97 Things Every Scrum Practitioner Should Know

Chapter 65. Actively Doing Nothing (Is Actually Hard Work)

Bas Vodde

“What do Scrum Masters actually do all day long?” is a hard question because the behavior of a Scrum Master is very contextual. The answer depends greatly on the maturity of the team, the experience of the Product Owner, and the amount of dysfunction in the organization. I use the “five tools of Scrum Masters” for clarifying what a Scrum Master does, when they do it, and why:

1. A Scrum Master asks questions.

2. A Scrum Master educates.

3. A Scrum Master facilitates.

4. A Scrum Master actively does nothing.

5. A Scrum Master interrupts (in exceptional cases).

These tools require little clarification, except probably the tool I use most: actively doing nothing.

Actively doing nothing means that when you observe non-optimal dynamics or plainly wrong behavior within your team or organization, you chose to not do anything at that moment.

A way to clarify actively doing nothing is to contrast it to its opposite: passively doing nothing. Passively doing nothing means you do nothing, and you don’t care. However, actively doing nothing means you care, you carefully observe what is happening, and decide...to do nothing.

For example, you notice two people from two different teams having a minor conflict about which team ought to do what. You observe and listen carefully, ask yourself whether this will cause permanent team damage, ...