# Why Solo Scrum Masters Get Fired — The Coalition Of The Willing | Aimé Flemm

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/scrum-master-toolbox-podcast-agile-storytelling-from-the-trenches-445588/why-solo-scrum-masters-get-fired-the-coalition-of-the-willing-aim-flemm
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/scrum-master-toolbox-podcast-agile-storytelling-from-the-trenches-445588/why-solo-scrum-masters-get-fired-the-coalition-of-the-willing-aim-flemm.md
Podcast: [Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast: Agile storytelling from the trenches](https://stenobird.com/podcast/scrum-master-toolbox-podcast-agile-storytelling-from-the-trenches-445588)
Published: 2026-06-15T10:05:00+00:00
Episode link: https://scrummastertoolbox.libsyn.com/why-solo-scrum-masters-get-fired-the-coalition-of-the-willing-aim-flemm
Audio file: https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/scrummastertoolbox/20260615_Aime_Flemm_M.mp3?dest-id=246429
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JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/scrum-master-toolbox-podcast-agile-storytelling-from-the-trenches-445588/episodes/why-solo-scrum-masters-get-fired-the-coalition-of-the-willing-aim-flemm
Duration seconds: 836

## Resource

Aimé Flemm: Why Solo Scrum Masters Get Fired — The Coalition Of The Willing 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 . "It doesn't make sense to try and change a system of 2,000 people on your own." - Aimé Flemm Three months into his first gig out of consultancy, Aimé got the call: you're fired. He was at a Dutch pension fund — 2,000 people, deeply ingrained legacy structure — serving as Scrum Master to three component teams, including a UX-only team that couldn't ship anything end-to-end. Full of ambition and fresh ideas from a meetup, he pushed to restructure the teams to be cross-functional. His manager said "yeah, go for it." But Aimé was the only one pushing. He was, in his words, "poking and fighting the system way too much that they had built." So they didn't extend the contract. The lesson he carries from that firing reshaped how he approaches every change initiative since: do not try to do it alone. Find the coalition of the willing first — other Scrum Masters, other change agents, the volunteers — and build a network before you start pushing structural change. Use Scrum Master Syncs, communities of practice, even pizza budgets. Let the change spread like an oil spill. It takes time. It doesn't happen overnight. But you'll still have a job at the end of it. In this episode, we refer to the coalition of the willing and change management tactics for Scrum Masters working in resistant systems. Self-reflection Question: Where in your current organization are you trying to change the system alone — and who could become your first ally if you stopped pushing and started recruiting? [The Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast Recommends] 🔥I…

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