The Scrum Master Who Learned That Perfect Boards Don't Build Perfect Teams | Carmela Then
Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast: Agile storytelling from the trenches
Release Date: 01/05/2026
BONUS Saving Democracy—How AI Is Transforming the Battlefield for Our Minds With Anthony Vinci
Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast: Agile storytelling from the trenches
BONUS: Saving Democracy—How AI Is Transforming the Battlefield for Our Minds In this very special BONUS episode, we speak with Anthony Vinci, former CTO and Associate Director of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) and author of . Anthony has been at the frontlines of modernizing the intelligence community for the age of AI, and in this episode, he lays out a stark warning: we are entering an era where machines don't just augment intelligence—they transform it. But the real battlefield isn't just digital; it's cognitive, economic, and societal. From Startup Founder to...
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Why the Best Product Owners Let Go of What They're Best At | Carmela Then
Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast: Agile storytelling from the trenches
Carmela Then: Why the Best Product Owners Let Go of What They're Best At The Great Product Owner: The Humble Leader Who Served His Team 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: . "He was there, he was present, he was serving the team." - Carmela Then Carmela worked with a Product Owner at a bank who embodied everything servant leadership should look like. This wasn't a PO who lorded his business expertise over the team—instead, he brought cookies, cracked...
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Why Teams Hate Agile (And How to Change That) | Carmela Then
Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast: Agile storytelling from the trenches
Carmela Then: Why Teams Hate Agile (And How to Change That) 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: . "They just hate it. They absolutely hate it. They had Agile fatigue." - Carmela Then Carmela describes what success looks like for a Scrum Master, and her answer might surprise you. Years ago, she might have pointed to metrics like cycle time. Today, she measures success by whether teams embrace Agile and Scrum rather than resent it. She joined a team...
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From Requirements Chaos to Story Mapping Success—How Planning Transforms Agile Teams | Carmela Then
Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast: Agile storytelling from the trenches
Carmela Then: From Requirements Chaos to Story Mapping Success—How Planning Transforms 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: . "We can't continue to do this. Something has to change." - Carmela Then Carmela shares a story of organizational chaos that will resonate with many Agile practitioners. She joined a company where teams would jump straight into writing requirements without pausing to understand what they were trying to achieve. Vendor...
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When Remote Teams Stop Listening—The Silent Killer of Agile Collaboration | Carmela Then
Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast: Agile storytelling from the trenches
Carmela Then: When Remote Teams Stop Listening—The Silent Killer of Agile Collaboration 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: . "Two minutes into it, my mind's starting to wander and I started to do my own thing." - Carmela Then Carmela paints a vivid picture of a distributed team stretched across Sydney, New Zealand, India, and beyond—a team where communication had quietly become the enemy of progress. The warning signs were subtle at first: in meetings...
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The Scrum Master Who Learned That Perfect Boards Don't Build Perfect Teams | Carmela Then
Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast: Agile storytelling from the trenches
Carmela Then: The Scrum Master Who Learned That Perfect Boards Don't Build Perfect 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: . "The failure part is, instead of leading the team to work toward a common vision, I was probably one of the persons that helped the divide." - Carmela Then Carmela shares a vulnerable story from her first Scrum Master role at a bank. Armed with training, certifications, and the ability to build a beautiful physical Scrum board with...
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Coaching Product Owners to Be the Voice of the Customer | Steve Martin
Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast: Agile storytelling from the trenches
Steve Martin: Coaching Product Owners to Be the Voice of the Customer In this episode, we refer to video and . The Great Product Owner: Rob Gard's Customer Obsession 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: . "The role of the PO really is to help the team empathize with the user, the customer of the product, because that's how they can develop great solutions." - Steve Martin Rob Gard worked at a fintech firm and is now CPO of a major fintech company. Steve...
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Making Scrum Master Success Visible with OKRs That Actually Work | Steve Martin
Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast: Agile storytelling from the trenches
Steve Martin: Making Scrum Master Success Visible with OKRs That Actually Work 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: . "It is not the retrospective that is the success of the retrospective. It is the ownership and accountability where you take improvements after the session." - Steve Martin The biggest problem for Scrum Masters isn't just defining success—it's being able to shout it from the rooftops with tangible evidence. Steve champions OKRs as an amazing...
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Why Agile Fatigue Means We Need to Change Our Approach | Steve Martin
Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast: Agile storytelling from the trenches
Steve Martin: Why Agile Fatigue Means We Need to Change Our Approach 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: . "We teach transformation, we support transformation, we help change, but we don't really understand what they're changing from." - Steve Martin Steve believes Agile as a whole is on the back foot, possibly regressing. There's palpable fatigue in the industry, and transformation in its current form hasn't been the success we hoped. Organizations still...
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When a Distributed Team's Energy Vanishes into the Virtual Void | Steve Martin
Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast: Agile storytelling from the trenches
Steve Martin: When a Distributed Team's Energy Vanishes into the Virtual Void 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: . "They weren't a team, they were a group of individuals working on multiple different projects." - Vasco Duarte (describing Steve's team situation) The infrastructure team looked promising on paper: Product Owner in Italy, hardware engineers in Budapest, software engineers in Bucharest, designers in the UK. The team started with energy and...
info_outlineCarmela Then: The Scrum Master Who Learned That Perfect Boards Don't Build Perfect 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.
"The failure part is, instead of leading the team to work toward a common vision, I was probably one of the persons that helped the divide." - Carmela Then
Carmela shares a vulnerable story from her first Scrum Master role at a bank. Armed with training, certifications, and the ability to build a beautiful physical Scrum board with perfectly straight lines, she believed she was ready to lead. But Carmela quickly discovered a crucial truth: mastering the mechanics of Scrum is vastly different from serving a team's real needs. Instead of showing up as a humble learner willing to grow alongside her team, she put on a facade of competence and confidence.
When two Product Owners began fighting for dominance, rather than stepping back and focusing the teams on their shared purpose, Carmela found herself drawn into the political battle, supporting one PO over the other. The result was devastating—a toxic environment where one PO was demoted, and talented team members left the organization entirely. Looking back, Carmela recognizes that her failure wasn't about the Scrum board or ceremonies; it was about not putting the customer and common goals at the center. She learned that Scrum Masters must lead with humility, focus on outcomes rather than egos, and help teams unite rather than divide.
In this episode, we refer to John C. Maxwell and Failing Forward by John C. Maxwell.
Self-reflection Question: When was the last time you prioritized looking competent over truly serving your team's needs, and what did that cost you?
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🔥In the ruthless world of fintech, success isn't just about innovation—it's about coaching!🔥
Angela thought she was just there to coach a team. But now, she's caught in the middle of a corporate espionage drama that could make or break the future of digital banking. Can she help the team regain their mojo and outwit their rivals, or will the competition crush their ambitions? As alliances shift and the pressure builds, one thing becomes clear: this isn't just about the product—it's about the people.
🚨 Will Angela's coaching be enough? Find out in Shift: From Product to People—the gripping story of high-stakes innovation and corporate intrigue.
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About Carmela Then
Carmela is a Senior Business Analyst with 15+ years in financial and mining sectors. A Certified and Advanced ScrumMaster, she excels in leading agile initiatives, delivering business value, and aligning technical outcomes with strategic goals.
You can link with Carmela Then on LinkedIn.