Food for Agile Thought #155: Agile Data, Team Building Guide, Lean Startup Is a Failure, Customer-Driven?

Food for Agile Thought’s issue #155—shared with 18,683 peers—focuses on effective team building, how agile data can support your storytelling during an agile transition, and why the change agent needs to be ahead of the game at any time.

We also have a look at the silent estimation technique and why it may replace planning poker, and why professional product backlogs have the shape of an iceberg.

Lastly, we ask ourselves: is ‘lean startups’ probably nothing more than a failed ideology, a useless tool if your organization is looking to improve its innovation game?

Have a great week!

Food for Agile Thought #155: Agile Data, Team Building Guide, Lean Startup Is a Failure, Customer-Driven?

🏆 The Essential Read

SketchingScrumMaster: Agile 2018: T-minus 10… 9… 8… We have Lift-off!

Angie Doyle and Talia Lancaster share their recipe to lift off (or forming) high-performance teams effectively from Agile 2018.

Agile Data & Scrum

Troy Magennis (via Agile Alliance): What's the story about Agile Data

Troy Magennis’ Agile 2018 keynote is about helping people tell essential stories in Agile using data.

John Cutler (via Medium): The Patient Change Agent

John Cutler urges change agents not to become a part of the problem—and even quit while you’re ahead.

Kiryl Baranoshnik (via Medium): Why I Stopped Using Planning Poker

Kiryl Baranoshnik prefers the silent estimation technique over planning poker—learn why.

🎫 Hands-on Agile 2019 Conference—The Survey Results Are in

We asked 4,500 European subscribers to the Food for Agile Thought newsletter to participate in the Hands-on Agile 2019 Conference survey, and about 350 answered the call:

  • 65 percent of the respondents voted for Berlin over London.
  • The Hands-on Agile 2019 Conference would be 2-days conference on a Thursday & Friday. (Including a workshop track on Tuesday and Wednesday.)
  • The most wanted topics are business agility, “scaling agile,” and coaching techniques including games.
  • The price range will likely be between € 250 and € 400 per ticket.
  • The majority of respondents preferred a hybrid event with a preselected speaker track as well as a Barcamp-like track.
  • Respondents expressed their willingness to support the conference: from spreading the news to volunteering at the venue.

Next step: The next step is the identification of a suitable venue. Once that task is accomplished, we can start talking to sponsors. I will keep you posted via the newsletter.

Read more: Hands-on Agile 2019 Conference — Survey Results Are in: It’s Berlin by 2:1.

Product & Lean

Mike Cohn: Agile Product Backlogs Should Be Shaped Like Icebergs

Mike Cohn points at the typical shape of the product backlog if done right—you may want to check yours.

Luis Perez-Breva (via Quartz): “The Lean Startup” is an unproductive legend

Luis Perez-Breva believes that the ‘lean startup ideology’ is merely an expensive recipe for remaining an entrepreneur longer, not really for innovating.

Venkatesh Rao: So You Think You're Customer-Driven?

Venkatesh Rao believes that being product-driven is superior to being customer-driven.

📺 Join 625-plus Agile Peers on Youtube

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🗞️ Last Week’s Food for Agile Thought Edition

Read more: Food for Agile Thought #154: Agile’s Many Faces, BAI Report 2018, Product Discovery, User Testing Engineers.

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