Podcast Host (4:16)

Oh, you got lucky.

Florian Giorguescu (4:20)

So I was in the beginning I straddled both Project Management and Scrum Master roles. But naturally I gravitated to more towards towards the Scrum Master role because it aligned more with my collaborative approach and also my desire for positive change. So I did both roles in the beginning, but then slowly moved towards Scrum Mastery. I've learned a lot. I also did my fair share of mistakes then. And after a couple of years working in IT service companies, I wanted for myself to not only be doing Agile, but also to be agile and move to a product company.

Podcast Host (5:25)

From there where you started like full time Scrum Master.

Florian Giorguescu (5:30)

Yes, this was so product companies back then were not so many in Romania. This is why I decided to move to Germany. And yeah, it was an amazing experience because it allowed me to experience more of what means being agile, what means actually to do agile.

Podcast Host (5:56)

And maybe you have a story around that. That's a really interesting transition. And of course this idea of just going through the motions or doing agile versus being agile, so understanding and taking advantage of the principles and values. And I was wondering if that's the story of failure you have to share with us, Florian, because of course today's Fail Monday here on the podcast. So we'll talk about a story of a difficult moment you had. So walk us through that story. We'll take the takeaways and lessons learned later. But first walk us through that story.

Florian Giorguescu (6:32)

It was so the story of the failure it was more of. I don't see it as a failure. I see it more as a learning for or a learning experience for myself. It is related to how did it start?

Podcast Host (6:47)

Like where are we? Is it this a product company? Are you still a project manager trying to apply agile? Or is this when you're already trying to live agility?

Florian Giorguescu (6:59)

It started already in Romania. So when I was working for an IT service company and I was doing a lot of Agile and it's related mainly to my burnout.

Podcast Host (7:17)

So tell us more. So like you were trying to apply agile in an IT services company, I imagine that the pressure from outside, since you're serving a customer who's out there somewhere, is probably quite large. Maybe they are asking for plans and estimates all the time. How was it at that time?

Florian Giorguescu (7:39)

It was definitely this pressure that you're mentioning about from the clients, but it also was the pressure made by myself because I was a passionate, and I'm still a passionate Scrum Master. And I had this overwhelming desire to create positive change in the sense that I wanted to fix everything, I wanted to know everything, and also to transform everything, preferably overnight and all by myself. So it was. It was now, looking back, it was this Superman Scrum Master syndrome that, that. That I had. I was curious. I wanted to do a lot in a very short. In a very short period of time. And yes, slowly, this. This brought me to this burnout, but I even didn't see it.

Podcast Host (8:35)

How did you even realize that this was happening to you, that you were slowly sliding into a burnout?

Florian Giorguescu (8:45)

I've witnessed it in Germany already when I had a coach that supported me. And when I talked about all of this with the coach and I also. It was very important to me to get somehow the validation that it's okay for things to take longer. It's okay also to not be perfect from the beginning. It's okay also to let the teams do things for themselves and not be always there for them. So, yeah, this is, in short, how I managed to realize this.

Podcast Host (9:46)

Yeah. So you're feeling that pressure. You still want to do things better, even though there's pressure coming from wanting to do things better. Plus everything else, reports and estimates and whatever, meetings, lots of work. And you're having this conversation with your coach. And how does the idea of a possible burnout come to your mind? Did the coach specifically mention that? How did you even realize that? Yes, I am motivated. Yes, I am passionate. Yes, I feel tired. But from there, to go to this idea that, you know, I'm slowly burning out. Not everybody is even able to realize that, even when they are in the middle of it. So what triggered that realization in your mind?

Florian Giorguescu (10:36)

I even. I also didn't realize it. So I started to realize it in the moment where I started the conversations with the coach. The signs were at some point. It was obviously exhaustion. I felt the need to be everywhere. I felt the need to be with the team when I don't know when a team member is joining and to support the onboarding. Then if Jira was not working, be there and try to do everything for them. So I've tried to be everywhere for everyone and to do everything actually for everyone. And it was exhaustion. It was also, at some point, frustration because things didn't go the way I expected. And again afterwards I realized that it was normal, especially when we talk about change and also the motivation at some point, right. It felt difficult to continue doing things because I didn't see.

Podcast Host (11:49)

There's an important lesson here, right? Like that when we talk about sustainable pace, we have to be careful that that applies to us as much as it applies to the teams. And as you said, sometimes we just need to be patient with ourselves and others. We can't push change. We can only trigger moments of change. Right? Like, one way to think about change is that it doesn't happen in a process. It happens in many different moments that come together. And usually you only know what those moments are when you look back. Right? Like you can't always predict what are the moments going forward, but you can always see them when you're looking back. And that's an important realization because otherwise we end up being frustrated, exhausted, and of course, maybe even feeling guilty and all of that, that leads to burnout. It's a very important warning. Thank you for sharing that with us, Florian.

Florian Giorguescu (12:43)

Yes, yes, indeed. I mean, I've learned and experienced that to be a great Scrum Master isn't about achieving perfection, but it is important to be consistent in your approach. It is important to have the wisdom to prioritize. And this is also one lesson that I've. I've learned in my conversations with the coach. I started to prioritize things.

Podcast Host (13:14)

It's great insight. That's a great insight. The prioritization that we so often argue the teams need, but sometimes forget we need. Thank you for sharing that.

Florian Giorguescu (13:24)

Yeah.

Vasko (13:30)

All right, I hope you like this episode, but before you hit next episode, here's the deal. This podcast is powered by people like you. The members who wanted more than just inspiration. They wanted real tools and real connection to people who are practicing agile. Every day we're talking access to over 700 hours of agile gold, CTO level strategy talks, Summit keynotes, live workshops, E courses, Deep Dive interviews, books. And if you're into no estimates, we got the pioneers of no Estimates in those Deep Dive interviews as well. Agile Business Intelligence, creating product visions, coaching your product owner courses, you name it. You'll get invites to monthly live Q&As with agile pioneers and practitioners, plus a private Slack community which is free of all of that AI slop you see everywhere. And of course, without the flame wars, it's a community of practitioners that want to learn and thrive together. It's the best place to connect with community and learn together. So if this podcast has helped you before. Imagine what you will get from this podcast membership. So head on over to scrummastertoolbox.org membership and join the community that's shaping the future of Agile. We have so much for you, so check out all the details@scrummastertoolbox.org membership because listening is great, it's important. But doing it together, that's next level.

Podcast Host (15:18)

I'll see you in the community. Slack we really hope you liked our show. And if you did, why not rate this podcast on Stitcher or itunes? Share this podcast and let other Scrum masters know about this valuable resource for their work. Remember that sharing is caring.