Food for Agile Thought #220: Taylorism & Agile, Kick-Start Self-Organization, Product vs. Company Strategy, PM Time Allocation

TL; DR: Taylorism & Agile, Kick-Start Self-Organization — Food for Agile Thought #220

Food for Agile Thought’s issue #220—shared with 24,421 peers—asks whether Taylorism is probably less of a villain than often believed; we get back to the agile-industrial complex, and we appreciate a simple introduction on how to kick-start self-organization.

We then learn more about value propositions in niche markets; we can compare our activities as product managers with the results of a recent study, and we listen to a discussion on six critical ingredients for a great product strategy.

Lastly, we consider a heretic thought: might the benefit of team longevity be overrated?

Did you miss last week’s Food for Agile Thought’s issue #219?

Food for Agile Thought #220: Taylorism & Agile, Kick-Start Self-Organization, Product vs. Company Strategy, PM Time Allocation

🗞 Do you want to get this article in your inbox in the future? You can sign up here for our weekly ‘Food of Agile Thought newsletter’ and join 29k other subscribers.

Scrum Guide 2020 — Download the new edition of the Scrum Guide Reordered — Age-of-Product.com

🏆 The Essential Post

Renee Troughton: Taylorism isn’t as far from Agile and Lean as you would think

Renee Troughton believes that Taylor’s Scientific Management is less of a villain that many agile folks believe,

📅 Agile Camp Berlin 2020 — We Are Back!

The Agile Camp Berlin 2020 will happen from April 17-18, 2020, at the Evangelische Schule Berlin Zentrum right in the center of Berlin.

We have already sold 40 percent of the available 200 tickets. You can secure yours right here:

Learn more: 📅 Agile Camp Berlin 2020 — We Are Back!

Agile & Scrum

Ron Jeffries: Advocating Against Advocating Against

Ron Jeffries points at that practices are devised, not just to solve a specific problem, but to make room for improvements.

Gustavo Razzetti (via Medium): How To Get Your Team Started With Self Organization

Gustavo Razzetti describes a roadmap to increase autonomy and to distribute authority in your organization.

Heidi Helfand (via The Agile Revolution): 🎙 [Episode 174: Dynamic Reteaming

Craig Smith interviews Heidi Helfand on why the best teams are not always the stable ones.

📅 Professional Scrum Master Training PSM I + Liberating Structures — Berlin, February 18-20, 2020

This extended PSM class adds a third day to the Professional Scrum Master training that focuses on the application of Liberating Structures to Scrum Events such as the Sprint Retrospective or the Sprint Review — to apply the PSM training immediately to practical problems. The class will be offered in English. You can book your ticket right here:

Learn more: 📅 Professional Scrum Master Training PSM I + Liberating Structures — Berlin, February 18-20, 2020.

Product & Lean

Amancio Bouza (via Medium): Value Proposition Interface Canvas

Amancio Bouza shares an interesting extension to the value proposition canvas for a niche market: APIs.

(via ProductCraft): Tactical vs. Strategic: Where PMs Spend Time

Paul Young delves into the results of a recent study on what activities product managers allocate their attention.

Des Traynor (via Intercom): 🎙 The intersection of company and product strategy: six key ingredients for a great product strategy

Des Traynor and Paul Adams discuss six key ingredients for a great product strategy.

📯 Join more than 400 Peers and Participate in the Agile Metrics Survey 2020

Let’s stop guessing and start crowdsourcing data and information on this critical topic: Who is using what metrics under which context to what success? Participate in the agile metrics survey now.

Agile Metrics Survey 2020 — Age-of-Product.com

Learn more: Agile Metrics Survey 2020.

📅 Scrum Training & Event Schedule

You can secure your seat for Scrum training classes, workshops, and meetups directly by following the corresponding link in the table below:

Date Class and Language City Price
🖥 🇩🇪 January 28-31, 2025 Professional Scrum Product Owner Training (PSPO I; German; Live Virtual Class) Live Virtual Class €1,299 incl. 19% VAT
🖥 💯 🇬🇧 Feburary 4-6, 2025 GUARANTEED: Hands-on Agile 2025: From Concept-Based to Context-Based Agility (English) Live Virtual Conference FREE
🖥 🇬🇧 February 12-13, 2025 Professional Scrum Master Advanced Training (PSM II; English; Live Virtual Class) Live Virtual Class €1,299 incl. 19% VAT
🖥 💯 🇬🇧 February 27, 2025 GUARANTEED: Professional Scrum Facilitation Skills Class (PSFS; English; Live Virtual Class) Live Virtual Class €749 incl. 19% VAT
🖥 💯 🇬🇧 March 6-April3, 2025 GUARANTEED: Align, Discover, Deliver: The Product Backlog Management Cohort Class (English; Live Virtual Class) Live Virtual Cohort €499 incl. 19% VAT
🖥 🇩🇪 March 11-12, 2025 Professional Scrum Product Owner Training (PSPO I; German; Live Virtual Class) Live Virtual Class €1,299 incl. 19% VAT
🖥 🇬🇧 March 26-27, 2025 Professional Scrum Master Advanced Training (PSM II; English; Live Virtual Class) Live Virtual Class €1,299 incl. 19% VAT
🖥 🇩🇪 April 10, 2025 Professional Product Discovery and Validation Class (PPDV; German; Live Virtual Class) Live Virtual Class €749 incl. 19% VAT
Professional Scrum Training by PST Stefan Wolpers, Berlin  Product People

You can book your seat for the training directly by following the corresponding links to the ticket shop. If the procurement process of your organization requires a different purchasing process, please contact Berlin Product People GmbH directly.


Scrum Guide Reordered Free Download Age-of-Product.com

📺 Join 1,800-plus Agile Peers on Youtube

Now available on the Age-of-Product Youtube channel:

✋ Do Not Miss Out and Learn about Taylorism: Join the 6,375-plus Strong ‘Hands-on Agile’ Slack Community

I invite you to join the “Hands-on Agile” Slack Community and enjoy the benefits of a fast-growing, vibrant community of agile practitioners from around the world.

Large scale agile: Join the Hands-on Agile Slack Group

If you like to join all you have to do now is provide your credentials via this Google form, and I will sign you up. By the way, it’s free.

Scrum Master Interview Question: free download of the most popular ebook on Scrum Master job interviews — by Age-of-Product

🗞️ Last Week’s Food for Agile Thought Edition

Read more: Food for Agile Thought #219: Conflict Fear, Tough Conversations, Product Owner Stances, Skip MVPs.

Find this content useful? Share it with your friends!

Leave a reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.