Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast: Agile storytelling from the trenches
Vasco Duarte, Agile Coach, Certified Scrum Master, Certified Product Owner
Every week day, Certified Scrum Master, Agile Coach and business consultant Vasco Duarte interviews Scrum Masters and Agile Coaches from all over the world to get you actionable advice, new tips and tricks, improve your craft as a Scrum Master with daily doses of inspiring conversations with Scrum Masters from the all over the world. Stay tuned for BONUS episodes when we interview Agile gurus and other thought leaders in the business space to bring you the Agile Business perspective you need to succeed as a Scrum Master.
Some of the topics we discuss include: Agile Business, Agile Strategy, Retrospectives, Team motivation, Sprint Planning, Daily Scrum, Sprint Review, Backlog Refinement, Scaling Scrum, Lean Startup, Test Driven Development (TDD), Behavior Driven Development (BDD), Paper Prototyping, QA in Scrum, the role of agile managers, servant leadership, agile coaching, and more!
Some of the topics we discuss include: Agile Business, Agile Strategy, Retrospectives, Team motivation, Sprint Planning, Daily Scrum, Sprint Review, Backlog Refinement, Scaling Scrum, Lean Startup, Test Driven Development (TDD), Behavior Driven Development (BDD), Paper Prototyping, QA in Scrum, the role of agile managers, servant leadership, agile coaching, and more!
Episodes
Mentioned books
Jun 9, 2025 • 15min
Breaking Free from Zombie Scrum | Stuart Tipples
In this enlightening discussion, Stuart Tipples, an Agilista and agile delivery expert, shares his insights on breaking free from 'zombie scrum.' He recounts his experience with teams stuck in performative practices and underscores the crucial shift from process compliance to genuine agile thinking. Stuart emphasizes the role of Scrum Masters in nurturing team dynamics and fostering collaboration. His mantra? Embrace agile values over rigid frameworks, ensuring real engagement rather than just going through the motions.
6 snips
Jun 6, 2025 • 19min
The No-Scroll Bar Rule—Empowering PO's Through Constraints | Joel Bancroft-Connors
Joel Bancroft-Connors, known as The Gorilla Coach, shares his expertise as a Certified Scrum Trainer and Agile disruptor. He discusses the transformative power of complementary skills in team dynamics, highlighting a successful collaboration between a business expert and a designer acting as Product Owner. Joel warns against the pitfalls of documentation-heavy approaches from Business Analysts, arguing that empowering developers to innovate is key. He also emphasizes the importance of understanding the 'why' behind Agile practices for effective implementation.
Jun 5, 2025 • 17min
Sustainable Value—Redefining Success Beyond Profit | Joel Bancroft-Connors
Joel Bancroft-Connors, a Certified Scrum Trainer known as The Gorilla Coach, redefines success by focusing on sustainable value beyond profit. He discusses the importance of sustainable processes and team well-being, challenging Scrum Masters to consider their 'people sustainability metrics.' Joel emphasizes that success should encompass long-term impacts rather than immediate profits. He advocates for structured retrospectives to drive meaningful change and balance profit with people in the workplace, highlighting the role of AI in enhancing Agile principles.
Jun 4, 2025 • 14min
The 90-Day Rule—Building Trust Before Disrupting the Status Quo | Joel Bancroft-Connors
Joel Bancroft-Connors, known as The Gorilla Coach, is a Certified Scrum Trainer and Agile disruptor dedicated to enhancing team effectiveness. He shares his journey in a traditional hard drive manufacturing company, emphasizing the importance of establishing trust before implementing changes. Joel advocates for the 90-day rule: listen first and build relationships, then plan for impactful change. He discusses the significance of transparency, valuing team members, and fostering collaboration to inspire motivation and innovation.
Jun 3, 2025 • 13min
How Performance Reviews Killed a Great Agile Team | Joel Bancroft-Connors
Joel Bancroft-Connors, known as The Gorilla Coach, dives into the pitfalls of performance reviews in Agile teams. He shares a cautionary tale of a thriving team that was derailed by individual metrics and misaligned goals during a large-scale transformation. Joel emphasizes the importance of balancing performance evaluations between team and individual contributions. He also highlights the transformative power of understanding the 'why' behind Scrum, inspired by Simon Sinek’s insights, to foster collaboration and elevate team success.
Jun 2, 2025 • 15min
When Great Scrum Masters Fail—The Hidden Cost of Poor Value Communication | Joel Bancroft-Connors
Joel Bancroft-Connors, known as The Gorilla Coach, is a Certified Scrum Trainer and Agile disruptor. He shares his insights on the often-overlooked importance of effectively communicating value beyond mere team performance. Despite having successful teams, Joel faced challenges when leadership could not see their impact, leading to budget cuts and loss of support. He stresses the need for Scrum Masters to actively engage with stakeholders and articulate their contributions to business outcomes, drawing inspiration from examples like Ted Lasso.
May 31, 2025 • 44min
BONUS Martti Kuldma: How to Transform Century-Old Organizations Through Product-Driven Agile Transformation
Martti Kuldma, CEO of Omniva and former engineering leader at Pipedrive, shares insights on transforming century-old organizations into agile, product-driven firms. He discusses Omniva's remarkable evolution from a traditional postal service to a modern logistics powerhouse driven by software innovations and DevOps practices. Martti elaborates on reimagining physical mailing networks and the importance of immediate feedback over annual reviews. His strategic vision emphasizes trust, storytelling, and self-managed teams as key elements in cultural transformation and agile success.
May 29, 2025 • 42min
BONUS Entertainment That Makes Change: Lessons in Product Thinking from Believe Ltd. With Patrick James Lynch
Patrick James Lynch, a filmmaker, media executive, and rare disease advocate, shares his journey of building Believe Limited to create impactful entertainment. He discusses how personal experience with his brother's hemophilia sparked a mission to empower chronic disease communities. Patrick emphasizes the importance of storytelling in product development, engaging audiences authentically, and listening to community needs. He also dives into navigating stakeholder dynamics in healthcare and highlights resources like 'Save the Cat' for effective storytelling.
May 28, 2025 • 41min
BONUS The Startup CTO's Handbook With Zach Goldberg
In this insightful discussion, Zach Goldberg, a technical entrepreneur and author of The Startup CTO's Handbook, shares his journey from software engineer to CTO. He reveals the importance of mastering leadership skills beyond technical expertise, emphasizing the challenges of hiring and performance management. Zach explains how to balance technical debt with startup urgency and the vital role of communication in leadership. His experiences highlight the necessity of ongoing learning and empathy in building high-performing engineering teams.
May 27, 2025 • 43min
BONUS Tom Gilb: Building True Engineering Culture and Delivering Value Through Evolutionary Methods
Tom Gilb, an independent teacher and consultant, dives into the essence of true engineering culture and project success. He critiques the flaws in Agile practices, emphasizing that failure stems from unclear goals rather than methodology. Discussing his new book, he advocates for the importance of defining success as meaningful improvements. Gilb also highlights the need for quantified objectives that consider usability and stakeholder engagement, and he challenges traditional approaches like OKRs to better understand project delivery.
