The role of the Scrum Master is often heralded as crucial to agile teams’ success. What happens when teams claim full sovereignty over their work — not just the “how,” but the “why” and “what” as well?

In this talk, I’ll share insights from working with dedicated, self-steering teams where traditional roles like Scrum Master became less an accelerator for success and more a substitute for missing team habits.

Together, we’ll explore how autonomy and mastery can replace superfluous ceremony, how teams can self-sustain excellence, and how organizations can create conditions where responsibility is owned, not assigned.

Henk van der Schuur is Customer Director at Schuberg Philis, a company without managers, operating with customer-dedicated expert teams. Schuberg Philis delivers high-quality, mission-critical