A Scrum Master's pitfall is getting too attached to their role. They no longer address impediments because they fear losing their freelance assignment or permanent role and negatively impacting their career. In this blog post, I share why they should be willing to get fired.

At the end of our first Sprint, during the Retrospective, someone pointed out that the Daily Scrum alone would add over 250 meetings a year. It felt excessive. We were already frustrated with too many meetings, so why would we willingly add more? But as we kept going, something changed. We started seeing the benefits—not just in theory, but in practice.

Learn how to effectively communicate with AI tools guiding them to create your desired output for challenging topics in the Scrum world.

A structured approach to prompting AI models designed specifically for Agile practitioners who want to leverage this technology as a powerful ally in their journey.

In diesem Arikel warnt PST Simon Flossmann vor 3 Fehler die Stakeholder-Management ruinieren.

The AI Gold Rush: Are You Falling for the FOMO Trap? Everywhere you look, companies are bragging about their AI breakthroughs. Your competitors are “going all in.” Your LinkedIn feed is flooded with AI success stories. And now, you’re wondering—are we falling behind? Here’s the truth: AI isn’t a strategy. It’s just a tool. Rushing in without a clear plan can lead to wasted resources, frustrated teams, and a whole lot of chaos. The real winners? They’re not just following the hype. They’re strategically leveraging AI to create value, optimize operations, and gain a competitive edge. So, are you leading the AI revolution—or just chasing the trend? Don’t get left behind. Read more 👇

This blog continues the earlier blog series on Empathetic Leadership. Empathy is a powerful leadership trait, but being an empathetic leader isn't always easy or appreciated. Here are some soft truths and hard facts that empathetic leaders often face.

Scrum’s repetition isn’t about doing the same thing over and over—it’s about evolving with every cycle. Learn how the rhythm of Scrum drives continuous improvement, reduces complexity, and ensures teams deliver value Sprint after Sprint.

Erfahren Sie mehr darüber, wie Sie die Ausrichtung auf die Nutzwertkette etablieren und Ihr Product Operating Model erstellen können.

If you have come across the book Reinventing Organizations by Frederic Laloux you would know that there are many different ways an organization can be structured. Similarly, there are many different ways how leaders act in these differently structured organizations. When there is an Agile Transformation happening in an organization, the status quo in the organization is challenged.  The answer often to this is to make teams adopt agile practices, method,s or frameworks but the leadership, management and rest of the organization stays in its own existing structures. Such Agile transformations often do not work. Reason being, true agile transformation requires a fundamental mindset shift not only in how we develop the products but also how we lead and manage the organization.

In diesem Artikel erklärt PST Simon Flossmann 3 Methoden, wie du Voträge interaktiver gestalltet werden können.

What Happens When AI and a Doctor Work as a Team? Dr. Mehta, a seasoned radiologist, has a new assistant—an AI system that analyzes medical scans in seconds. But can AI truly match a doctor’s intuition? What happens when AI gets it wrong? And what about when AI catches something the doctor misses? This blog dives into a fascinating, real-world partnership where AI and humans don’t compete—they complement each other. The result? Faster diagnoses, better patient care, and more time for what truly matters. Curious to see how AI is changing the game? Let’s get started.

The Sprint Review – one of the most central and exciting events in an agile team, right? Well, theoretically. In practice, many people find it boring, ineffective, or just a mandatory event. Many Scrum Teams stumble over common pitfalls and miss the chance to create real engagement. But it doesn’t have to be this way! A well-run Sprint Review can inspire, unleash energy, be truly enjoyable, and provide a platform for valuable, product-related feedback. Here are 6+ ideas on how to make your Sprint Review a real highlight that excites everyone!

Success without purpose is like running on a treadmill—you’re moving, but not getting anywhere. Blockbuster ignored purpose and lost to Netflix. BlackBerry missed the bigger picture, while Apple stayed true to its mission. Clayton Christensen’s How Will You Measure Your Life? warns leaders against chasing short-term wins at the cost of long-term fulfillment. Whether in personal leadership, product development, or organizations, a clear purpose provides focus, flexibility, and fulfillment. It’s not just about winning—it’s about building something meaningful. Are you leading with purpose or just reacting?

The role of the #ScrumMaster is often misunderstood. It's helpful to consider WHO were the early adopters? What was their interest in #Scrum? What did they bring to the role of Scrum Master?

Can AI generate high-quality code that is extensible, maintainable, and scalable? This experiment was a simple test to first evaluate the quality of AI-generated code for a basic kata against technical excellence principles—assessing its structure, modularity, and maintainability. Next, AI was prompted to apply a Test-Driven Development (TDD) approach to see if it could improve the quality with a software craftsmanship mindset and principles. The findings were insightful, revealing interesting patterns in how AI approaches structure, testing, and iterative development.

In diesem Artikel teilt PST Simon Flossmann seine wichtigsten Erkenntnisse und Lektionen als Scrum Master

Learn more about how to embrace the alignment-to-value pipeline and create your product operating model.

Una ruta de producto (Roadmap) es una vista del Product Backlog que permite expresar como se va a entregar valor en el tiempo y lograr los objetivos de producto y de negocio a través de la entrega de producto. La ruta de producto no es una promesa de fechas de entrega, al contrario son posibilidades o una proyección que se va adaptando conforme se aprende de los clientes en cada Sprint. A continuación algunas recomendaciones para lograr Rutas de Producto valiosas:

In this blog, PST Joshua Partogi shares his insights on the mechanisms in Scrum for handling urgent requests from stakeholders.

Many assume stakeholders just mean "management." But the Scrum Guide never mentions "manager" once. Are you sure you know who your real stakeholders are? Missing one could mean missing critical feedback—or building something no one wants.

While empathy is a critical leadership skill, many leaders struggle to practice it consistently. Several psychological, organizational, and systemic barriers make it difficult for leaders to be truly empathetic toward their teams.

Scrum bietet nicht die fertige Lösung, sondern den Rahmen für kontinuierliche Verbesserung. Viele Teams glauben, dass sie automatisch erfolgreicher werden, sobald sie die Scrum-Regeln verstehen und anwenden. Doch die wahre Stärke von Scrum zeigt sich erst, wenn Teams aktiv den Inspect & Adapt-Zyklus leben. Transparenz, Überprüfung, Anpassung – diese Säulen sind entscheidend. Aber der wahre Unterschied wird durch die Fähigkeit eines Scrum Masters gemacht, das Team zu beobachten, Muster zu erkennen und gezielte Anpassungen anzuregen. Der Impact eines guten Scrum Masters ist enorm: Er fördert nicht nur regelmäßige Verbesserungen, sondern entwickelt auch eine Kultur der kontinuierlichen Optimierung. Wenn Teams lernen, gemeinsam zu reflektieren und zu adaptieren, schaffen sie die Basis für nachhaltigen Erfolg und echte Zusammenarbeit. Mehr darüber, wie Scrum und ein engagierter Scrum Master zum Erfolg führen, in meinem Blog-Post!

A Product Owner is an important accountability when it comes to creating Valuable products. However, a Scrum Team may not always have a Valuable Product Owner. What I mean is, if the person performing the accountability of Product Owner is not well versed or executes their responsibilities poorly then it leads to a lot of challenges and eventually can lead to failure of the Product.  Here are a few anti-patterns that I have experienced and observed with Product Owners. Hope, this will give you some ideas to identify and break the anti-patterns to make the Product Owners effective.

In diesem Artikel erklärt PST Simon Flossmann 5 Methoden, mit denen du jeden Teilnehmer in deine Schulung einbindest – ohne deine Folien anzupassen

Wie KI-gesteuerte Ansätze es agilen Produktteams ermöglichen, bessere Erkenntnisse über Kunden zu gewinnen und innovativere Lösungen zu liefern.

Myth # 39: Technical Debt is the Developer's Problem. They caused it, so they should fix it on their own time.

Dependencies kill productivity, slow teams down, and create waste. This insightful blog explores the root causes of dependencies and outlines effective strategies for tackling them.

A title might give you authority, but it doesn’t make you a leader. True leadership is about impact, trust, and how you elevate those around you. Are you truly leading, or just occupying a position? Let’s dive into what it really takes to lead with influence and build a thriving team culture.

Product Backlog Management is challenging. Imagine you’re a Product Owner with a backlog of 300+ items. Stakeholders keep adding requests, developers feel lost in prioritisation, and every refinement session is a painful, drawn-out discussion. If this sounds familiar, you’re not alone. If you have ever thought, ‘There must be a better way!’ - in this article I will present Upstream Kanban as one of them.

In diesem Artikel schilder PST Simon Flossmann seine 3 Aha-Moment nach 10 Jahren mit Sprint-Zielen.

How AI-driven approaches enable agile product teams to gain deeper customer insights and deliver more innovative solutions.

This blog post describes a 1-hour Retrospective format to help teams reflect on the empirical pillars of Scrum.

In der Welt von Scrum und agilem Arbeiten basiert der Erfolg auf empirischem Arbeiten – dem kontinuierlichen Lernen und Anpassen in kurzen Zyklen. Doch dieses Konzept hat eine essenzielle Grundlage: Qualität.

The Sprint Review isn’t about showing what the Scrum Team built—it’s about discovering how stakeholders experience the product. Learn how to turn inspection into real adaptation and ensure your Sprint Review drives product evolution.

Discover why "fail fast" falls short and learn a more effective framework—fail smarter, sooner, and forward—to transform failure into strategic innovation.

A product operating model defines how an organization structures, funds, and manages product teams to drive business success. In this article, we break down six essential concepts that help product leaders create a scalable, outcome-driven model. From aligning strategy with execution to fostering cross-functional collaboration and streamlining governance, these key principles will empower your team to deliver value efficiently.

Empathy in leadership may seem intangible, but its return on investment (ROI) is measurable through its profound impact on individuals, teams, and organizational performance. By fostering trust, improving communication, and creating a psychologically safe environment, empathetic leadership drives tangible benefits.

In diesem Artikel beschreibt PST Simon Flossmann seine Weg als Trainer von Frontalunterricht zu „Training from the Back of the Room"

Every now and then some one talks about or highlights a practice which has nothing to do with Scrum. Yet, due to widespread usage of the practice, people think that the specific practice is part of Scrum and should be followed to do Scrum in the right way. Sometimes, the Scrum Masters for the lack of knowledge enforce such practices and then feel the resistance.  I am not saying that every Scrum Team should know each and every right or wrong practice. That’s not how empiricism works. When I started as a Scrum Master back in 2010, I had my set of practices and I evolved. I expect Scrum Masters and Scrum Teams to have that journey. What I am unable to comprehend is the same practices of 2010 becoming anti-patterns for Scrum Teams in 2025.

At Argus, the maintenance team in Edmonton faced a challenge: ensuring consistent, high-quality repairs while dealing with an unpredictable workload.

Passer la Certification PSPO-III peut sembler insurmontable, dans cet article Vivien C. vous donne les clés pour réussir.

In this blog, I explore the critical distinction between leadership and management, sparking a debate that often arises in Scrum workshops: "Is a Scrum Master a leader or a manager?" By examining the roles of both managers and leaders, I clarify how leadership goes beyond managing tasks and involves inspiring people. I highlight that while managers control resources and processes, leaders empower, motivate, and connect with their teams. The blog challenges Scrum Masters to reflect on their role—not just managing work, but encouraging an environment where teams are inspired to thrive and innovate.

How can you focus on continuous improvement if you think everything is already perfect? Scrum Masters who become too emotionally attached to their teams can lose the ability to assess improvement opportunities objectively.

In diesem Artikel erklärt PST Simon Flossmann, warum Scrum Master von Velocity besessen sein sollten.

A glue role connects different parts of an organization, ensuring smooth team communication, collaboration, and integration. These roles are essential for implementing change and solving systemic issues that impact multiple departments. It’s easy to see the connection to the purpose of a Scrum Master, right?

Rigid, long-term forecasts stifle agility and increase risk, but figuring out how to do shift to agile forecasting is challenging. We'll explore for core practices that enable agility through adaptable investment decisions: re-forecasting, decreasing precision, bracketing, and aligning forecasts with time horizons.

Find ways of understanding and increasing value by imagining you are about to pitch your product to a demanding investor

Scrum isn’t about blindly following a plan—it’s about inspecting, learning, and adjusting. But not all changes are improvements. Discover how small, goal-oriented, data-driven tweaks can make the difference between continuous improvement and chaotic change.

Change is inevitable in any organization, from shifting markets to evolving customer expectations. Agile frameworks can help navigate these challenges, but they must evolve alongside the organization. While generative frameworks adapt and grow, rigid ones impose fixed solutions that may become obsolete over time. The key is ensuring your framework supports, rather than hinders, your organization's progress.