Two Left Feet: When Scrum Teams Stumble Before Finding Their Rhythm

We were humming along as a Team; suddenly it feels like everybody’s got two left feet. What’s going on?

Sometimes when a Team hits a rough patch, after a period of really working well together, it’s hard to understand what went wrong? We’ve faced tough challenges before… this feels different.

How? Not only are we feeling unclear about how to tackle the new challenge; we actually don’t seem to be doing ordinary stuff very well anymore! Morale has taken a hit, we’re more frustrated with ourselves, and with each other, maybe someone on or outside the Team starts to question whether the Team has peaked, and changes need to be made? You know–bring some new blood onto the Team, or divide up the Team and let people move on to new projects to “keep things fresh.”

Of course, there’s no one-size-fits-all recipe for a Team losing its sense of comfortable workflow and collaborative rhythm. This post is dedicated to exploring the possibility is that the Team is temporarily regressing because it’s facing a developmental challenge.

Scrum Mastering Tip: Team Rhythm

Here are some sample questions a Scrum Master can use to unpack what’s going on in a Retro^[1]:

1. What’s different about the challenge we are facing today from the challenges we faced in our previous work?
2. Let’s assume some level of uncertainty about our success is normal for any project. What doubts do we have about our ability to succeed in the current project? How can we address bite-size pieces?
3. Has our Mission^[2] changed? If yes, what’s different about our new Mission? If we’re not sure whether our Mission has changed, what questions do we need answered? Who do we think can provide those answers?
4. Is there anybody or anything outside of the Team we’re tempted to blame for our current predicament? If we put all our blaming statements out on the table in an un-edited way, and take stock of them, which can we agree are well-grounded, and which might be overblown?

Underlying Theory: Scrum Dance

There’s an old psychological principle at work here, something psychoanalyst Ernst Kris (1936) called “regression in the service of the ego.”^[3] The core idea is that as Psychologist Danielle Knafo argues, sometimes it’s necessary to take a developmental step backward in order to take two steps forward – and it is this temporary regression and re-integration that makes possible “more connection, invention, and vision.”^[4]

Renewed connection, invention, and vision is precisely what an Scrum Team is seeking in confronting a never-before-countered challenge. This psychological principle is true not just for individuals but for collaborative Teams, in the following way.

“The more trust, integrity, and cohesion a Team has, the more it is able to allow itself to undergo temporary periods of regression in order to discover a renewed, newly empowered ability to creatively cope with challenges.”

Sometimes we naturally have to take a step back, developmentally, to move forward. Neurologically, something needs to get re-wired, new connections are needed, and that’s not just a personal challenge, it’s a challenge we face together.

Interestingly, even the alchemists in the Middle Ages were familiar with this principle; they called it solve et coagulum—dissolving what’s become lead, so to speak, in order to reform it as gold. In other words, it feels like the Team’s structure—regarding its well-established knowledge, habits, and familiar ways of working together—has come to a screeching halt as a result of facing a big new challenge.

Learning To “Dance” Again

In a situation like this, we may feel like the Team is broken! We can’t move forward the way we are used to, and it may seem like everything we were sure about has been tossed into the air. You might notice that it’s as if everyone on the Team must learn a new dance step simultaneously, causing us to step on each other’s feet—and even our own! It feels like everybody’s got two left feet.

At this point, we need two things to move forward: first of all we need patience: for ourselves, and from our leaders and Stakeholders. And this patience can only be invited when we are able to name the challenge we face and begin to take on bite-size pieces of it. At first, it might feel like we’re learning to walk again as a Team. In a way that’s true, but if we can work through this gray zone together, the odds are that all of the flow and teamwork we had established before will re-emerge, but at a new level.

Could your Team use some help learning to “dance” again?
Explore your questions with our chatGPT ScrumGuide, its free and empowered with all of our Scrum Knowledge and more.

As Always, Stay Agile.

1-2. “Retro,” “Mission”. Accessed February 20, 2019. Scrum Dictionary.

• This reference provides detailed definitions of key Scrum terms, including Retrospective (or Retro) and Mission. These terms help guide team alignment and reflective processes during Agile projects.

Leonard’s work discusses how mastery often involves cycles of progress and plateaus, reinforcing the idea that setbacks are part of long-term success—relevant to Agile teams striving to improve continuously.

Kris, Ernst. (1936).The Psychology of Caricature, in Psychoanalytic Explorations in Art: 173-188. New York: International Universities Press.

Specifically, this work explores psychological processes involved in creativity, such as regression for development. The concept helps explain why teams, like individuals, may experience temporary setbacks when facing challenges.

Knafo, Danielle. (2012).Dancing with the Unconscious: The Art of Psychoanalysis and the Psychoanalysis of Art. Routledge.

Knafo’s work discusses how moments of disorder or regression unlock new forms of creativity and connection, relevant to Agile teams trying to find a new rhythm during turbulent phases.

Tuckman, Bruce W. (1965).Developmental Sequence in Small Groups. Psychological Bulletin, 63(6), 384-399.

A temporary regression aligns with the “storming” phase, where team dynamics are challenged, but eventual progress is possible.

Schein, Edgar H. (2010).Organizational Culture and Leadership. 4th ed. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Schein’s theories on team culture and leadership highlight how teams evolve through different phases, requiring occasional restructuring or reflection to align with new challenges.

Lencioni, Patrick. (2002).The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Leadership Fable. Jossey-Bass.

Lencioni provides insights into common team struggles, such as lack of trust and miscommunication, and offers practical solutions to rebuild collaboration.

Leonard, George. (1992).Mastery: The Keys to Success and Long-Term Fulfillment. Plume.