Thread by @berndschiffer

Manager: "Hey, you, Agile coach!"
Me: "Me?"
Manager: "Yes, you! Your team failed. You are responsible!"
Me: "Responsible for what?"
Manager: "For your team's outcome. For them failing."
Me: "No, I'm not."

[thread👇]

Manager: "Outrageous! Why not?"
Me: "Because they are responsible for their own actions. If they weren't, they wouldn't be a self-organised team. If they'd simply do what I'd tell them to do, I'd give commands and would not be their coach."

👇

Manager: "But you coach them! You must have responsibility."
Me: "Yes, I'm responsible for my coaching."
Manager: "Ha! So you are responsible for this team."
Me: "I'm responsible for coaching this team, not for their decisions, actions, or outcomes. That's up to them."

👇

Manager: "But what do you mean with being responsible for coaching them?"
Me: "A coach can coach well or badly, the team's execution can be good or bad. But it's independent of each other. It's the team's perception of the coaching that determines the coaching's value."

🖖👋