The Myth of Obsolescence
You’ve probably heard the line: "The best Scrum Masters make themselves obsolete."
It sounds nice. It looks good on a slide. But it’s dead wrong.
That idea comes from oversimplifying what "self-managing teams" actually means. Too many organizations confuse self-management with "no leadership needed." In reality, self-management requires stronger, more empowering leadership that creates the conditions for continuous improvement and organizational learning.
If a Scrum Master disappears once a team seems "self-managing," chances are they were only facilitating meetings or updating Jira. That’s not mastery. That’s clerical work dressed up as Agile.
Complexity Never Ends
Scrum never runs out of complexity.
Organizations never run out of old habits.
Politics never run out of ways to creep back in.
And people never stop being, well, people.
A great Scrum Master doesn’t vanish. They evolve.
🌱 Early on, they help the team learn Scrum, build healthy practices, and hold the line on Done.
🎯 As the team matures, they coach the Product Owner and stakeholders to focus on value, outcomes, and empirical planning over vanity metrics.
🔥 They support leadership by surfacing hard truths and pushing for systemic change.
🏗️ Long term, they tackle organizational impediments, challenge old hierarchies, influence culture, and spread agility beyond a single team.
The Accountability Remains
As teams grow stronger, the Scrum Master’s daily involvement may decrease, but their accountability does not. The Scrum Master is accountable for the effectiveness of the Scrum Team and for serving not only the team but also the Product Owner and the organization.
They keep regression at bay, protect the Definition of Done, avoid shortcuts, and ensure empiricism does not erode when pressure mounts.
They make complacency obsolete.
They make dysfunction obsolete.
They make excuses obsolete.
The Real Warning Sign
The Scrum Guide never said a Scrum Master should become obsolete. It describes a continuous, evolving accountability that adapts to where the biggest impediments live. When the Scrum Master believes their work is done, that is the real warning sign.
Continuous Learning Is the Difference
The only Scrum Masters who ever become obsolete are the ones who stop learning. Continuous improvement applies to everyone, including those who teach it.