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Home > Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast > Breaking Down The Clan Mentality In Agile Teams | Mariano Gontchar
Podcast: Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast
Episode:

Breaking Down The Clan Mentality In Agile Teams | Mariano Gontchar

Category: News & Politics
Duration: 00:17:08
Publish Date: 2025-09-02 10:05:00
Description: Mariano Gontchar: Breaking Down The Clan Mentality In Agile Teams

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.

Mariano encountered a competent team that was sabotaging itself through internal divisions and lack of trust. The team had formed clans that didn't trust each other, creating blind spots even during retrospectives. Rather than simply telling the team what was wrong, Mariano created an anonymous fear-based retrospective that revealed the root cause: a Product Owner who behaved like a boss and evaluated team members, creating a culture of fear. His approach demonstrates the power of empowering teams to discover and solve their own problems rather than imposing solutions from above.

Self-reflection Question: What fears might be hiding beneath the surface of your team's dynamics, and how could you create a safe space for them to emerge?

Featured Book of the Week: Turn the Ship Around! by David Marquet

Mariano recommends "Turn the Ship Around!" by David Marquet (we have an episode with David Marquet talking about this book, check it here). Mariano highlights the fascinating story and introduction to the leader-leader model, which differs significantly from the traditional leader-follower approach. This book resonates with Mariano's journey from directive leadership to facilitative leadership, showing how empowering others rather than commanding them creates more effective and engaged teams.

[The Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast Recommends]

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