Last week we explored Cynefin as a way of understanding the nature of the problem.
This week we go one level deeper.
Because once you recognise the domain you are in, the next question becomes what is constraining this system?
Most frustration at work is not caused by laziness or lack of effort. It is caused by constraints.
Continue reading Cynefin and constraints – what is really holding things back?Cynefin is one of those frameworks that quietly rewires how you see work. It stops you arguing about methods and starts you asking about the nature of reality you are in.
Most debates about productivity, leadership or agile delivery get stuck at the level of tools.
Cynefin suggests we are often asking the wrong question.
Before choosing a method, ask “What kind of problem is this?”
Continue reading Cynefin for beginners – understanding the nature of the problemWhen Agile drifts towards control rather than responsiveness, it is easy to turn Scrum events into performances.
Safe. Polished. Predictable. But quietly useless.
I saw this first-hand when I started as a Scrum Master in a new organisation.
I ran our Sprint Reviews as real conversations, not controlled presentations – and that shift towards openness and responsiveness was genuinely liberating for the team.
Continue reading When agile teams stop performing progress…There are moments in Scrum Mastery where it looks like they’re doing very little.
They’re quiet in a meeting.
They don’t jump in to fix a problem.
They let a conversation run longer than feels comfortable.
From the outside, it can look like inaction.
From the inside, it’s some of the most deliberate work they do.
One of the most persistent misunderstandings about the Scrum Master role is that it exists to enforce process.
Seen this way, the Scrum Master becomes a kind of process police officer – checking attendance, correcting behaviour and reminding people what Scrum says should happen.
But that framing misses the point of the role entirely.
Scrum does not exist to be obeyed.
It exists to help teams work effectively in complexity.
And complexity does not respond well to enforcement.
