Just thought I'd share something....
A few years ago, I bumped into an ex-colleague of mine who was working with someone who I had also previously worked with - both of us were, or had been, a Scrum Master for this ex-colleague. I asked how the other Scrum Master was doing, what was their style and approach and the ex-colleague replied -
"He is similar but different to you" , "In what way?" I asked, "He lets the team fail and you didn't. You did everything you could to make sure that the team didn't fail".
I went away from that conversation feeling good about myself thinking that I was the "better" Scrum Master.
A year or so later, whilst studying for a Scrum Master assessment, the conversation came back to me whilst searching for an example of helping a team to grow, and it was then I realised I hadn't been the better Scrum Master.The ex-colleague wasn't praising me. They were in fact giving me really valuable feedback on where to improve my practice as a Scrum Master.
I felt like a stupid fool.
I felt like I had let the team down by being a safety net for them, by NOT treating the team as accountable empowered professionals. I wasn't there to mother & protect them, I was there to help them grow as a team.
I'd failed them
This is a lesson I keep close to me when helping teams; a lesson that I'm continually learning from.
It reminds me of a quote in "Coaching Agile Teams" ( by Lyssa Adkins) - Lyssa quotes Chris Corrigan
"Everything you do for the group is one less thing they know they can do for themselves"
As a Scrum Master, as a teacher and as a coach, you're there to help the team not to mother them.
F.A.I.L
- First
- Act
- In
- Learning
That goes both ways - To the team and to you as an individual
Thanks for reading....
My offer to you....
If you attend one of my courses, I'd like to offer you a complimentary coaching session with me - so that you can experience a Co-Active coaching session. Course details can be found at https://www.scrum.org/classes?uid=226040
If you can't see a course that you'd like to attend please have a look at my profile page to see the courses I can deliver - it could be that you've just missed the course that you're interested in - https://www.scrum.org/steve-trapps.
More details on the coaching can be found at https://www.theagiletrainer.com/coaching