision-making processes. Richard emphasizes that the relationship between PO and team must be a true partnership—not hierarchical—for success to occur. Great POs facilitate team involvement rather than dictating direction,

Richard Brenner: Contracting for Success,  Establishing Clear Agile Coaching Outcomes Read the full Show Notes and search through the world's largest audio library on Agile and Scrum directly on the Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast website: http://bit.ly/SMTP_ShowNotes. Richard reflects on his evolution in defining success as a Scrum Master and Agile Coach. Initially, he believed that if his team was successful, he was successful—but soon realized this perspective was incomplete. Top management wanted tangible evidence of coaching impact, which became problematic without clearly defined metrics. Richard now advocates for establishing a coaching agreement at the beginning of any engagement, with both management and teams defining what success looks like for the coach. He emphasizes the importance of dual-sided accountability as a natural outcome of proper contracting, using metrics that matter to the organization such as flow metrics and outcome metrics to demonstrate coaching value. Self-reflection Quest

Richard Brenner: When Individual Performance Metrics Block Agile Transformation Read the full Show Notes and search through the world's largest audio library on Agile and Scrum directly on the Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast website: http://bit.ly/SMTP_ShowNotes. Richard shares an experience of implementing Agile methods in a large organization that initially showed promising signs with management "pull" for change. The transformation began well with cross-functional teams created through self-selection workshops. However, unexpected resistance emerged during the kick-off day, particularly from a line manager and his team. When investigating the source of this resistance, Richard discovered that the company's bonus structure was tied to individual performance metrics, fundamentally conflicting with Agile's team-oriented approach.  This insight led to developing a pilot for a team-focused performance management system. After three months, the team held a retrospective with all stakeholders, where managem

Richard Brenner: How Small Signs of Cynicism Can Destroy Agile Team Cohesion Read the full Show Notes and search through the world's largest audio library on Agile and Scrum directly on the Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast website: http://bit.ly/SMTP_ShowNotes. Richard shares a powerful story about how team dysfunction often starts with small steps. During a joint retrospective with three agile teams, Richard witnessed a moment where a team member made a cynical comment toward a manager who was attempting to participate. This revealed a damaged relationship between management and the team, creating tension that Richard initially chose to ignore. Looking back, he would now immediately address such comments and tackle the "elephant in the room." Richard explains how seemingly minor behaviors like cynicism or passive-destructive actions (such as consistently being late to stand-ups) can significantly impact team health. He recommends establishing conflict resolution protocols early and using impact feedback w