I’m delighted to say that my new book, What kind of problem is this?, is now available to buy from Lulu.
The full title is What kind of problem is this? A Scrum Master’s field guide to using Cynefin in real team situations.
It is a practical book for Scrum Masters, Agile Coaches, Product Owners, delivery leaders and anyone who works with Scrum but has sometimes wondered why the same practices work beautifully in one situation and fall flat in another.
Why I wrote the book
Scrum is simple to understand, but difficult to practise well.
That difficulty is not usually because people have failed to read the Scrum Guide properly. It is often because teams are dealing with different kinds of problems and trying to respond to them in the same way.
Some situations need good practice.
Some need expertise.
Some need experimentation.
Some need urgent action.
But in real work, those differences are not always obvious. Teams can easily reach for more planning, tighter process, better estimation or another retrospective when what they really need is a different way of making sense of the situation.
That is where Cynefin can help.
What the book is about
What kind of problem is this? explores how Scrum practitioners can use Cynefin to make better sense of real team situations.
It is not a new framework to follow.
It is not a replacement for Scrum.
It is a field guide for using Scrum with more judgement, humility and situational awareness.
The book looks at how Cynefin can help you recognise the nature of the work in front of you, choose more suitable Scrum practices and avoid applying the right technique in the wrong context.
Who the book is for
I wrote this book for people who already know Scrum and want to practise it with greater discernment.
It may be useful for:
- Scrum Masters supporting teams through uncertainty.
- Agile Coaches helping organisations think more clearly.
- Product Owners trying to make better decisions about complex work.
- Delivery leaders who want to avoid treating every problem as a process problem.
- Teams who want to learn, adapt and respond more wisely.
Why Cynefin matters for Scrum teams
One of the most helpful things Cynefin gives us is a better question.
Instead of asking only, “What process should we use?”
We can ask, “What kind of problem is this?”
That question changes the conversation.
It helps teams pause before assuming that the answer is obvious. It makes space for expertise where expertise is needed. It encourages experimentation when the situation is genuinely complex. It reminds us that urgent action is sometimes necessary. And it helps us see when simple, clear practice is enough.
For me, that has always felt deeply aligned with good Scrum.
Scrum is not about blindly following ceremonies. It is about creating the conditions for inspection, adaptation, transparency, learning and better decision-making.
Cynefin helps us do that with more awareness of context.
Where to buy it
What kind of problem is this? is available now from Lulu.com.
It should be available on Amazon shortly, and I am also hoping to make an ebook version available soon.
I’ll share more details when those editions are ready.
For now, I’m very grateful to everyone who has encouraged me, challenged my thinking, read early drafts or helped me keep going with this project.
I hope the book helps Scrum practitioners ask better questions, make better sense of difficult situations and use Scrum with more wisdom.
