“Success for a Scrum Master is to do myself out of a job… which I don’t buy into at all, because a team will always need a coach.”
Terry challenges the common belief that Scrum Masters succeed by working themselves out of a job, arguing instead that teams always need coaching as they continuously improve. He emphasizes the importance of separating his outcomes from the team’s success to avoid becoming part of the system he’s trying to help. For Terry, success is measured by the visible joy he can create in people – when leaders approach him with happiness, when team members are excited to see him, when absenteeism drops because people actually want to come to work. He shares a powerful story of how helping teams find joy not only improved their performance but reduced their stress-related sick days from the highest to the lowest in their division.
Featured Retrospective Format for the Week: Drawing Retrospectives
Terry loves retrospective formats that use drawings and visual metaphors, like Draw Your Feelings, or the Sailboat retrospective. He explains that when teams draw pictures instead of immediately processing thoughts through language, they generate much richer and deeper insights. The approach works by having people first draw their thoughts, then asking “What led you to draw that picture?” This method bypasses the analytical mind and taps into more intuitive understanding. For longer-term retrospectives, Terry recommends Open Space Technology, which allows groups to self-organize around the most important questions they need to answer.
Self-reflection Question: How do you measure your own success as a Scrum Master, and does that measurement inspire you to do your best work?
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 Terry Haayema
Terry is an international Author, Speaker, Conference Host, Trainer, Facilitator, Mentor and Transformative Coach whose personal purpose is to help people see differently, so they find joy.
You can link with Terry Haayema on LinkedIn, or visit his website to learn more about his book.
