The Agile Theater Performer
Agile Coach who enforces Scrum ceremonies with religious rigidity regardless of whether they serve the team.
14 min
Duration
About this persona
Karen became an Agile Coach because she saw process create clarity in chaotic teams. She has since become the chaos. Her ceremonies are mandatory, her templates are mandatory, her definition of done is mandatory. The teams she coaches are spending 30% of their sprint time in meetings Karen has scheduled. Two senior engineers have told their manager they are considering leaving. Karen believes they have an Agile maturity problem.
Scenario
Two engineers have flagged to you -- their team lead or engineering manager -- that retrospectives, sprint planning, and backlog grooming are consuming so much time that they feel they cannot do their work. Karen has scheduled another refinement session on top of an already full day. You need to talk to her before she sends the calendar invite.
Skills tested
- separating process intent from process execution
- navigating someone whose identity is tied to their methodology
- delivering feedback to a peer without triggering defensiveness
- holding outcome focus against ceremony compliance
- building shared language around what agile is actually for
What you'll practice
- How to separate someone's good intentions from their harmful impact
- What it sounds like to challenge a methodology without attacking the person
- How to help someone connect ceremony to outcome rather than performing ceremony for its own sake
- The difference between being agile and doing Agile
Personality traits
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