The Real Job of a Scrum Master

0:00Welcome to the first skill of the PSM II, now called Advanced Course. I'm Bob Mailer. I am PSMA

0:08certified. In fact, I have multiple PMI and Scrum certs, and I only tell you that so you understand

0:15that I've been around, I've done a lot, I've earned some of the certs, and I've put a lot of

0:20the pieces together. So here we go. By the end of this skill, I want you to stop thinking of the

0:26Scrum Master as the person who facilitates Scrum events and start seeing them as a leader who

0:33shapes the environment where great Scrum can emerge. And why does it matter? Well, many Scrum

0:40Masters become highly proficient at facilitating Sprint planning and leading daily Scrums and

0:46organizing Sprint reviews and coaching teams through retrospectives. Those are valuable

0:52responsibilities, no doubt about it, but they only represent the visible side of the role.

0:58Experienced Scrum Masters understand something deeper. Teams don't operate in isolation. They

1:05exist within organizations filled with competing priorities and leadership expectations and

1:11cultural norms and technical constraints and human behavior. People, people, and more people.

1:17When a Scrum team struggles, the most important question isn't, what did the team do wrong?

1:24The most important question should be, what conditions led the team to this point?

1:30So throughout this course, we're going to learn to look beyond the Scrum events and begin

1:35recognizing the system that influences every Scrum team. That shift in perspective is what

1:41separates someone who understands Scrum from someone who can practice it at an advanced level.

1:48So let me lay the scenario for you. Throughout this course, we're going to use a single case study

1:53with my friends at PulsePoint Medical. Now they're made up, but it's good to stay with

1:59one company and follow them all the way through the process. I don't like jumping around.

2:05So welcome to PulsePoint Medical. Over the last two years, the company has expanded rapidly

2:12and what started as a single Scrum team has expanded into three cross-functional teams.

2:17They're responsible for different areas of the remote patient monitoring system. Think wearable

2:24devices for people with cardiac problems. That way they can notify emergency medical care very quickly.

2:32They can get help even faster. So growth has been exciting, but it's created new challenges.

2:39Sprint goals are actually being missed more often and developers receive competing priorities from

2:45multiple leaders. And now we have stakeholders bypassing the product owners to request work

2:51directly from the teams. Now, retrospectives are generating thoughtful improvement ideas, yet many

2:58of those problems are still there in the next sprint. Executive leadership has reached a grand

3:05conclusion. The teams need to do Scrum better. Well, here's the funny part, only it ain't so funny.

3:14You've just been assigned as the Scrum Master supporting these teams. So before recommending

3:20a single solution, you decide to understand what's really happening and that decision will define

3:26everything that happens after that. So here are the learning objectives. By the end of this skill,

3:32hopefully if I've done my job right, you'll be able to differentiate between Scrum facilitation

3:39and professional Scrum leadership. You'll be able to explain why experienced Scrum Masters focus on

3:46systems instead of isolated events. You'll recognize organizational influences on team

3:53performance. We're also going to introduce the Scrum Master lens, trademark pending, don't steal

4:00that, that one's mine, and apply it to everyday situations. We're going to distinguish between

4:06observable symptoms and underlying causes. And finally, we're going to prepare to analyze

4:13organizational systems as we move towards skill two. So every single skill in this course is going

4:20to lay the foundation for what follows. Hopefully by the end of it, you will have moved beyond

4:27understanding Scrum and understanding Scrum Master leadership. So here we go.

0:00Welcome to section one and let's talk about the Scrum Master that most people imagine.

0:05Let's begin with a simple question. What does a Scrum Master actually do?

0:10And if you ask that question in any organization, you're going to get some very familiar answers.

0:17What you're probably going to get is, well, they facilitate ceremonies and they remove impediments.

0:23They protect the team and coach and ensure that Scrum practices are being followed.

0:29They also track progress because the goal is to deliver value in every single sprint.

0:36And if everyone is saying that, it must be true, right? Maybe, maybe not. Let's find out.

0:43Let's wander over to the whiteboard and see what we can see. Maybe we'll see that.

0:49Maybe we'll see something different. So there is an expected behavior,

0:54work coordination, event facilitation, order maintenance, making sure everyone's not

1:01swinging wildly at everything and freaking out because something didn't go right.

1:05But what about the outcomes? Are they achieving their sprint goals? Do they collaborate well?

1:12Do they have a harmonious relationship, sometimes referred to as rapport and esprit de corps?

1:19I don't know. But when I think of work coordination and facilitation and

1:24maintaining order and removing impediments, that's Scrum at its most basic level.

1:30So that really doesn't do a lot for me. And why does this perception exist?

1:36Well, it exists because most people only observe Scrum Masters in meetings.

1:41They don't have any visibility to what's happening behind the scenes.

1:45They don't see the coaching. They don't see the conflict resolution that they help

1:51prevent and or then solve. They don't see the team development.

1:57They only show up at prescribed times, retrospectives, reviews, depending upon

2:04who the stakeholders are, and they see what they see. But they don't see what's happening in the

2:09back. And that's only part of the story. In fact, that's not even half the story.

2:15So Scrum events are simple. They're simply opportunities for transparency and inspection

2:22and adaption, also known as TIA. You probably remember that from PSM-1.

2:28But all of that does not guarantee continuous improvement. Or in this case, I have it down as

2:34Kaizen, continuous improvement in the form of small steps. Everyone prefers small steps

2:41because it's simply easier to deal with. And what about meaningful collaboration?

2:47Does facilitating those Scrum events actually equal meaningful collaboration, cooperation,

2:55commiseration? Probably not. And I would say most often, absolutely does not.

3:02Again, the basic level of Scrum is everything I'm talking about. It's the deeper stuff that you need

3:10to understand for the PSMA. And I'm going to tell you, I smoked the PSM-1 exam. The advanced test,

3:18a little more difficult because it focused on the mindset. And that's where I'm trying to take you.

3:24So busy teams may appear very productive. They have lots of activities on the board,

3:29and they may not be agile. Why? Because valuable outcomes are more important,

3:36are greater than more work. Nobody cares if you made 200 cold calls today, if you're in sales,

3:44did you book any meetings? Because if the answer is no, it sounds like it's just busy work

3:51and no one's interested in that. And then there's the operational cost.

3:56Sure, the Scrum Masters, they're doing his or her job. They're helping manage calendars,

4:02they're facilitating meetings, they're resolving interruptions, they're protecting the teams,

4:07they're reducing bottlenecks, all of that stuff. And if you look at the sum of all of those

4:13operational activities, does it equal more work or does it equal better outcomes?

4:22Does it equal better performing teams? And if you don't know the answers to those questions,

4:28it doesn't sound like we've crossed that line. So we need to listen before we solve.

4:33And experienced Scrum Masters are curious. They're curious about why something happened.

4:41Obviously, what happened is important, but it's the why that matters. And one of the things I'm

4:48fond of saying, and you can use this, is the difference between your problem and our problem

4:55is the why. And it's the same thing here. Why did this happen? Because if we don't understand

5:02why it happened, guess what? It'll just continue to happen. So now we're going to shift to the

5:09Scrum Master lens. We're going to shift from who did what to what conditions caused this. These

5:18may be part of the symptoms. That is likely causation. That is likely what allowed it to

5:26happen. And if we don't understand that, guess what? We're just going to be putting band-aids

5:32on scratches and not figuring out what caused those scratches in the first place. So this is

5:39a different journey, understanding how the organization works, understanding the culture,

5:45recognizing patterns. And it looks like there's my first misspelling. Recognizing patterns is

5:54really how we're going to help the team succeed. Well, that was amazing. So if you walked into

6:00PulsePoint tomorrow, what would you observe before offering your first recommendation?

6:05Take a moment to think about that. Not what you would change, not what you would fix. Simply,

6:12what would you want to understand first? That question may be the single biggest difference

6:18between an inexperienced Scrum Master and an experienced Scrum Master. So at the beginning

6:25of this section, I asked a simple question. What does a Scrum Master actually do? And hopefully

6:31your answer has already started to change. Yes, they facilitate events and they remove impediments

6:37and they coach teams. But those activities are only valuable when they contribute to something

6:43much larger, creating an environment where great Scrum can emerge. And before we can improve that

6:50environment, we have to learn how to see it. So in the next section, as we close this out,

6:56we'll begin exploring what experienced Scrum Masters actually do differently

7:01and why their influence often extends well beyond the boundaries of a single Scrum team.

0:00All right, welcome to section two.

0:02And we're gonna talk about

0:03what experienced Scrum Masters actually do.

0:07Now, if section one challenged

0:09what many people believe a Scrum Master does,

0:12this section begins answering a much more important question.

0:15What do experienced Scrum Masters

0:18actually spend their time doing?

0:20And the answer might surprise you.

0:22If you followed a Scrum Master around for a week,

0:26you'd certainly see some sprint events

0:28and coaching conversations and planning sessions

0:31and conversations with stakeholders.

0:34But if you looked a little closer,

0:36you'd notice something else going on.

0:38They're constantly observing, listening,

0:42connecting ideas and asking questions.

0:45They're helping others discover the answers

0:48instead of just providing them.

0:50The best Scrum Masters aren't measured

0:52by how many meetings they facilitate.

0:54They're measured by how often the team

0:57solves tomorrow's problems without needing them.

1:01And that requires a very different way of thinking.

1:04So throughout this section,

1:06we'll begin exploring the behaviors

1:07and the habits and the mindset

1:09that distinguishes experienced Scrum Masters

1:13from those who simply perform the role.

1:16There's a huge difference.

1:17So here we are at PulsePoint.

1:19You can see the Scrum Master.

1:21She's not engaging.

1:22She's standing there.

1:23She's looking, she's thinking.

1:26She's observing what people are doing.

1:28She's not running around, making sure they're talking.

1:31She's not asking them what they're talking about.

1:34She's doing what experienced Scrum Masters do.

1:38And in this case, she's looking at the system.

1:42What is going on in total?

1:45Not in silos, what is collectively happening

1:48and not just within the team.

1:51She's coaching.

1:52She's also removing impediments,

1:54but she's really strengthening relationships.

1:57She's also hyper-focused on the outcome.

2:01And yes, I know I'm using a crazy digital pen

2:04and I'm not trying to be super straight.

2:07I'm simply trying to show you how I see it

2:10so you can see it that way as well.

2:13So let's clear the board

2:14and let's wander over to the talking points

2:16and let's really dig into this.

2:18So they build environments, not dependencies.

2:23They help teams discover and develop the confidence

2:26to solve their own problems.

2:29But if they solve those problems for the team

2:32every single time, are they creating dependencies

2:36or are they creating environments where teams can thrive?

2:40I think you know the answer to that.

2:43And they coach more than they direct.

2:45Great Scrum Masters help people think more clearly.

2:49How do they do that?

2:50By asking better questions.

2:53And eons ago, when I was a field technician,

2:57I had a very gruff director of operations.

3:00Well, I didn't know everything because I was pretty young.

3:03And honestly, I don't know everything now.

3:06I'm just not as young.

3:08But if I had a problem, I would take it to him

3:10and he would listen and he wouldn't solve it for me.

3:13He started asking questions.

3:16And at first it annoyed me.

3:17He's asking me a question and not giving me the answer.

3:20And I have to stop and think about it.

3:22And I have to look at the pros and the cons,

3:24the wins and the losses.

3:26And finally, he would help me just talk my way

3:30to the appropriate solution.

3:32Did he give it to me?

3:33No, all he really did was ask better questions.

3:37And over time, and it didn't take much time

3:41for my maturity to kick in,

3:43I could understand what he was doing.

3:45And over time, I needed him less and less.

3:48So great scrum masters also observe before they intervene.

3:52They only do it when necessary based on the pattern.

3:58Now, if you see conflict

3:59between the same two developers over and over,

4:02that's obviously a pattern.

4:04At some point, if it continues, you must intervene.

4:08And I would offer that using the least amount of authority

4:12to get anything done is probably the way to go.

4:15But you don't do it for isolated events.

4:18That's a key difference here.

4:20And they develop people, not so much the processes.

4:23That's not their primary role.

4:26Better communications with the people

4:29will help the process.

4:30It is a by-product.

4:31It is the outcome.

4:33Stronger collaboration, better outcomes,

4:36helping them build and develop greater confidence.

4:40It's going to lead them to better outcomes.

4:42So the processes are there for us to work through,

4:46but who's working through them?

4:48The people.

4:49So what should we really be focused on?

4:53I think we know the answer to that one too.

4:55And then we're not just focused within the team.

4:58We are also focused beyond the team, outside the team.

5:03The team is working within the environment.

5:06We need to build relationships

5:08with the people who shape it.

5:10Other stakeholders, executives, customers,

5:14end users, whatever it is.

5:17Because if we're only focused within on the team,

5:21well, we're going to deal with whatever environment

5:24we get handed.

5:26And that's not what we're talking about here

5:28with an advanced, experienced Scrum Master.

5:32And we help others see the system.

5:34We don't figure it out and then keep it within

5:37and hold it and hoard it to ourselves.

5:39We share it.

5:40What's the phrase?

5:41Don't hide it, provide it.

5:44So we help them see the connections

5:45on how decisions are being made.

5:48They may be unhappy with the new direction

5:50a product owner is taking them.

5:52So we help them understand it.

5:54We help them adjust their behavior

5:56and see the behaviors around them.

5:59We're always focused on greater value.

6:01And that's truly the organizational outcome.

6:05The team is the train that's going to take us

6:08to that final station.

6:10But it's all about the tracks and it's all about the speed

6:13and it's all about the fuel and the system.

6:16I think you get my point.

6:18I'm not quite sure how I wandered into a train analogy

6:20but I kind of like it.

6:22And success is measured differently.

6:25We're talking about healthier conversations

6:28and stronger ownership of the problems and the plan

6:32which will lead to better collaboration.

6:35And these are just a few of the ways we can understand

6:38that we are being more successful.

6:40And finally, the goal is to become less necessary.

6:45I don't want them running to me right out of the gate

6:48like I'm a parent.

6:49I want them to be independent.

6:52Learn how to tie your shoes on your own.

6:55At the end of the day,

6:57a healthier scrum team is exhibiting behavior,

7:00better success metrics, better outcomes,

7:03better decision-making without the scrum master.

7:08That's the goal.

7:09I want to be less necessary.

7:12So as we close this out, imagine two scrum masters.

7:15One runs excellent meetings

7:18and the other develops teams that eventually

7:21no longer need excellent meetings

7:23to collaborate effectively.

7:25Both are valuable

7:26but one is creating lasting organizational capability.

7:31And as we continue through this course,

7:33you'll notice that our attention gradually shifts away

7:36from those scrum events towards the systems

7:39and the behaviors and the relationships

7:41that make those events meaningful.

7:44This is where advanced scrum really begins.

7:47Now, professional scrum masters certainly understand scrum

7:51but their greatest contribution isn't their knowledge

7:53of the framework.

7:55It's their ability to help people think differently,

7:58to collaborate more effectively

8:00and improve the environment in which people get work done.

8:03That requires one more critical skill.

8:06You must learn to recognize the difference

8:08between what is happening and why it's happening.

8:12And that's exactly where we're headed next.

0:00All right, we've made it to section three

0:03and we're going to learn to see the system

0:06because we all operate in the system

0:08whether we want to believe it or not.

0:10Think about it.

0:11Have you ever noticed how two people can observe

0:14the exact same situation

0:16and reach completely different conclusions?

0:19One person sees the missed sprint goal

0:22and concludes the team isn't working hard enough.

0:25Another one sees the sprint goal

0:27and starts asking questions about competing priorities

0:31and stakeholder interruptions and technical debt

0:34and organizational decision-making.

0:37You see my point?

0:38Neither person is looking at different facts.

0:41They're simply looking through different lenses.

0:44One sees isolated events

0:47and the other sees a connected system.

0:49The ability to recognize patterns

0:51instead of simply reacting to symptoms

0:54is one of the defining characteristics

0:56of experienced Scrum Masters.

0:59It's also one of the hardest skills to develop

1:02because our instincts naturally push us

1:04towards solving the first problem we can see.

1:07So in this section, we're going to slow down,

1:10we're going to become more curious,

1:12and we're going to begin learning

1:13how to read the organizational system

1:16before we try to change it.

1:18And you can see that's what our Scrum Master

1:21at PulsePoint is doing.

1:23She's looking at their top interruptions

1:26on this board over here.

1:27You have ad hoc requests, stakeholder escalations,

1:31priority changes, and other.

1:34Now, I don't know what other is,

1:36but if you look at those percentages,

1:38I see 42%, 28, and then an additional 30.

1:43It looks to me like she's broken it down, Jackie Brown,

1:47to four different interruptional areas.

1:50So with that said, let's move forward.

1:54I'm going to have to come off screen too

1:56because, you know, the whiteboard.

1:59So the symptoms rarely tell the whole story.

2:02They indicate something larger beneath the surface.

2:05Imagine you're looking at a pond and it's very serene

2:09and you see a ripple in the water.

2:12Do you immediately think, wow,

2:15why is it windy in just that one spot?

2:18Or do you maybe start to think,

2:21I wonder what's underneath the surface?

2:23And let's face it, the bigger the ripples

2:26should mean the bigger the fish.

2:29Patterns matter more than isolated events.

2:33Yes, we missed a sprint goal.

2:35That's terrible.

2:36But have we missed the last eight?

2:39No, we've actually gotten the last eight.

2:41We simply missed this one

2:42and they've never missed one before.

2:45Okay, it's possible I don't need to do anything at all,

2:49but repeated behaviors reveal improvement areas.

2:53We have to understand what happened and then why.

2:57If we can figure that out,

2:59we can actually do something about it.

3:02But to do that, we need to ask better questions.

3:05Better questions uncover insights.

3:08We need to understand the deeper issue.

3:12We need to understand the root causes.

3:15We need to understand a lot of things.

3:17And I'm going to come back on screen for just a moment

3:21and provide an interesting idea.

3:24Think about Pareto's Law.

3:26And if you aren't familiar with it,

3:28it basically says that 20% of your root causes

3:31result in 80% of your problems.

3:34And that's why you are always going after the root cause.

3:38Well, if we're implementing immediate action drills

3:42and dropping solutions on the symptoms

3:44that we see with the team, have we gotten to the root cause?

3:49Are we going to change anything?

3:51And the answer is no.

3:53That's because of Pareto's Law.

3:55And the only way to get to that 20%

3:59is to ask better questions.

4:01And this is difficult to develop, but it must be done.

4:05We also need to understand the feedback loop.

4:08And feedback is the breakfast of champions.

4:12I'm a big fan of talking about the Deming cycle.

4:15Plan, do, check, act.

4:18Pretty easy.

4:19You've probably seen it before, but it's pretty simple.

4:22When we plan, we come up with a plan before we do anything

4:26because we need something to guide us.

4:28We need to make sure we've captured all the steps involved.

4:31And there are tons of reasons to have a plan.

4:33Well, then we actually do the work.

4:36Along the way, we compare our outcome against the plan.

4:40We have the plan, we have the actual.

4:42That leads us to the variance.

4:45And if the variance is too good or too bad,

4:47well, that leads us to act.

4:50And the wheels on the bus simply go around and around.

4:54If the feedback loop is operating properly,

4:58then we should always be led to continuous improvement.

5:02If it's really bad, it'll be a large step.

5:05But if it's insignificant or maybe not as serious,

5:08it'll simply be a small step.

5:10And the sum of many small steps will take us many miles.

5:16That's a little weird, but I think you understand it.

5:19But what happens if your feedback loop is broken?

5:23Then your organization reinforces bad behavior.

5:26Now, a lot of it's probably good,

5:29but the bad stuff continues to happen

5:32because we haven't identified it.

5:34That's why it's important

5:35to truly understand the feedback loop.

5:37But that's just one of the variables involved.

5:40We also need to separate facts from fiction,

5:43or in this case, assumptions.

5:45An assumption is a belief you hold to be true or false

5:48in the absence of proof.

5:50I don't like assumptions

5:53because when assumptions turn out to be the opposite

5:56of what you thought they are,

5:57when they become facts and no longer assumptions,

6:00if they're different, you have now fallen victim

6:04to avoidable risk events most of the time.

6:07So we need evidence.

6:08That means objective data.

6:11And objective data will almost always lead you

6:15to better decisions.

6:17Personally, the best decisions are made

6:20from objective and subjective evidence.

6:24Surveys are an easy example of subjective feedback.

6:29So we have to look beyond the team.

6:32There are plenty of external influences

6:34that cause challenges.

6:35We have to identify them.

6:37Why would the problem always exist within the team?

6:42The people doing the work, really?

6:45Do you think the people doing the work

6:47want to create their own problems

6:49which cause their own impediments to getting work done?

6:53And the answer is sometimes.

6:55Sometimes that happens,

6:57but more often than not,

6:59it is the external factors that have the greatest impact

7:03on whatever is happening within the team.

7:06So improvement begins with understanding.

7:08We need to recognize when observation

7:11is greater than intervention.

7:14And it almost always starts with observation.

7:17If we don't understand what's happening,

7:20why are we going to intervene?

7:23Why are we going to get involved?

7:25And the answer is you absolutely should not.

7:30And finally, curiosity is a leadership skill.

7:33If we are certain all the time,

7:36it is largely based on biases and assumptions and opinions.

7:42But if we're curious,

7:44we will almost always take the time

7:46and lead ourselves to better decision-making.

7:50I know you understand the difference.

7:52It's the difference between fire-ready aim

7:56and aim-ready fire.

7:58Okay, one of the easiest mistakes

8:01for a scrum master to make

8:03is believing that every visible problem

8:05deserves an immediate solution.

8:07And sometimes the fastest way to improve performance

8:10is to slow down long enough

8:11to truly understand what's happening.

8:13Professional judgment begins with curiosity.

8:17And so hopefully,

8:19you've now begun to see organizations differently.

8:22Instead of isolated events,

8:24you're beginning to recognize relationships.

8:26Instead of individual problems,

8:29you're beginning to recognize systems.

8:31And that new perspective is going to prepare us

8:34for one of the most influential ideas in this course.

8:38Even great scrum teams operate within organizations

8:41that naturally pull them towards old and bad habits.

8:46So in the next section,

8:47we're going to explore that force,

8:49what we're going to call organizational gravity,

8:53and why even the most capable teams can struggle

8:56when the environment around them is working against them

9:00and working against agility.

0:00Welcome to section four and we're going to talk about organizational gravity.

0:04I want you to think about the last time you tried to change a habit.

0:09Maybe you wanted to exercise more consistently. Maybe you wanted to improve

0:13your diet or spend less time looking at your phone.

0:16Hopefully, you probably started with good intentions and maybe even

0:21had a solid plan. And then life happened and old routines crept back in

0:27and before long you found yourself doing what you have always been doing.

0:32Well, companies behave the same way. Even when leadership genuinely wants

0:37agility, existing structures and policies and

0:41incentives and reporting relationships and long-standing habits naturally pull

0:46people back towards familiar ways of working.

0:49I call this organizational gravity. It's an invisible force that explains why

0:56well-trained scrum teams can still struggle

0:59inside of organizations with the best of intentions.

1:02And if scrum masters only focus on the team, they'll continually treat the

1:07symptoms. When they begin understanding

1:10organizational gravity, they start addressing the environment

1:14that created those symptoms. And before we begin, you have to

1:18understand a couple of points. Gravity is absolutely real. Think of it

1:23as the company culture. Good, bad, indifferent, whatever it is.

1:28But you know it when you see it. And you especially know it when you feel it.

1:33When it has an impact on you. And it's invisible.

1:37You feel it. Just what I was saying. And it's very powerful, persistent, but

1:43it's overcomable. Think about any time you saw the astronauts go to the moon.

1:49You saw a movie. You saw a story. You read a book.

1:52They didn't just go to the moon, land on it, and then just come right back.

1:57Well, sometimes they did. But before they started landing on the

2:02moon, they went around it. They used the

2:05gravitational pull to slingshot around and come back to earth.

2:10They didn't just hit the afterburners all the way,

2:12or whatever they call it. I think you get my point.

2:16But it's very real. And if there's too much gravity,

2:19it pulls you in. If there's not enough, well, you're drifting off into space.

2:26I like that analogy. And I hope you do, too.

2:29Your role isn't to fight it. Your role is to figure out what it is,

2:33how strong the pull is, and use it to your advantage,

2:37which is really for the benefit of the team, which is really the benefit of the company.

2:43So here we go. Every organization has it.

2:46It influences decision-making and communications and priorities and expectations.

2:53Let's talk about expectations for just a moment.

2:56Let's say a company's work hours are 9 to 5, and there's a punch clock,

3:02and you punch in at 9.03. And the next thing you know,

3:06you're standing in front of your manager, and he's saying,

3:08you know, we have a very strict attendance policy here, and it's between 9 and 5.

3:14I noticed you checked in three minutes late. Would you like to explain that?

3:20That's organizational gravity.

3:22Needing five levels of decision-making is organizational gravity.

3:28Running around with your hair on fire all the times because you're far more reactive than

3:34proactive, that's organizational gravity. And the sum of it can be very powerful.

3:41Think about any relationship you had that was really, really good,

3:45all the little pieces that made it fantastic. And it can be professional or personal.

3:51And then think about a bad one. There were probably a lot of things that made it bad.

3:56That's just the example I'm going to use. And remember,

4:00we have good and bad relationships at work too. And then we have incentives.

4:05Incentives, aka rewards, shape behaviors. But what happens if someone pops in and says, hey,

4:14we got a hot item. I'd like to add it to this particular sprint. And if we can pull it off,

4:19we're going to get a $1,000 bonus per developer. Well, what happens if that incentive directly

4:28contradicts the scrum values or somehow interferes with transparency, inspection,

4:35and adaption? Well, when that happens, teams struggle. I like the cash like everyone else.

4:42But what happens when you're trying to balance the cash or some other reward with the scrum values or

4:50your own integrity or honesty or team collaboration, facilitation, cooperation?

4:58I think you get my point. Those incentives are part of organizational gravity and they can be

5:03good and bad. And then the structure influences how well we collaborate. If I have 14 people to

5:10report to, that's going to be a problem. If I need to get five levels of sign-off before I go outside

5:17for a smoke, and I don't smoke, that's an approval chain issue. And then what about silos?

5:24That's engineering's problem. That's the scrum team's problem. That's the PMO's problem. When

5:31we start thinking like that, we are thinking in silos. Again, it's never just one thing unless

5:39it's a really bad leader at the top. That almost never happens anymore. It is the sum of all the

5:45small things that are causing you problems. And the culture will outlast the process.

5:52I can change a process very quickly. But what about the culture? That takes a lot of time.

5:58If everyone is very suspicious or they're watching the punch clock to see if you are in on time,

6:04are you leaving early? Are we talking trash about each other? Do we have a huge disconnect between

6:11upper management and all of the frontline workers? Is there a huge disconnect between

6:16the executive team and the scrum team? I don't know. But all of that gets in the way of how we

6:23get work done. And if we don't understand it, we will simply try to work against it.

6:29And think about a time when you stood in the ocean and you pushed against those waves that were

6:35coming in. Did you really stop them? I don't think so. And then we have ideas that have been

6:41around forever, also known as legacy thinking. We've always done it this way. There's no sense

6:49trying to change it. Or someone says, well, the last three initiatives we've undertaken have all

6:56fallen apart. So why are we going to do it again? All of that is legacy thinking, which is why the

7:03scrum master needs to recognize that patience is greater than frustration. Now, this is the

7:10immediate feeling, but this is the one we need to understand. Patience. It takes time. If you

7:19change your workout routine from the afternoon to the early morning, do you think you're just

7:24going to spring up on day one and maintain that excitement through day 30, 60, 90, 120?

7:31Because the answer is probably not. It takes time. And that's why patience is important here.

7:37If we're going to improve anything, we cannot do it on our own. We need the organization's

7:44partnership, which is why we have organizational learning. Strong scrum masters don't just teach

7:51the team. They don't just facilitate better scrum practices there. They don't just work

7:57towards collaboration and cooperation within the team. Now, team development is great, but what

8:04happens if the team is really, really good and they can't go forward because of the organizational

8:11gravity? Well, the only way to combat that is to partner with the organization, come to some sort

8:17of an understanding, and work on improving that as well. But there's always change. Small changes,

8:25big changes, and all of that equals different levels of resistance. If you don't understand it,

8:32you will simply beat your head against it trying to overcome it through your sheer

8:36force of will. And that is the path of destruction. You will never do it. It's like trying to turn

8:43over an elephant. You can't do it. And organizational gravity is about change. That's going to generate

8:52some resistance. So, great teams need great environments. And if you don't improve the

8:57environment, you're not going to improve the team's velocity. You are not going to have better decision

9:02making. You are going to have continued problems. So, improving the environment is greater than

9:08improving the team. And if I had to start with one, I'd start with this one first. That enables

9:16the team. That's obviously the best place to start. Okay. So, let's take a moment. Let's take a

9:23pause for cause. Let's use our Scrum Master lens. If you removed every process problem tomorrow,

9:31what organizational habits would still remain? Because whatever remains is where experienced

9:37Scrum Masters begin. Not with the Scrum. It starts with the environment surrounding Scrum.

9:43So, one of the biggest mindset shifts in this course is realizing that organizations naturally

9:49behave exactly as they've been designed to behave. They were set up that way and so that's what they

9:57do. And when outcomes aren't what we hoped for, blaming people is the easiest part of it.

10:03Understanding the system that produced those outcomes is much harder. Fortunately, Scrum

10:09Masters don't need formal authority to begin influencing those systems.

10:13They need something more powerful. Trust. And that's where we're headed next.

0:00Welcome to Section 5, where we address leadership without authority.

0:04So let's start with a question I hear surprisingly often.

0:07How can a Scrum Master lead people they don't manage?

0:11And it's a fair question. Most organizations teach us that leadership comes with titles,

0:17reporting relationships, and decision-making authority.

0:20Well, Scrum turns much of that upside down.

0:24Scrum Masters rarely have formal authority over developers.

0:28They usually don't manage the product owners either.

0:31And if I'm being honest, they don't want to.

0:33They almost never direct executives.

0:36And yet, experienced Scrum Masters influence all of them.

0:41How?

0:42It's not by controlling people.

0:44It's by helping people make better decisions.

0:47And that's the difference between authority and influence.

0:50Authority can simply require compliance.

0:53But influence involves commitment.

0:56The best Scrum Masters develop influence so naturally

0:59that people don't even realize they're being coached at all.

1:02And it is a beauty to behold.

1:05So that's what this section is actually going to talk about.

1:09And we can see our Scrum Master at pulse point.

1:12She's standing there and she's watching.

1:14Is she listening?

1:16Is she building trust?

1:18Is she creating clarity?

1:20Is she empowering?

1:21Is she keeping them focused on the outcomes?

1:24And the answer is, it depends.

1:27It depends on what technique she's actually using.

1:30Is it authority or is it influence?

1:34I guess we're going to have to find out.

1:36But my choice is on whichever one builds the greatest trust.

1:41So all right, let me get off my soapbox and let's go forward.

1:45So leadership begins with credibility.

1:48People are not going to follow someone that they don't trust.

1:52Now you may have a title.

1:53You may have legitimate authority.

1:55It may be very formal.

1:57You may be Director Bob.

2:00But I may be more interested in following my senior developer

2:03because he or she has been around a long time

2:06and they have never led me astray.

2:08They have saved me from my own nonsense several times.

2:12So why would I rather follow them than the title?

2:15Well, we probably have trust and that's earned over time.

2:20That's not something you just show up with your title and get.

2:24You may get a different level of measured respect,

2:27but it will never achieve the level of someone who I trust.

2:31And then we ask questions.

2:33Well, better questions help me figure out what the problem is.

2:37They help me figure out how I might go forward.

2:40They help me figure out what the pitfalls are.

2:42It's really about self-discovery.

2:46But if you just tell me how to do it,

2:48well, you're really just trying to solve the problem at hand.

2:52And it's probably going to happen again.

2:55One of them will lead me to the cause.

2:58The other one is simply treating the symptoms in this particular moment.

3:02So coaching creates ownership.

3:04If I have buy-in, if I have participation,

3:09they are going to own it because it's their plan.

3:12It's their idea.

3:14It's their sprint goal.

3:16They've recognized the root cause of the problem

3:19and then they developed a solution out of it.

3:22Why wouldn't they own it?

3:24Think about a child and a toy.

3:26If you give them a toy that is already put together,

3:30they may mistreat it.

3:31They may abuse it.

3:32They may throw it down the steps.

3:34It was simply given to them complete.

3:36But then think about another toy

3:38they had to actually take the time to put together.

3:41They read the instructions.

3:42They laid out the pieces.

3:44They spent more time putting it together.

3:47Now, both of those toys may achieve the same result.

3:50This one's a car and this one's a car.

3:52But which one has greater ownership?

3:54And no, I'm not casually comparing scrum teams to children

3:59or calling them children.

4:01I'm simply providing an example that shows ownership over time.

4:06One of them is going to be more impactful.

4:09And I know you know that.

4:10So if we're going to build trust, we need to influence them.

4:15Influence starts with listening.

4:18We're not simply gathering information.

4:20We're seeking to understand what they're saying.

4:23And there are two kinds of people who listen.

4:26I've been both.

4:28One of them is listening as they're forming the answer

4:32based on what they hear.

4:34They're basically waiting to respond.

4:37That's one type of listener.

4:39But the better type is the person who's listening.

4:42They want to understand what's being said.

4:44What's the intent?

4:45What are the pattern words they see?

4:48What are the emotions they see on the speaker's face?

4:51They're not listening to respond.

4:54They're listening to understand.

4:56And then they're going to take the time to put all those pieces together

5:00and give the proper response.

5:02Do you think the speaker can see what you're doing?

5:06If you start talking as soon as they finish,

5:09they know which kind of listener you are.

5:11You know the difference.

5:13Well, they do too.

5:15So that's why it's harder to get people to trust you

5:20if you're always simply waiting to respond.

5:23And then we have to be neutral.

5:25I don't like taking sides

5:26because I always recognize that the truth is somewhere in the middle.

5:30There's what she said and there's what he said.

5:33Well, obviously both of them have their own internal bias.

5:37They want to be right.

5:39They want to win.

5:41They want the conflict decision to favor them.

5:44So I need to be neutral.

5:46And if I can maintain that neutrality over time

5:49and be seen as a trusted advisor

5:52instead of someone who's simply a side taker,

5:56I don't have another phrase for that,

5:57but you get the point.

5:59I can establish more trust over time.

6:02They might say, Bob is stern, but he's fair.

6:04As opposed to saying, don't go to Bob

6:07because whoever gets there first,

6:09that's who he's going to go with.

6:10That is not going to build trust.

6:12And that's obviously not going to lead to better outcomes.

6:16So we need the small wins.

6:18Kaizen, continuous improvement in the form of small steps.

6:22Well, I don't need big wins.

6:25Do you really think if I decide to get up every day at 5 a.m.

6:29and go to the gym,

6:30that I'm going to wait till day 60 to declare victory?

6:34Because there's a lot of space between day one and day 60.

6:37No.

6:38Okay, on day one, I got up at 5.15 and I got to the gym.

6:43Day two, I got up at five.

6:45Day three, I was tired.

6:46It was 5.30.

6:47And over time, I look at those small wins

6:50and it drives me towards the bigger win.

6:53And that's what we're talking about here.

6:56Obviously, we would love that influence

6:58to extend far beyond the team.

7:00I love coaching product owners.

7:03They are peers.

7:04Why wouldn't I?

7:05I coach them, they coach me.

7:07We share and share alike.

7:09We are both tied to success.

7:11Why wouldn't we help each other?

7:13But then you have other stakeholders,

7:16customers, end users, managers, executives.

7:20You can manage up.

7:22I've seen so many people think that they can't.

7:25They always think the team can be better.

7:28Well, guess what?

7:30If you always think the team is always the problem

7:33and the only place you can influence to make it better,

7:36you're simply going to burn them up.

7:39Because a candle that burns from both ends

7:41burns half as long.

7:43I know you understand that.

7:45And finally, leadership is never a one and done.

7:48I started out kind of rough as a leader.

7:51I got better over time.

7:53And you know what?

7:54It's like an elastic band.

7:57It is stretched and gotten good.

7:59And then it's constricted or retracted and gotten worse.

8:03Because I always try to think before I speak,

8:07but I don't always pull it off.

8:09I always try to view each situation

8:12as independent and separate,

8:13but I don't always pull it off.

8:15So it takes time,

8:17multiple conversations with multiple people

8:20in multiple situations,

8:22different decision outcomes.

8:24And it really is about relationship building.

8:27Ultimately, you are never trying to be right.

8:30You are simply trying to be better.

8:33Okay, so let's think back to the question

8:36that opened this section.

8:38How can someone lead without authority?

8:40And perhaps the better question is this.

8:43How much authority do you really need

8:45when people trust your judgment?

8:47Because that answer has shaped

8:48some of the most effective Scrum Masters

8:50I've ever worked with.

8:52By now, we've moved far beyond Scrum ceremonies

8:55and you can see it.

8:56We've explored organizations and systems

8:59and relationships and leadership and influence.

9:02You're beginning to see why advanced Scrum

9:05isn't simply deeper knowledge of the framework.

9:07It's deeper understanding of people.

9:10And in our final section,

9:12we're going to bring it all together.

9:14We're going to go back to pulse point

9:15with an entirely new perspective

9:17and discover just how much our thinking

9:20has already changed

9:22since the beginning of this skill.

0:00All right, we've made it to the final section, and we're going to look at Scrum through a new lens.

0:06So let's return to where we began. PulsePoint Medical hasn't changed. The three Scrum teams

0:12are still there, and leadership wants faster delivery, and the stakeholders are still

0:16interrupting the sprint work. Managers still have good intentions, and developers still want to

0:21build great products. On the surface, nothing is different, but something important has changed.

0:28You, when this skill began, you probably saw missed sprint goals and ineffective meetings

0:34and frustrated stakeholders and teams needing improvement. But now, hopefully, if I've done my

0:40job right, you're beginning to see something much larger. You're beginning to see the system,

0:46and that change in perspective is the first step towards becoming an advanced Scrum Master.

0:51So let's put that new perspective to work. So let's talk about the Scrum Master lens briefly.

0:57I'm talking about seeing the entire system beyond the team, and I'm focusing on the impact.

1:04If business value is always being measured, why would my focus shift from that balance with the

1:10team dynamic and the team's health? The only way to get better is to elevate people, empowering,

1:17and I need to be far more proactive than reactive, and I must stay aligned and keep us all aligned.

1:25Ultimately, your lens shapes everything. You want to see more, understand more,

1:31which will lead to enabling more and delivering more. When you change your perspective,

1:37you change the possibilities. So let's just stop right there, and let's move over to the

1:44whiteboard one more time. It all starts with looking beyond the obvious. The first explanation

1:51is rarely the complete story, so you have to be curious. Even if it sounds complete,

1:57someone tells you something that happened. Instead of immediately jumping to trying to solve it,

2:02you ask questions. Well, why do you think this happened? What could we have done better to avoid

2:09it? What do you think we should do now to make it better and fix it? What do you think we can do to

2:15make sure it doesn't happen again? And that list simply goes on and on. The obvious choice is to

2:21simply see it as a problem that needs to be solved right now, and you may very well do that,

2:27but it's not going to stop the problem from happening again, and it's certainly not going

2:32to develop the people that brought it to you. So every observation should raise a new question.

2:39So I need to look. I need to listen, and both of those together in the right balance

2:45will equal better questions, and if I ask better questions, I get more bits of information. That's

2:52going to lead to better understanding. All of this should lead me to better decisions, and hopefully

3:01if I stack enough better decisions together, then I have better outcomes, but the system is

3:08driving that behavior. Sure, I can totally work on my people and tell them you can't do that anymore,

3:16but the system is still dictating that they continue to do exactly what they're doing.

3:22So I need to figure out what those variables are, what those underlying currents are, if you will,

3:30and I need to work on changing those. You can only tell people to change so much in a system that

3:36does not allow them to change. Eventually, you burn them out, and they simply leave, or worse,

3:44they stay, and they simply don't care anymore. So we need to be aware, aware of what's happening

3:50and why it's happening, because that's the only way we can facilitate improvement. Who is causing

3:56it? Who's contributing to it? Who's reinforcing it? How do I change it? What are my options?

4:02And that list of questions simply goes on and on, but ultimately it comes down to who's viewing it.

4:09If I can get the executives to see how it's impacting us at our level, then maybe we can

4:15change it, but if they never view it differently from their level because they're not feeling the

4:20impact, is anything going to change? And the answer is likely not. It will simply maintain.

4:27So influence starts with the conversation. Let's talk, not listen to what I'm saying,

4:34not let's have a gripe session. It's let's have a conversation. Let's be objective. Let's try to

4:42remove the emotion, which is very, very difficult. If you can remove the emotion and the assumptions

4:49and the opinions and the bias and the history of pain that took us to this point, because it's

4:56probably been going on for a long time, we're creating opportunities together. I can give you

5:03the opportunity, but I can't force you to take it. But if I pull you in and pull you away from that

5:10organizational gravity or learn how to work within it, we're going to have better outcomes. And that's

5:16ultimately what we're looking for. We have to be curious. If we're not curious, we're simply

5:22making assumptions. We're holding on to beliefs that may or may not be true. We're listening to

5:27opinions. We're falling victim to our own internal and external biases. Now, confidence is valuable.

5:34I think I can fly. Can you though? Do you have wings? Are you a bird? Is it a parachute? Is it

5:41a wingsuit? Because if you don't have any of those, trust me, you can't fly. You can jump very high,

5:49but eventually gravity is going to take its toll on you. And there is an impact, just like the

5:55organizational gravity here. So confidence is great, but curiosity is better. Curiosity leads

6:04to better decisions. I know you know that. Professional growth is not a one and done. It

6:10never sleeps. Great Scrum Masters are lifelong students of people and processes and possibilities

6:18and simply trying to be better. It's never a one and done. Even when you retire, you simply shift

6:25your focus to being better in a different way. So be memorable. People don't remember what you say.

6:32They don't remember what you did. They don't remember a lot of things, but they definitely

6:39remember how you made them feel, how you made them think, and the better outcomes you led them to.

6:47Okay, let's wrap it up. So when we began this skill, the Scrum Master probably looked like someone

6:53who facilitated a bunch of meetings, removed impediments, and helped teams follow Scrum.

6:58And those responsibilities still matter, but hopefully they no longer define the role.

7:04Professional Scrum Masters shape environments. They develop people. They influence the organization.

7:10They recognize patterns, and they create opportunities for learning. Perhaps more importantly,

7:17they remain curious long after others believe they've found the answer.

7:21Hopefully, you've already begun that shift, because now it's time to sharpen that perspective even further.