Starting Point
You know Agile, but not always what to do with the team dynamic in front of you.
Especially when the room becomes political, avoidant, overly dependent, or quietly resistant.
New Book by Roman Lobus
The Art of Creating Self-Organizing Teams
Agile Team Coaching from a Journeyman to an Expert
A practitioner's guide to coaching teams through power dynamics, resistance, and real-world complexity — so they can truly own their work.
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The Art of Creating Self-Organizing Teams
Springer
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O'Reilly
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Amazon US
Kindle & Print
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Reader Fit
Who this book is built for.
Primary audience: Scrum Masters, Agile coaches, team leads, and adjacent change practitioners who already understand Agile and need stronger coaching leverage.
Pain Point
You need something more usable than slogans like “empower the team.”
The book offers structures, questions, exercises, and ways to intervene without becoming the fixer.
Outcome
You leave with a coaching process, not just ideas.
That includes contracting, norms, decision rights, working with resistance, and your own reflective practice.
Reader Outcomes
What you will be able to do afterwards.
Process
Run a structured coaching journey
From contact and contracting through experimentation, repair, and sustainment.
Team Dynamics
Surface hidden expectations and power
Read the room systemically instead of treating every problem as a ceremony issue.
Interventions
Coach autonomy without chaos
Use boundaries, authority ladders, agreements, experiments, and reflection loops.
Growth
Develop your own coaching craft
Work with supervision, reflective practice, and the inner game required to stay grounded in complexity.
Chapter Overview
The four-part structure.
Part 1
Team Coaching for Agility
Why this work matters and how the ICF team coaching competencies translate into Agile contexts.
- Why team coaching?
- Mastering the fundamentals
Part 2
Coaching Techniques & Processes
Where the book turns into a field manual: contracts, imagos, operating systems, and experiments.
- Sealing the deal
- Rewriting the team imago
- The self-organisation toolkit
Part 3
Navigating Challenging Situations
Roadblocks, shadow dynamics, resistance, ethics, and the realities of virtual coaching.
- Clearing the roadblocks
- Power plays and hidden agendas
- Turning resistance into resilience
- Staying true and going virtual
Part 4
Enhancing the Coaching Craft
Reflection, supervision, vertical development, and the inner conditions of mature coaching practice.
- Impact beyond another tool
- Pause, Reflect, Act
- Supervision and deliberate practice
- Staying grounded in chaos
Frequently Asked Questions
I already have shelves of Agile books. Why this one?
Most Agile books stop at frameworks and ceremonies. This one starts where they leave off — the human dynamics that actually determine whether a team becomes autonomous. Power, politics, resistance, hidden contracts. If those words describe your Monday morning, this is the book.
What's Transactional Analysis, and do I need to know it already?
Transactional Analysis (TA) is a practical psychology for understanding how people relate in groups — ego states, psychological contracts, group imago, drama triangles. The book teaches you everything you need as you go. No prior TA knowledge required.
My team's real problem is politics, not process. Does this help?
That's exactly what Part 3 is about. Shadow dynamics, hidden agendas, authority confusion, and competing commitments. The book gives you tools to surface what's actually going on — and coach through it without becoming the fixer.
Can I actually use this on Monday morning?
Yes. Every chapter connects to downloadable tools — contracting canvases, team imago worksheets, authority ladders, resistance radars. The book is designed as a field manual, not a philosophy lecture.
Will this work if my organisation doesn't fully support coaching?
The book addresses this reality directly — including three-cornered contracting with sponsors, navigating misaligned agendas, and coaching within organisational constraints. It's written for the real world, not the ideal one.
I'm not a certified coach. Is this too advanced for me?
The book supports both developing and experienced practitioners. If you work with teams and want to go beyond facilitation into genuine coaching — understanding dynamics, designing interventions, growing your own practice — this is your starting point.