Bernie Maloney: Mastering Complexity Through Systems Thinking and NLP Coaching

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.

Bernie addresses the constant challenge of mid-sprint changes by asking the crucial question: "what do you want to trade in for that new request?" His approach centers on recognizing that everyone is trying to do their best with what they have, using techniques from NLP and the three coaching positions to help people see the whole system. Bernie emphasizes rapport building as a key skill for Scrum Masters and warns against the anti-pattern of becoming judgmental when challenges arise. He advocates for moving from a plan-and-predict mentality to sense-and-respond thinking, highlighting the importance of conducting retrospectives once challenges are solved. Bernie's coaching philosophy revolves around helping people step into the "third position" - a dissociated perspective that enables better problem-solving and systems thinking.

In this episode, we refer to Neuro-linguistic Programming (NLP), and to Instant Rapport by Michael Brooks, a primer on NLP.

We also refer to the plan-and-predict vs sense-and-respond mentality.

Self-reflection Question: How effectively are you helping your teams and stakeholders see the whole system when challenges arise, rather than just focusing on individual pain points?

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About Bernie Maloney

Bernie Maloney has helped teams grow businesses to beyond $4B / year, delivering products from consumer electronics to network infrastructure to services & payments. He helps clients achieve performance breakthroughs with their teams, organizations and themselves, and believes that leads both to outrageous effectiveness, and a whole lot more fun.

You can link with Bernie Maloney on LinkedIn, and visit Bernie's website and YouTube Channel.