resistance to change Archives - Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast

BONUS: Hard Hats and Standups — Why the Construction Industry Is Going Agile at GAS26

Felipe Engineer-Manriquez is one of the co-hosts of the Agile in Construction track at the Global Agile Summit 2026. In this preview episode, he and Vasco talk about why Agile belongs on the construction site, what the track’s speakers discovered when they stopped following the plan, and why software people should pay close attention to an industry that builds hospitals, not apps.

Construction Is 20 Years Behind — And That’s the Opportunity

“People don’t realize that those ideas absolutely work in other industries. Agile’s been successfully applied everywhere, and I think where it gets the least amount of publicity is in the construction sector.”

When most people hear “Agile,” they think standups in a tech office, not concrete and rebar. Felipe wants to change that. Construction, he says, is always about 20 years behind whatever process or technology the rest of the world adopts — a “very safe stock of keeping tradition.” That gap is exactly what makes this track valuable. Agile is alive and growing in construction, and the translation turns out to be simpler than you’d expect. Most of what needs to change isn’t the framework — it’s the vocabulary. The sessions in this track show how practitioners made that jump with surprisingly small tweaks.

The Speakers Don’t Know How Good They Are

“Half the speakers that I asked were like, ‘what, me? Do I have a story to share?’ I was like, yeah, you have this really amazing… people just don’t realize how awesome they are.” Continue reading BONUS: Hard Hats and Standups — Why the Construction Industry Is Going Agile at GAS26

Viktor Glinka: When Passion Becomes the Problem — How Pushing for Agile Change Too Fast Creates Resistance

“I wanted to change the organization overnight with my eagerness and passion. Instead of helping the system to evolve, I created resistance. I became the problem myself.” – Viktor Glinka

Viktor shares one of the most honest failure stories we’ve heard on the show. Early in his Scrum Master career, he joined a finance organization as a Scrum Master for a newly created department — his first experience in a scaled setup. Each team owned a particular part of the user journey, organized around components.

After getting exposed to Large-Scale Scrum (LeSS) through a colleague, Viktor became overexcited. He started pushing for structural changes daily, telling the head of department that the current team composition was wrong and they needed cross-functional feature teams. But he was disconnected from reality.

For this particular organization, even having partially cross-functional teams was already a big stretch. Worse, the head of department wasn’t even authorized to make the changes Viktor was pushing for. Instead of helping the system evolve, he created resistance.

What proved his approach wrong? That same department later received a European Award for being the best mortgage department. It took Viktor a few more years and similar cases to fully absorb the lesson: read the room, develop sensitivity to the system’s pace, and stimulate reflection in decision makers rather than pushing your own agenda.

In this episode, we refer to organizational development, LeSS (Large-Scale Scrum), and systems analysis. Viktor also mentions the interview with Bas Vodde on the Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast.

Self-reflection Question: When was the last time you pushed for a change because you believed it was right, without checking whether the system was ready for it? What would happen if you started by asking decision makers what they think would be a good next step?

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About Viktor Glinka

Viktor is an organisational consultant and Professional Scrum Master who helps teams and leaders find simpler ways to deliver value while keeping the human side of work at the center. He’s practical, curious, and focused on real outcomes rather than buzzwords. His true passion is adaptability – both in business and in personal life.

You can link with Viktor Glinka on LinkedIn.

Marina Lazovic: When Nobody Expects the Scrum Master, Overcoming a Rocky Start in a Team New to Agile

Marina shares her challenging experience of being the first Scrum Master to join a company new to Agile. She describes the awkward moment of joining a team via Zoom, only to discover that no one knew she was coming or fully understood her role. Marina explains how she navigated this uncomfortable situation by being patient, transparent, and not taking people’s defensive reactions personally. She emphasizes that when people face unexpected change, their fear can manifest as resistance, making it crucial for Scrum Masters to remain calm, open, and focused on building understanding rather than reacting with frustration.

Self-reflection Question: How might you prepare yourself emotionally and strategically for joining a team that isn’t expecting you or doesn’t understand the Scrum Master role?

🚀 Global Agile Summit 2025

Join us in Tallinn, Estonia, from May 18th – 20th, 2025, for an event that will inspire, challenge, and equip you with real-world Agile success stories.

🌍 Connect with global Agile leaders.
💡 Learn practical strategies for impact.
🔥 Break free from Agile fatigue and become a Pragmatic Innovator.

Check Full Program

About Marina Lazovic

Marina is a Scrum Master and Kanban Trainer from Belgrade, Serbia, with nearly a decade in the IT industry. Though not from a technical background, she is passionate about helping development teams and organizations optimize processes and build great products using Agile. She thrives on driving efficiency and fostering collaboration.

You can link with Marina Lazovic on LinkedIn.

BONUS: Why Your Teams Really Resist Change, The Neuroscience of Leadership That Nobody Taught You With Andra Stefanescu

In this BONUS episode, we explore the challenges leaders face during transformations with leadership coach Andra Stefanescu. Drawing from her extensive research and coaching experience, Andra shares powerful insights on fostering psychological safety, understanding brain-based responses to change, and developing the emotional intelligence needed to lead effectively. She reveals practical frameworks and techniques that help leaders navigate resistance and build meaningful connections with their teams.

The Leadership Challenge of Transformation

“People are giving resistance… and in general, leaders are feeling overwhelmed in times of changes, whatever those changes are.”

Resistance and overwhelm are the two biggest challenges leaders face during transformations. Through her research and coaching work across different industries, Andra has found that leaders often feel powerless when their teams resist change. This resistance stems from basic psychological needs not being met. Leaders can overcome these challenges by understanding the different psychological needs of their team members and adapting their communication accordingly. By using specific frameworks, leaders can address resistance more effectively and rediscover their passion for leadership.

Understanding the Brain’s Response to Change

“When something is changed, whatever that is… what your brain perceives is like a threat because the one question that we put all day long in our brains is: is this safe for me?”

The brain naturally resists change because it prefers routine and automation. When facing transformation, people instinctively question whether the change is safe, which triggers resistance. This creates a challenging dynamic where leaders experiencing their own fear and resistance become less able to empathize with their team’s concerns. Andra emphasizes the importance of leaders “putting their own mask on first” by acknowledging their own feelings and ensuring they’re in the right state of mind before attempting to lead others through change.

The Middle Manager’s Dilemma

“Middle managers are in the middle, they have high pressure from above, high pressure from down… And this is where they arrive in this powerless situation, where they ask themselves, how can I make this work?” Continue reading BONUS: Why Your Teams Really Resist Change, The Neuroscience of Leadership That Nobody Taught You With Andra Stefanescu