Jürgen De Smet 💥

Steven, a Scrum Master, is approached by the Development Team members complaining that one of the senior engineers is using too much time during the Daily Scrums to share technical solutions. Which are the best two actions for Steven to take? (Choose two.) A- Coach the Development Team to help them find a way to solve the problem, and for them to take ownership of the solution. B-  Contact the team member's direct manager and to resolve this problem. C- Suggest that the team members timebox the amount of time each person can speak at the Daily Scrum to a maximum of two minutes. D- Suggest using a token to limit who is allowed to speak during the Daily Scrum.  E- Speak with the person privately and coach him on the purpose of the Daily Scrum. #Agile #Scrum #Kanban #AgileLeadership

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🚀 The Diamond of Participatory Decision-Making Many imagine group decision-making as a smooth, linear process: we discuss, share ideas, and reach agreement step by step. It sounds easy — but it’s not how real teamwork works. In Facilitating Professional Scrum Teams, the Diamond of Participatory Decision-Making is introduced. This model shows that healthy group dynamics move through phases of divergence, struggle, and convergence. The hardest part? The Groan Zone. This is when frustration rises, people repeat themselves, or defend their ideas strongly. It feels messy — but it’s actually natural and healthy. It’s the moment when diverse perspectives collide, and a group slowly builds shared understanding. 👉 One of the worst mistakes a facilitator (or Scrum Master) can make is rushing teams to premature agreement. That usually leads to the loudest voices winning, weak commitment, and poor outcomes. Instead, facilitators should help teams recognize that the discomfort is normal, guide them through the Groan Zone, and create space for real integration of ideas. This is where true collaboration happens — and where Scrum Teams grow stronger. 💡 Next time your team feels “stuck” in disagreement, remember: it’s not dysfunction, it’s the natural path to better decisions.  #TeamDynamics #HealthyConflict #ScrumMaster #Facilitation #Agile #Scrum #DecisionMaking #Saturdays_with_Peyman

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Training isn’t static; it’s a product we inspect and adapt with every run. This Thursday, I’ll be teaching the Professional Scrum Product Owner AI Essentials again. With 12 participants ready to explore how AI can empower the PO role. From our first run with Robbin Schuurman we learned and adapted 👇 ✅ PO relevance upfront ✅ Clearer framing of assignments ✅ Less tool overload, more depth ✅ Live prompting demos ✅ Stronger product angle And I'll keep what participants loved most: ✨ Interaction ✨ Practical examples ✨ Hands-on AI experimentation Because yes, our training is a product too. We inspect, adapt, and make every version better. 💭 Curious: how do you inspect & adapt in your own work? 📅 The next Professional Scrum Product Owner – AI Essentials by Scrum.org at Xebia is on September 11.

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💫 I saw an interesting research that also confirms what I have been observing during our trainings.   The AI4Agile Practitioners Report 2026 highlights several key points:   🔴 AI is no longer peripheral to Agile practice: 83% of Agile practitioners already use AI tools. Yet the depth of adoption remains limited.   🟠 Agile professionals are not afraid that AI will replace their roles. 🟡 Their real concern is something else: • Erosion of Agile values and principles • Loss of human-centered collaboration • Role dilution and unclear accountability • Overreliance and reduced critical thinking • Misalignment with Agile’s context sensitivity • Shifts in power and decision authority • Long-term impact on skills and professional roles 🔴 The main barrier is not resistance to AI. It is a lack of clarity about how AI actually fits into Agile workflows.   ❇️ This is exactly the space we explore in the 'AI-Superpowered Agile Professionals' program created by 4 partners: ➡️ How can AI support Agile teams without weakening the human dynamics that make Agile work in the first place? ✅   If you're curious to explore this intersection more deeply: 👉 https://lnkd.in/eguVdNa4 or feel free to DM me. 👉 for AI4Agile Practitioners Report 2026: https://lnkd.in/eNAh-XaC Partners: ACM Agile Türkiye WSI Digital Consulting Services Haga Business Consultancy Agile Consortium ##AIinAgile #AgileTransformation #AIAdoption #FutureOfWork #Changemanagement #behavioralchange

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Unlocking Flow for better teams A big thank you to Erik de Bos for an inspiring session with our Agile Community of Practice: “The Mental State of Flow – Our Evolutionary Superskill to Deal with Complexity” Erik showed us how to spot real indicators of flow, reduce friction, and design environments where teams can do their best work. His talk was clear, actionable, and deeply human. The feedback from participants speaks volumes: 💡 “It is a deeper reflection on optimising teams to bring them to high performing. This is very useful for Project Management also. Any team really. And this is very actionable.” 💡 “Try to reach a flow state, by finding a balance between readiness and challenges.” Grateful for your time, Erik. You raised the bar for how we think about effectiveness. 👏 #Agile #Flow #TeamEffectiveness #Leadership #ContinuousImprovement

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📄Poster session at #XP2025 by Agile Alliance Shared some results from my research during the #PhD time on #sharedleadership ℹ️Takeaways: 👫Shared leadership is highest at a medium level of perceived work complexity, and remains high in very high complexity (Perlak, 2025). 🎓In medium and high-complexity environments, self-organizing teams have more redundancy and learning. Surprisingly the level of autonomy remains high regardless of the  complexity of the work (Perlak, 2025) 👔A strong vertical leadership style is more dominant in a low complexity environment (Perlak, 2025).

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Can an agile mindset be "made"? In our latest episode im interviewing Dr Karen Eilers and Christiaan Verwijs on their research. Get the full episode over here on your favorite player: https://lnkd.in/eVyZRjZ6 And yes. You can find all the videos on YouTube as well. Enjoy 😘

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🎙️ NEW EPISODE: "When Doing Scrum, Don't Do Scrum" After 11 years as a Scrum Master and Agile Coach across pan-European organizations, Sven de Koning had the credentials. PSM I/II. PSPO I/II. Every certification Scrum.org offers. The expertise was clear. Then he watched the entire market collapse around him. But the real story? It's about what he couldn't ignore anymore. The Netherlands became the most certified Agile country per capita. Fresh grads + 2-day courses = "Scrum Masters" billing €100/hour. Companies figured out these folks couldn't articulate their value. When budgets tightened? Gone. And now organizations won't hire anyone—even the experienced ones. Sven saw the writing on the wall: certifications became worthless, frameworks became goals instead of tools, and Scrum Masters became coordinators instead of experienced coaches. His peers thought: "You're walking away from your expertise." One year in, he's working where developers and users actually talk. He's shut up and listened. He's back to making users happy instead of celebrating framework adoption. And he's never felt more aligned with what actually matters. 🌊 Sven de Koning 🌊 joins Kumar Dattatreyan, ICF PCC to reveal: ✦ The paradox: how the most certified Agile country killed its own coaching market ✦ "Your Scrum Master is your conscience"—why combining SM + PO roles means you're missing your conscience ✦ The terrible book title: why "Doing Twice the Work in Half the Time" gave everyone the wrong idea about Scrum ✦ The €37/hour law that accidentally destroyed consulting: well-intentioned labor protection catching €150/hour consultants in the net ✦ Software is a book, not a car: why managers who think "give developers the parts, they'll build it" are completely wrong ✦ The guard dog at the door: why Scrum Master must be full-time—when stuff hits the fan, you can't be both developer AND the person protecting the team ✦ Skip the Sprint Review? His controversial take: if stakeholders are surprised at the review, you've already failed ✦ The one certification worth it: Professional Scrum with Kanban—because combining frameworks isn't heresy, it's pragmatism "When you're doing Scrum, don't do Scrum. It's not about Scrum, it's about solving problems." - Sven de Koning Framework adoption isn't the goal. Solving problems is. Listen here: 🎧 Apple: https://lnkd.in/gb92KnYQ 🎧 Spotify: https://lnkd.in/gwseyC_C? 📺 YouTube:https://lnkd.in/e_HbRVq8 Connect with Sven: https://lnkd.in/ec85Xebi #AgileTransformation #ScrumMaster #ProductOwner #FrameworksVsOutcomes #CertificationEconomy #WhenDoingScrumDontDoScrum #ComplexVsComplicated #SoftwareDevelopment #CareerPivot #TheMeridianPoint

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AI Won’t Replace Scrum Masters — But Scrum Masters Who Use AI Will Redefine the Role Today, during a Scrum Master Essentials – AI training, one idea stood out: AI is not the competitor. It is the accelerator. We explored the contrast between what humans do best and what AI does best. 🔹 Humans bring empathy, ethical judgment, accountability, intuition, and true contextual creativity. 🔹 AI brings speed, pattern recognition, synthesis of vast information, and the ability to generate multiple perspectives in seconds. The real shift is not technological. It’s behavioral. As Scrum Masters, our role has always been about: • Enabling better conversations • Driving clarity • Facilitating better decisions • Removing impediments Now the question becomes: How can we leverage AI to enhance those capabilities — without losing the human essence of agility? One practical framework we discussed for effective AI collaboration was CRAFTS The insight? AI quality is directly proportional to human clarity. The future of agile leadership won’t be about choosing between humans or AI. It will be about mastering the partnership. A big thank you to Said Azarfane for delivering such a practical, thought-provoking session and for challenging us to think beyond the hype and into responsible application. Truly appreciated the insights and interactive discussions. Curious to hear: How are you integrating AI into your agile practices? #AI #ScrumMaster #AgileLeadership #FutureOfWork #ContinuousLearning

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As Agile Coaches, we spend most of our time supporting others – but who supports us? In the emotionally demanding world of facilitation and transformation, it’s easy to feel isolated. You hold space for retrospectives, mediate between teams and management, and act as a mirror for organizational dysfunction. But where do you reflect? Several years ago I found a great solution: #AgileIntervision. It’s a lightweight, peer-based format designed specifically for Scrum Masters and Agile Coaches to support each other – without hierarchy or value judgment. Agile Gatherings published my article about Agile Intervisions: https://lnkd.in/eJ_8dicC #AgileCoaching

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Recording available for: Re-imagine your Scrum with Gunther Verheyen What if your agile transformation isn’t really agile? 🤔 In his return to the Scrum Masters of the Universe stage, Gunther Verheyen (author of Scrum: A Pocket Guide) delivered a passionate, provocative wake up call: 🚨 Scrum has been industrialized to death. 📦 Teams are output-focused, not outcome-driven. 🏢 Organizations are optimizing for volume, not value. 🧱 And most transformations? They’re just new names for old dysfunctions. Gunther doesn’t just diagnose the problem — he offers a way out: 🔁 Start small. 🧭 Know your product. 🎯 Reboot your Scrum. 📈 Release value. 🌱 Grow from development hubs into product hubs. This talk is a must-watch for anyone serious about building agility that actually delivers impact — not just ceremony. Link to the recording in the comments

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