Food for Agile Thought #222: Agile Coaching Spotify Style, Empathy w/ Engineers, Sociocracy, Internal Politics for PMs

TL; DR: Agile Coaching Spotify Style, Empathy w/ Engineers—Food for Agile Thought #222

Food for Agile Thought’s issue #222—shared with 24,597 peers—addresses agile coaching Spotify style; we come back to technical debt—a never-ending story—, and we listen to a take on what high-performing engineering teams need.

We also learn how to empathize with engineers as a product manager; we pick up a formula on how to measure product/market fit, and we dive into seven likely cases of internal (product) politics.

Lastly, we dare to ask: what is sociocracy, and what is it good for?

Did you miss last week’s Food for Agile Thought’s issue #221?

Food for Agile Thought #222: Agile Coaching Spotify Style, Empathy w/ Engineers, Sociocracy, Internal Politics for PMs

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

🏆 The Essential Post: Agile Coaching Spotify Style

(via InfoQ): 📺 Agile coaching at Spotify: The Evolution of the Agile Coach

Erin McManus and Fiona Siseman discuss Agile coaching at Spotify, its evolution, struggles and pitfalls, and how coaches are set up for present and future success.

📅 Agile Camp Berlin 2020 — The Last Minute 🎄 Gift

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

The ACB2020 tickets are available now—and for ten lucky people, using the code XmasACB2020 will save € 20 on the ticket price.

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

Agile & Scrum

Lisa van Gelder (via The Lead Developer): 📺 The four components of high performing teams

Beyond architecture & tech stack, Lisa van Gelder shares the four things she believes necessary to create great teams.

Allen Holub: Technical Debt

Allen Holub revisits one of this newsletter’s favorite topics.

(via Sociocracy For All): What is sociocracy, and do you need it?

Ted Rau explains the basic concept of sociocracy as a governance system.

📯 Scrum Master Career 2020 — Using Ecocycle Planning to Identify Opportunities

Last week, about 30 members of the Hands-on Agile community in Berlin came together to identify opportunities for personal and professional growth for the coming year, using Liberating Structures’ Ecocycle Planning in the process, to further your Scrum Master career 2020. Read on and learn in this post what opportunities you have to advance your career as a Scrum Master or agile coach in the next year.

Scrum Master Career 2020 — Using Ecocycle Planning to Identify Opportunities

Learn more: Scrum Master Career 2020 — Using Ecocycle Planning to Identify Opportunities.

Product & Lean

(via Product Manager HQ): Empathizing with Engineers

Clement Kao summarizes his learnings as a product manager on how to collaborate best with engineers.

Oleg Yakubenkov: What is product/market fit and how to measure PMF

Oleg Yakubenkov shares his proven formula on how to measure when product/market fit is achieved.

Shaun Juncal (via ProductPlan): Internal Politics Situations You Will Encounter as a Product Manager

Shaun Juncal outlines seven internal politics situations a product manager may likely encounter.

📅 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 1,825-plus Agile Peers on Youtube

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✋ Do Not Miss Out and Learn about Agile Coaching Spotify Style: Join the 6,475-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 #221: Flow Thinking, Trust Building, North Star Playbook, Prediction & Planning.

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