Agile Coaches and Scrum Masters TAKE that Project Manager Job!
I received an email from a colleague that included this statement—
As an Agile Coach/Transformation Leader, I have not worked since 2023. It's incredibly hard to find work right now. I get many offers for project manager roles, but that's not my passion. It's Agile transformations.
I use this simply as an example. I’ve had hundreds of similar exchanges with Scrum Masters, Product Owners, and Agile Coaches.
They similarly consider
Functional Manager
Product Manager
Project Manager
Release Manager
And similar roles to be beneath them, or uninteresting, or uninviting. To all of them I say—
Hogwash!
Take those roles! Bring every bit of your agile mindset and experience with you and into that role. Then, be a disruptor, change artist, and evangelist from the inside as you bring agile excellence to the role.
(BTW: I just yearned to say hogwash 😉)
The Point
Don’t get caught up in the job title or description. Ask yourself—
Do I know what skills they are looking for in this role?
Do I have and can I effectively deliver those skills?
In this market, if the answer is yes, then happily and humbly take the job, bringing your whole self to it and seeing what happens.
It breaks my heart that so many agilists have convinced themselves that the only place to operate is that perfect agile transformation-ready company that embraces everything with a smile and a thank you.
That desire, while I understand the attraction, is unrealistic. Those companies rarely exist in the real world. They’re unicorns.
We must get in the game in challenging situations and traditional roles and see how we can role-model agile ways of working without demanding they change.
So…
Take those jobs and transform yourself and the organization from the inside out!
Stay agile, my friends,
Bob.
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