A myth re-visited. Seven years ago, Christiaan Verwijs and I wrote the article "The Scrum Master is a Junior Agile Coach" and explained why this is a myth according to the Scrum Guide. What's the state of this myth today? https://ow.ly/qXC050Sx5bG Barry Overeem #ScrumMaster #AgileCoach
I have interacted with 3 Agile Coaches. One could finally hear where I was coming from. The others did not seem to have an appreciation of topics and concepts that I learned from PSTs (and even some CSTs) who went beyond the surface level of Scrum. I think my challenge was that I came from an organization where I was managing a multi-million dollar budget where I interacted with teams of leaders internally and externally. I expected that the Scrum Master would be an organizational change agent. To my chagrin, I found that Scrum Masters only operate at the level of a team of 3-6 people. That was okay while I was recovering from burnout. However, once I started feeling better, I was looking for more of a challenge. I am currently looking at becoming a PO internally. I enjoy working with teams who get work done and done well. And, I enjoy working across organizations. The PO (where I work) has more ability to do that. The Scrum Master does not.
A competent Scrum Master also serves as an Agile coach!
Like the way in which this is put up. Food for thought for many 🙂
Love this
Insightful!
Co-founder The Liberators & Columinity: a product that helps teams improve based on scientific insights. 🚀
2wIn short, the Agile Coach addresses larger organizational issues, while the Scrum Master focuses on teams. I'm not optimistic about the progress we (the community) have made. 😥 The Agile Coach is still positioned 'higher' in many organizations. Especially within organizations that are used to ‘vertical growth paths.’ The Scrum Master is the junior, the Agile Coach is the medior, and the Enterprise Agile Coach is the senior. For more details, check the article. What are your thoughts and experiences?