Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast

Scott Smith: Empathy and Availability Define Excellent Product Ownership Read the full Show Notes and search through the world's largest audio library on Agile and Scrum directly on the Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast website: http://bit.ly/SMTP_ShowNotes. The Great Product Owner: Always Present, Always Available, Always Curious "They are always present. They always make themselves available for team members that need them." - Scott Smith   Scott is currently working with a Product Owner who exemplifies what great PO collaboration looks like. This person is always present—not just physically but mentally engaged with the team's work and challenges. They make themselves available for team members who need them, responding actively on the team chat and interacting consistently.  What makes this PO stand out is their empathy and curiosity. Instead of being defensive when questions arise or challenges emerge, they lean into helping the team understand and solve problems. They show genuine curiosity abou

Scott Smith: Using MIRO to Build a Living Archive of Learning Read the full Show Notes and search through the world's largest audio library on Agile and Scrum directly on the Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast website: http://bit.ly/SMTP_ShowNotes.   "We're in a servant leadership role. So, ask: is the team thriving? That's a huge indication of success." - Scott Smith   For Scott, success as a Scrum Master isn't measured by velocity charts or burn-down graphs—it's measured by whether the people are thriving. This includes everyone: the development team and the Product Owner.  As a servant leader, Scott's focus is on creating conditions where teams can flourish, and he has practical ways to gauge that health. Scott does a light touch check on a regular basis and a deeper assessment quarterly. Mid-sprint, he conducts what he calls a "vibe" check—a quick pulse to understand how people are feeling and what they need. During quarterly planning, the team retrospects and celebrates achievements from the past qu

Scott Smith: Building a Coaching Service Where Survey Scores Become Living Improvement Read the full Show Notes and search through the world's largest audio library on Agile and Scrum directly on the Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast website: http://bit.ly/SMTP_ShowNotes.   "Success is about feedback from coaching clients." - Scott Smith   Scott is tackling one of the most challenging aspects of organizational transformation: turning annual survey results into continuous improvement. Working with a domain of about 30 people, Scott is exploring how to create a coaching service that doesn't just react to once-a-year data but actively drives ongoing growth. The typical pattern in many organizations is familiar—conduct an annual survey, review the scores, maybe have a few discussions, and then wait another year. Scott is experimenting with a different approach.  He's setting up a coaching service that focuses on real-time feedback from the people being coached, making improvement a living practice rather th

Scott Smith: Why Great Scrum Masters Create Space for Breaks Read the full Show Notes and search through the world's largest audio library on Agile and Scrum directly on the Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast website: http://bit.ly/SMTP_ShowNotes.   "Think of the people involved. Put yourself in the shoes of the other." - Scott Smith   Scott found himself in the middle of rising tension as voices escalated between the Product Owner and the development team. The PO was harsh, emotions were running high, and the conflict was intensifying with each exchange. In that moment, Scott knew he had to act.  He stepped in with a simple but powerful reminder: "We're on the same team." That pause—that momentary break—allowed everyone to step back and reset. Both the PO and the team members later thanked Scott for his intervention, acknowledging they needed that space to cool down and refocus on their shared outcome.  Scott's approach centers on empathy and perspective-taking. He emphasizes thinking about the people

Scott Smith: The Spotlight Failure That Taught a Silent Lesson About Recognition Read the full Show Notes and search through the world's largest audio library on Agile and Scrum directly on the Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast website: http://bit.ly/SMTP_ShowNotes.   "Not everybody enjoys the limelight and being called out, even for great work." - Scott Smith   Scott was facilitating a multi-squad showcase with over 100 participants, and everything seemed to be going perfectly. Each squad had their five-minute slot to share achievements from the sprint, and Scott was coordinating the entire event. When one particular team member delivered what Scott considered fantastic work, he couldn't help but publicly recognize them during the introduction.  It seemed like the perfect moment to celebrate excellence in front of the entire organization. But then his phone rang. The individual he had praised was unhappy—really unhappy. What Scott learned in that moment transformed his approach to recognition forever.

BONUS: When AI Knows Your Emotional Triggers Better Than You Do — Navigating Mindfulness in the AI Age In this thought-provoking conversation, former computer engineer and mindfulness leader Mo Edjlali explores how AI is reshaping human meaning, attention, and decision-making. We examine the critical question: what happens when AI knows your emotional triggers better than you know yourself? Mo shares insights on remaining sovereign over our attention, avoiding dependency in both mindfulness and technology, and preparing for a world where AI may outperform us in nearly every domain. From Technology Pioneer to Mindfulness Leader "I've been very heavily influenced by technology, computer engineering, software development. I introduced DevOps to the federal government. But I have never seen anything change the way in which human beings work together like Agile." — Mo Edjlali   Mo's journey began in the tech world — graduating in 1998, he was on the front line of the internet explosion. He remembers t

AI Assisted Coding: Building Reliable Software with Unreliable AI Tools In this special episode, Lada Kesseler shares her journey from AI skeptic to pioneer in AI-assisted development. She explores the spectrum from careful, test-driven development to quick AI-driven experimentation, revealing practical patterns, anti-patterns, and the critical role of judgment in modern software engineering. From Skeptic to Pioneer: Lada's AI Coding Journey "I got a new skill for free!"   Lada's transformation began when she discovered Anthropic's Claude Projects. Despite being skeptical about AI tools throughout 2023, she found herself learning Angular frontend development with AI—a technology she had no prior experience with. This breakthrough moment revealed something profound: AI could serve as an extension of her existing development skills, enabling her to acquire new capabilities without the traditional learning curve. The journey evolved through WindSurf and Claude Code, each tool expanding her understan

AI Assisted Coding: Treating AI Like a Junior Engineer - Onboarding Practices for AI Collaboration In this special episode, Sergey Sergyenko, CEO of Cybergizer, shares his practical framework for AI-assisted development built on transactional models, Git workflows, and architectural conventions. He explains why treating AI like a junior engineer, keeping commits atomic, and maintaining rollback strategies creates production-ready code rather than just prototypes. Vibecoding: An Automation Design Instrument "I would define Vibecoding as an automation design instrument. It's not a tool that can deliver end-to-end solution, but it's like a perfect set of helping hands for a person who knows what they need to do."   Sergey positions vibecoding clearly: it's not magic, it's an automation design tool. The person using it must know what they need to accomplish—AI provides the helping hands to execute that vision faster. This framing sets expectations appropriately: AI speeds up development significantly

BONUS: Augmented AI Development - Software Engineering First, AI Second In this special episode, Dawid Dahl introduces Augmented AI Development (AAID)—a disciplined approach where professional developers augment their capabilities with AI while maintaining full architectural control. He explains why starting with software engineering fundamentals and adding AI where appropriate is the opposite of most frameworks, and why this approach produces production-grade software rather than technical debt. The AAID Philosophy: Don't Abandon Your Brain "Two of the fundamental developer principles for AAID are: first, don't abandon your brain. And the second is incremental steps."   Dawid's Augmented AI Development framework stands in stark contrast to "vibecoding"—which he defines strictly as not caring about code at all, only results on screen. AAID is explicitly designed for professional developers who maintain full understanding and control of their systems. The framework is positioned on the furthest end

AI Assisted Coding: Swimming in AI - Managing Tech Debt in the Age of AI-Assisted Coding In this special episode, Lou Franco, veteran software engineer and author of "Swimming in Tech Debt," shares his practical approach to AI-assisted coding that produces the same amount of tech debt as traditional development—by reading every line of code. He explains the critical difference between vibecoding and AI-assisted coding, why commit-by-commit thinking matters, and how to reinvest productivity gains into code quality. Vibecoding vs. AI-Assisted Coding: Reading Code Matters "I read all the code that it outputs, so I need smaller steps of changes."   Lou draws a clear distinction between vibecoding and his approach to AI-assisted coding. Vibecoding, in his definition, means not reading the code at all—just prompting, checking outputs, and prompting again. His method is fundamentally different: he reads every line of generated code before committing it. This isn't just about catching bugs; it's about ma

AI Assisted Coding: From Designer to Solo Developer - Building Production Apps with AI In this special episode, Elina Patjas shares her remarkable journey from designer to solo developer, building LexieLearn—an AI-powered study tool with 1,500+ users and paying customers—entirely through AI-assisted coding. She reveals the practical workflow, anti-patterns to avoid, and why the future of software might not need permanent apps at all. The Two-Week Transformation: From Idea to App Store "I did that, and I launched it to App Store, and I was like, okay, so… If I can do THIS! So, what else can I do? And this all happened within 2 weeks."   Elina's transformation happened fast. As a designer frustrated with traditional software development where maybe 10% of your original vision gets executed, she discovered Cursor and everything changed. Within two weeks, she went from her first AI-assisted experiment to launching a complete app in the App Store. The moment that shifted everything was realizing that

Sara Di Gregorio: Coaching Product Owners from Isolation to Collaboration Read the full Show Notes and search through the world's largest audio library on Agile and Scrum directly on the Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast website: http://bit.ly/SMTP_ShowNotes. The Great Product Owner: Using User Story Mapping to Break Down PO Isolation "One of the key strengths is the ability to build a strong collaborative relationship with the Scrum team. We constantly exchange feedback, with the shared goal of improving both our collaborating and the way of working." - Sara Di Gregorio   Sara considers herself fortunate—she currently works with Product Owners who exemplify what great collaboration looks like. One of their key strengths is the ability to build strong collaborative relationships with the Scrum team. They don't wait for sprint reviews to exchange feedback; instead, they constantly communicate with the shared goal of improving both collaboration and ways of working.  These Product Owners involve the tea

Sara Di Gregorio: How to Know Your Team Has Internalized Agile Values Read the full Show Notes and search through the world's largest audio library on Agile and Scrum directly on the Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast website: http://bit.ly/SMTP_ShowNotes.   "Scrum isn't just a process to follow, it's a way of working." - Sara Di Gregorio   For Sara, success as a Scrum Master isn't measured by what the team delivers—it's measured by how they grow. She knows that if you facilitate team growth in communication and collaboration, delivery will naturally improve.  The indicators she watches for are subtle but powerful. When teams come to her with specific requests outside the regular schedule—"Can we have 30 minutes to talk and reflect mid-sprint?"—she knows something has shifted. When teams want to reflect outside the retrospective cycle, it means they've internalized the value of continuous improvement, not just going through the motions. She listens for the word "goal" during sprint planning.  When team

Sara Di Gregorio: Facilitating Deeper Retrospectives—When to Step In and When to Step Back Read the full Show Notes and search through the world's largest audio library on Agile and Scrum directly on the Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast website: http://bit.ly/SMTP_ShowNotes.   "When they start connecting and having an interesting discussion, I go to the corner, and I'm only trying to listen." - Sara Di Gregorio   Sara faces a challenge that many Scrum Masters encounter: teams that want to discuss too many topics during retrospectives without going deep on any of them. The team had plenty to talk about, but conversations stayed surface-level, never reaching the insights that drive real improvement. Sara recognized that the aim of the retrospective isn't to talk about everything—it's to go deeper on topics the team genuinely cares about.  So she started coaching teams to select just three main topics they wanted to discuss, helping them understand why prioritization matters and making explicit which topi

Sara Di Gregorio: Rebuilding Agile Team Connection in the Remote Work Era Read the full Show Notes and search through the world's largest audio library on Agile and Scrum directly on the Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast website: http://bit.ly/SMTP_ShowNotes.   "The book helped me to shift from reacting to connecting, which completely changed the quality of conversation." - Sara Di Gregorio   When COVID forced Sara's team into full remote work, she noticed something troubling—the team was losing real connection. Replicating in-office meetings online simply didn't work. People attended meetings but weren't truly present. The spontaneous coffee machine conversations that built relationships and surfaced important information had vanished.  So Sara started experimenting. She introduced 5-minute chit-chat sessions at the start of every meeting: "Guys, how are you today? What happened yesterday?" She created "coffee all together" moments—10-minute virtual breaks where the team could drink coffee or have aper

Sara Di Gregorio: When Teams Lose Trust—How Scrum Masters Rebuild It One Small Change at a Time Read the full Show Notes and search through the world's largest audio library on Agile and Scrum directly on the Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast website: http://bit.ly/SMTP_ShowNotes.   "I continue to approach this situation with openness, positivity, and trust, because I truly believe that even the smallest changes can make a difference over time." - Sara Di Gregorio   Sara faced one of the most challenging situations a Scrum Master can encounter—a team member who had lost all trust in change, creating a negative atmosphere that weighed heavily on the entire team. She remembers the heaviness on her shoulders, feeling personally responsible for the team's wellbeing. The negativity was palpable during every meeting, and it threatened to undermine the team's progress.  But Sara refused to give up. She started experimenting with different approaches: one-to-one conversations to understand what was happening, b

BONUS: Flawless Execution — Translating Fighter Pilot Precision to Business Results In this powerful conversation, former fighter pilot Christian "Boo" Boucousis reveals how military precision translates into agile business leadership. We explore the FLEX model (Plan-Brief-Execute-Debrief), the critical difference between control-based and awareness-based leadership, and why most organizations fail to truly embrace iterative thinking. From Cockpit to Boardroom: An Unexpected Journey "I learned over time that it doesn't matter what you do if you're always curious, and you're always intentional, and you're always asking questions." — Christian "Boo" Boucousis   Christian's path from fighter pilot to leadership consultant wasn't planned—it was driven by necessity and curiosity. After 11 years as a fighter pilot (7 in Australia, 4 in the UK), an autoimmune condition ended his flying career at age 30. Rather than accepting a comfy job flying politicians around, he chose entrepreneurship. He moved to

Alidad Hamidi: When Product Owners Facilitate Vision Instead of Owning It Read the full Show Notes and search through the world's largest audio library on Agile and Scrum directly on the Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast website: http://bit.ly/SMTP_ShowNotes. The Great Product Owner: Co-Creating Vision Through Discovery "The best product owner I worked with was not a product owner, but a project manager. And she didn't realize that she's acting as a product owner." - Alidad Hamidi   The irony wasn't lost on Alidad. The best Product Owner he ever worked with didn't have "Product Owner" in her title—she was a project manager who didn't even realize she was acting in that capacity. The team was working on a strategic project worth millions, but confusion reigned about what value they were creating. Alidad planned an inception workshop to create alignment among stakeholders, marketing, operations, advisors, and the team.   Twenty minutes into the session, Alidad asked a simple question: "How do we know

Alidad Hamidi: Maximizing Human Potential as the Measure of Success Read the full Show Notes and search through the world's largest audio library on Agile and Scrum directly on the Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast website: http://bit.ly/SMTP_ShowNotes.   "Does my work lead into maximizing human potential? Maximizing the ability of the human to use their potential and freedom." - Alidal Hamidi   Alidad calls himself a "recovering agility coach," and for good reason. For years, he struggled to define success in his work. As an enterprise coach, he plants seeds but never sees the trees grow. By the time transformation takes root, he's moved on to the next challenge. This distance from outcomes forced him to develop a more philosophical definition of success—one rooted not in deliverables or velocity charts, but in human potential and freedom.   His measure of success centers on three interconnected questions. First, are customers happy with what the teams create? Notice he says "create," not "deliver"—a d

Alidad Hamidi: The Tax Agile Teams Pay for Organizational Standards Read the full Show Notes and search through the world's largest audio library on Agile and Scrum directly on the Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast website: http://bit.ly/SMTP_ShowNotes.   "If you set targets for people, they will achieve the target, even if that means destroying the system around them." - W. Edwards Deming (quoted by Alidad)   The tension is familiar to every Scrum Master working in large organizations: leadership demands standard operating models, flow time metrics below specific numbers, and reporting structures that fit neat boxes. Meanwhile, teams struggle under the weight of context-insensitive measurements that ignore the nuanced reality of their work. Alidad faces this challenge daily—creating balance between organizational demands and what teams actually need to transform and thrive.   His approach starts with a simple but powerful question to leaders: "What is it that you want to achieve with these metrics?" Go