Are You Protecting Your Team Against the Right Thing? - Mike Cohn
A lot has been written and said about the responsibility of a Scrum Master to protect the team.
Examples of protecting the team typically involve running interference with well-meaning but overzealous product owners, stakeholders, and managers. Teams run into trouble all the time from people who want it all now or who keep adding more work in the middle or a sprint. Scrum Masters keep all that noise away so that the team can focus on delivery.
But if you are only focused on problems coming from squeaky wheels, you’re missing one of the biggest dangers out there: complacency.
Agile is about continually getting better. I don’t care how good a team is today; if they aren’t better a year from now, they’re not agile.
Complacency can creep in when a team sees some initial improvement from adopting an agile approach. Team members will notice how improved they are and think that’s enough.
But there’s almost always room for further improvement.
Some teams become complacent about their process and stop looking for ways to deliver more value each iteration. Still other teams become complacent in seeking out new engineering practices that could make the team even better.
Protect your team from complacency by setting high expectations and encouraging the team to set even higher expectations of their own performance.
Teams that refuse to settle for the status quo are teams that advance from good to great.
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