A coach helps teams grow. A referee enforces rules.
Too often, Agile Coaches end up acting more like referees—calling out “violations” and making sure teams follow frameworks by the book, rather than helping them improve in ways that actually make sense.
A referee says:
“You skipped daily standups? That’s not Agile.”
“Your story points aren’t consistent. Fix that.”
“You have to follow Scrum exactly as written.”
A coach asks:
“What’s holding your team back from working effectively?”
“How can we improve how you deliver value?”
“Let’s experiment and adapt Agile to fit your needs.”
Referees enforce compliance. Coaches build capability. Agile isn’t about following a framework perfectly—it’s about continuous improvement and helping teams deliver better results.
Have you ever worked with an Agile Referee? Or realized you were acting like one yourself? Let’s talk.
