Food for Agile Thought #141: Agile & Taylorism, Outcome Debate, NIH Syndrome, Team Self-Selection

Food for Agile Thought’s issue #141—shared with 17,129 peers—analyzes why ‘agile’ is the most important social technology since Taylorism. Although, the proxy discussion of ‘outcome vs. output’ raging in many organizations signals that organizational debt is still a wide-spread issue.

We also cover the latest opportunities that innovative technology provides—unless your organization suffers from the not-invented-here syndrome, of course. (We also feature a list of 50 epic corporate innovation failures.)

Lastly, we get into the trenches and ask: why should teams not select themselves?

Have a great week!

Food for Agile Thought #141: Agile & Taylorism, Outcome Debate, NIH Syndrome, Team Self-Selection

🏆The Essential Read

(via Deloitte Insights): Exponential technology watch list: Innovation opportunities on the horizon

Deloitte provides an epic outlook on upcoming technology trends, their implications, and what other players are already working on.

Agile & Taylorism

John Cutler (via Medium): Beyond ‘Outcomes Over Outputs’

John Cutler analyzes the ‘outcome vs. output’ debate in many organizations, classifying it as a proxy discussion for deeper rooted organizational issues.

Michiel van Gerven (via Medium): Why Agile is the most important social technology of this decade

Michiel van Gerven considers ‘agile’ the most important social technology since the reign of Taylorism in the industrial era.

Gustavo Razzetti (via TLNT): Why Not Let People Form Their Own Teams?

Gustavo Razzetti advocates the self-selection of teams as a core means of any organizational change.


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Product & Lean

Matthew E May (via InnovationExcellence): Overcoming the Not-Invented-Here (NIH) Mindset

Matthew E May on a common obstacle to (corporate) innovation due to a lack of learning and how to fix it.

Mike Cohn: Product Owners Should Prioritize Importance over Urgency

Mike Cohn shares his recipe to ensure that a team is always working on the most critical items each iteration.

(via Valuer.ai): 50 examples of corporations that failed to innovate

Katrina Aaslaid compiled a depressing list of lost opportunities, fueled by examples of hubris, ignorance, fear, and stupidity.

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🗞️ Last Week’s Food for Agile Thought Edition

Read more: Food for Agile Thought #140: Smart Decisions, Failed Transitions, Minimum Viable X, Useful Success Metrics.

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