Avoiding Hard Conversations—When High-Performing Agile Teams Self-Destruct | Bernard Agrest

Bernard Agrest: Avoiding Hard Conversations—When High-Performing Agile Teams Self-Destruct

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.

Bernard describes how a high-performing, fun-loving team began to unravel when a new member joined who wasn't delivering on their commitments. Instead of addressing the performance issue directly, team members started picking up the slack, avoiding the difficult conversation that needed to happen. As morale dropped and people checked out, Bernard realized the team was paralyzed by fear of confrontation and assumptions that raising the issue would be ignored. This experience taught him that individual performance problems quickly become whole-team problems when left unaddressed, and that strong relationships require the courage to have honest, supportive conversations.

Self-reflection Question: What difficult conversation are you avoiding on your team, and what assumptions might be preventing you from addressing it?

Featured Book of the Week: The 6 Types of Working Genius by Patrick Lencioni

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