Mariano encountered a competent team that was sabotaging itself through internal divisions and lack of trust. The team had formed clans that didn’t trust each other, creating blind spots even during retrospectives. Rather than simply telling the team what was wrong, Mariano created an anonymous fear-based retrospective that revealed the root cause: a Product Owner who behaved like a boss and evaluated team members, creating a culture of fear. His approach demonstrates the power of empowering teams to discover and solve their own problems rather than imposing solutions from above.
Self-reflection Question: What fears might be hiding beneath the surface of your team’s dynamics, and how could you create a safe space for them to emerge?
Featured Book of the Week: Turn the Ship Around! by David Marquet
Mariano recommends “Turn the Ship Around!” by David Marquet (we have an episode with David Marquet talking about this book, check it here). Mariano highlights the fascinating story and introduction to the leader-leader model, which differs significantly from the traditional leader-follower approach. This book resonates with Mariano’s journey from directive leadership to facilitative leadership, showing how empowering others rather than commanding them creates more effective and engaged teams.
Transform Your Agile Teams with Hard-Earned Lessons from Super-Experienced Scrum Masters
Do you wish you had decades of experience? Learn from the Best Scrum Masters In The World, Today! The Tips from the Trenches – Scrum Master edition audiobook includes hours of audio interviews with SM’s that have decades of experience: from Mike Cohn to Linda Rising, Christopher Avery, and many more. Super-experienced Scrum Masters share their hard-earned lessons with you. Learn those today, make your teams awesome!
About Mariano Gontchar
Mariano is a Madrid-based Scrum Master with a unique multi-perspective journey through Agile roles. Having evolved from developer to Product Owner, Project Manager, and now Scrum Master, he brings comprehensive insights to team facilitation and backlog management. Mariano specializes in practical Agile adoption strategies that work in real-world environments.
You can link with Mariano Gontchar on LinkedIn.
Retrospectives, planning sessions, vision workshops, we are continuously helping teams learn about how to collaborate in practice! In this Actionable Agile Tools book, Jeff Campbell shares some of the tools he’s learned over a decade of coaching Agile Teams. The pragmatic coaching book you need, right now! Buy 
Mike Richards, with over a decade in tech, goes beyond managing projects. He’s passionate about transforming organizations, coaching on cloud migration, leading digital shifts, and empowering agile teams. More than a consultant, Mike is a catalyst for growth and change.