Many organizations try to mingle the accountabilities of the Scrum Master, Product Owner, and Developers. For example, an organization may decide that the scrum master will also be a programmer or a tester, or that product owner will be also a designer. While this may seem like a good idea at first, it can create problems, especially for a team that is new to Scrum. Having a Sc Rum Master also be a developer can make it hard for the Scum Master to be impartial during discussions. As a simple example, consider a Scrum master who is also a programmer. There will undoubtedly be times when the team is having a deep technical discussion or debate, and our combo Sc rum master programmer will become engrossed in that discussion. For the programmer half of that person, this is fine. But that personally is also the scrum master and should be making sure the team isn't going too deep into solving technical issues in a meeting. Or this combined scrumm master programmer may get so engrossed in the discussion that he or she fails to notice that two team members have mentally checked out of the meeting Arguably more difficult than a Scrum Master who is also a developer is having one person be both the Scum Master and Product Owner. This is a lot like pairing peanut butter and mustard. I like each on its own, but I can't imagine they make a good combination. One of the problems with combining the Product owner and Sc rum Master in a single person is that it becomes very hard for that person to fulfill the scrum master's duty to protect the team. Product owners, by their very nature, often get excited about the possibilities of their product. This leads many product owners to want more, more more. I can assure you, I do this when I'm a product owner. And I have a hard time waiting. A good scrum master is there to protect against that. When a product owner pushes too hard or at the wrong time, such as when a team has burnt out, the scrumm master should be there push back. And this is really hard to do for anyone who is both product-owner and scrumb master. There aren't a lot of guarantees in life, but let me offer a guarantee. Any Scrum team will be better with a dedicated Scum Master and a separate, dedicated product owner who can focus just on that job. But that doesn't mean it's always economically justified. If you're a startup with three people, you aren' t going to have a full-time Scroom Master. Try to avoid mingling the accountabilities of the scrum master, product owner, and developers. Understand the consequences of doing so, but realize that just about every product is constrained by realities, such as budget and availability of people.