When Scrum Practices Aren't Enough - Learning to Sense the System | Terry Haayema

Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast: Agile storytelling from the trenches

Terry Haayema: When Scrum Practices Aren't Enough - Learning to Sense the System

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.

"I didn't know how to 'sense' the system. I was focused on the scrum practices, I thought when practices were there all would be fine."

Terry shares a powerful failure story from his second engagement as a Scrum Master, where he discovered that implementing Scrum practices isn't enough if you don't understand the underlying system driving team behaviors. He describes how individual KPIs were causing conflict between developers and testers - developers were measured on fewer defects while testers were measured on finding more defects. This systemic issue created dysfunction that no amount of daily standups or retrospectives could fix. Terry learned the hard lesson that Scrum Masters must be coaches for both the team and the organization, understanding how metrics and structures shape behavior before trying to implement agile practices.

Self-reflection Question: What systemic forces in your organization might be working against the collaborative behaviors you're trying to foster in your teams?

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About Terry Haayema

Terry is an international Author, Speaker, Conference Host, Trainer, Facilitator, Mentor and Transformative Coach whose personal purpose is to help people see differently, so they find joy.

You can link with Terry Haayema on LinkedIn, or visit his website to learn more about his book.