Hey Reader,

Aahh, the sun is finally getting out more often, and it kind of feels like spring.

I mean... I'm in Toronto. It's still freezing in here, but we have some more daytime to enjoy.

I know I've been bombarding you with emails last week (thanks for not unsubscribing, by the way :D ) about the new loyalty program that we launched in the store.

If you have no idea what I'm talking about, watch this video to find out.

But in the meantime, while that was happening, we were still working on our usual content to deliver the usual dose of value for you :)

So last Thursday we posted another video talking once more about how to become a Scrum Master.

I dived a bit deeper into what to do if you have no experience (and no way of getting relevant experience).

One of the reasons I wanted to talk about this topic is because I received lots of messages and comments asking me for some help in becoming a Scrum Master.

And I felt that sometimes the expectations people put on this transition are quite unrealistic.

I think "Scrum Master" became a popular role because it has some pretty nice benefits. Like remote work, for example. And the salaries are looking very-very enticing.

But I think that somewhere along the way the essence of the role got lost.

Somehow, it started to be seen as an easy transition. Like, you can just become a Scrum Master in a month, or something, by just passing a certification exam.

Thinking about it... I might have unknowingly contributed to that.

However, that is not a realistic expectation to have for any career transition because neither you, nor I have a magic wand.

Even if you are already in the right place (like in the company that can give you the relevant experience), it still is not going to happen quickly.

And that's one of the reasons why I was compelled to make this last video... to take us back to reality a bit.

Scrum Master is the role of an expert, of a leader, of an experienced professional.

Yes, it's not a senior role, but it doesn't make it an entry-level position.

Can you become a Scrum Master if you don't have the experience? I truly believe you can. But it will take time, effort, AND some serious investment.

If you made a decision to become a Scrum Master, plan ahead.

I am absolutely terrified to see professionals who are claiming to be Scrum Masters but actually have no idea what they are doing. And even worse - they are doing more damage than good!

Because of this, real professionals get a lot of hate.

Just last week someone called me "useless" in the comments.

What I want to say is that taking this transition lightly is not professional, and it's a bit disrespectful.

Can you imagine me claiming I'm a professional developer? Ha!

Even though I did get a certificate from HarvardX for a 12-week "Introduction to Computer Science" class. And I do some HTML for my website.

This is just not enough and I know that there is much more that goes into this profession. The same goes for the Scrum Master role.

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And here I wanted to make a little segway into an adjacent topic.

That is related to that "useless" comment I got. And it got fueled by a conversation I had with a friend this weekend.

Here is what it is about.

When it comes to work that produces tangible results whether in the form of material things or software, there is no question in people's minds that this work is bringing value. Even coming from people who don't understand that work at all.

For example, I see a lot of value in the work done by developers, even if I am incapable of doing this same thing.

While, when it comes to more intangible work, like people-oriented work, business, leadership, team building, etc., people who don't understand that work immediately see it as useless.

For example, many (way too many) developers look at people like me, Scrum Masters, or business folk, and say - we don't need you, because you don't produce anything tangible.

"What, you don't know how to code? Then why are you even here!"

I got into a debate in my comment section with someone about it. And I asked: "do you believe that building the product is the same as running a business?"

And to my surprise, they said "YES! Obviously!"

I could only say this in response: *facepalm*

If we question roles like a Scrum Master, or Project Manager, then we can easily start questioning roles in business, marketing, and sometimes even sales.

Somehow people believe that you just need to build an awesome product, and everything else will happen on its own.

It doesn't.

And then, if roles like this are useless in an organization, what else can we call useless outside of the corporate world where the value delivered is not tangible?

I think it's an important topic to bring up when we work with other people.

We will often be facing people whose work we don't understand. And for the sake of professionalism, we should try to understand first, before making a negative judgment on their value.

Yeah, I think that's everything I wanted to talk about here.

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Remember: you can now earn loyalty points in the store that you can redeem fro discounts and free products!

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Oh, by the way, I've added a couple of mini-guides to the store with some new templates and ideas. One is for kick-starting a community of practice and another is just a set of brainstorming exercise templates. Since these are just small guides, they are only $5 each. Just in case you were looking for something like this.

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My latest video (and accompanying blog post) can be found here.

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