Joy, simplicity, compassion: Trinitarian gifts in the agile workplace

Guest post by Gareth J M Saunders

Photograph by Andrew Moca on Unsplash

This article, on first reading, resonated so strongly with me, anmd captured what I see is an essential requirement for someone taking on the role of scrum master that I felt moved to share it with my own followers. I have reproduced the article, with permission, as written. No edits. If you prefer, you can read it on Gareth’s own blog.

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Introduction

What does servant leadership in Agile have to do with a monastic blessing from Taizé?

After my mother died in August 2020, I found an old copy of the Fairacres Chronicle among her belongings. In it, Brother Roland Walls reflects on three Gospel-rooted gifts: joy, simplicity and compassion. As I read his words, I was struck by how deeply they resonated – not just with my vocation as a priest in the Scottish Episcopal Church, but also with my role as a Scrum Master in a software development team.

In this reflection, I explore the unexpected but life-giving parallels between Christian discipleship and Agile practice, drawing on years of both pastoral and technical experience. Both vocations, I believe, are about presence, accompaniment and helping people flourish – quietly, faithfully and together.

Discovery

My late mother was an associate of the Sisters of the Love of God, a contemplative Anglican community based at the Convent of the Incarnation in Oxford, also known as Fairacres. She found great joy in writing to their sisters and reading their journal, the Fairacres Chronicle, which she often shared with others.

After Mum died, while I was helping to sort through her belongings, I came across a pile of well-thumbed Chronicles. I brought them home to read in quiet moments of remembrance. It was in one of these volumes that I encountered Brother Roland Walls’ article, Joy, Simplicity, Compassion (Fairacres Chronicle, Summer 1995. Volume 28, Number 2). As I read his reflection on these three inner qualities as signs of authentic Christian life, I was struck by how profoundly they resonated not only with my own spiritual life but also with my professional role as a Scrum Master in a software development team.

For those who don’t know, as well as being a Certified Scrum Master, I am also a non-stipendiary priest in the Scottish Episcopal Church. In both my ordained ministry and my Agile work, I have come to see the importance of walking alongside others as they navigate complexity, seek meaning and grow together. I was touched by Walls’ descriptions of these inner qualities of joy, simplicity and compassion. And I recognised that these are qualities that I believe are also at the heart of being a Scrum Master: walking with a team as they discover who they are and how to be the best team they can be while navigating the usual challenges of being human.

This short paper explores the parallels I see between Brother Roland’s vision of Christian discipleship – rooted in joy, simplicity, and compassion – and the work of an Agile Scrum Master. Though they arise from different traditions – one monastic and theological, the other iterative and technological – both vocations are ultimately about presence, accompaniment and transformation.

Joy: the quiet song of resilience

There are clear parallels for me between creating a space for meaning within worship and creating a psychologically safe space in Scrum ‘events’. In theatre director Peter Brook’s book The Empty Space (1968), he talks about the ‘holy space’ as a place where the invisible becomes visible. It echoes that classic Anglican definition of a sacrament as ‘an outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual grace’. This is central to liturgical worship – helping people encounter the invisible God – and it mirrors in a small way the Agile principle of making work visible. For that to happen, people need to feel safe, valued and seen themselves.

Brother Roland describes joy as a gift of open-hearted gladness, a deep buoyancy that sustains even when “high seas are running”. He distinguishes it from emotional highs – joy may be most evident when we are in the depths, singing alleluias in the dark. It is, he says, “a touch of heaven come down to earth”.

Scrum Masters, too, are called to carry this kind of joy – not as cheerleaders, but as steady presences who help teams remain resilient. When a project stumbles, when tensions arise or when outcomes fall short, it is often the Scrum Master who holds space for quiet hope. In Agile, joy manifests in the sense of purpose and pride that teams feel when their work is meaningful and their contributions are valued. A retrospective that ends with laughter, a sprint review that affirms progress – these are echoes of the joy Brother Roland speaks of.

Like joy at the Eucharist, the Scrum Master’s facilitation of rhythms and rituals (daily standups, reviews, retrospectives) invites the team into shared presence and communal celebration, even in the midst of challenge.

Simplicity: trusting the process, trusting each other

Walls sees simplicity as rooted in God’s own nature: “a lack of fuss and bother.” It is the ability to live amid complexity with “uncomplicated awareness”, open to what is essential. Simplicity brings freedom from anxiety and clarity of purpose.

For Scrum Masters, simplicity is both a guiding principle and a way of being. They help teams navigate the tangled webs of software development or other complex projects by protecting focus, removing distractions and encouraging clarity in goals and communication. A Scrum Master is often the one who says, “Let’s come back to the sprint goal” or “What’s the simplest experiment we could try?”

But simplicity is also relational. Walls notes that the simple person is accessible and unthreatening – a friend to not only neighbours, but birds, trees and even beetles. A Scrum Master fosters psychological safety not by asserting control, but by being radically approachable. This transparency opens up the space for others to bring their whole selves.

Compassion: walking with, not ahead

Compassion connects deeply with my theological training and experience in chaplaincy and pastoral care. As we often said at theological college, “It’s not about me.” Whether in ministry or a Scrum setting, I see my role as creating a trusting, gentle environment that allows people to speak their truth and be fully present. This act of ‘holding space’ is central to how I support both individuals and teams.

Compassion, in Walls’ reflection, is “shared humanity” – the capacity to feel with others in their joy and sorrow. It is a divine gift, enabling us to stand beside another in their pain or triumph without judgment or agenda. It is most needed, he notes, among those we live and work with every day.

This is the beating heart of the Scrum Master’s role. A good Scrum Master does not lead from the front, nor manage from above, but walks with the team. They notice when someone is struggling. They listen to what isn’t being said. They challenge gently and advocate boldly. They hold space for growth, even when that growth is uncomfortable.

Agile frameworks often speak of servant leadership. Brother Roland gives us a fuller picture of what that can look like when shaped by a compassionate awareness of shared vulnerability, dignity and interdependence.

A shared vocation: presence and transformation

My audience for this reflection includes readers of my personal blog and those who may encounter it through LinkedIn. Many of you will already know that I am a priest, but for those who don’t, I offer this context to show how my theological perspective and Agile practice inform one another.

What struck me most about Walls’ article was not just its theological beauty but how deeply it resonated with my experience of working in a team. Priesthood, chaplaincy and Scrum Mastery are different in form but similar in function: all three are vocations of accompaniment. Each requires presence, attentiveness, trust and a commitment to others’ flourishing.

Both the spiritual life and the Agile life are lived in cycles – in prayer and iteration, in liturgy and retrospectives. Both are oriented not toward control but toward transformation, not toward certainty but toward hope. And both, when faithful, bear the fruit of joy, simplicity and compassion.

Conclusion

For me, the role of Scrum Master is a kind of secular ministry – a lived vocation shaped (for myself, at least) by Gospel values. The most effective Scrum Masters I’ve worked alongside are those who serve their teams with compassion and, at times, self-sacrifice. My worldview is a theological one: I see God working in people’s lives. But I would never preach in the workplace. Instead, I try to embody my beliefs through the values I uphold – commitment, focus, openness, respect, and courage – and through the Scrum pillars of transparency, inspection, and adaptation.

Brother Roland’s words remind us that these three gifts – joy, simplicity, and compassion – are not optional extras, but signs of the Spirit at work. Whether in a Christian community or a software development team, they mark the path of those who lead not by command, but by love.

As a Certified Scrum Master, I have found these qualities to be essential. Not because Agile requires them, but because humanity does. And perhaps, in some mysterious way, each sprint becomes a small echo of Pentecost – a place where God’s Spirit moves through collaboration, care and shared creation.

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About the author—in his own words

I’m Gareth J M Saunders, 54 years old, 6′ 4″, father of three (including twins). Enneagram type FOUR and introvert (INFJ), I am a non-stipendiary priest in the Scottish Episcopal Church, I sing with the NYCGB alumni choir, play guitar, play mahjong, write, draw and laugh… Former Scrum master at Safeguard Global, Sky and Vision/Cegedim. Former web architect and agile project manager at the University of St Andrews and previously warden at Agnes Blackadder Hall. View all posts by Gareth Saunders

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