TL; DR: Product-Led Is Also Bad, From CTO to CPO—Food for Agile Thought #288
Welcome to the 288th edition of the Food for Agile Thought newsletter, shared with 30,952 peers. This week, we counter the popular complaint from product folks that their organization’s sales-drivenness impedes the creation of better products. We also explore the secret ingredients of building high-performance teams, and we suggest a few improvements for a critical step in creating useful software.
We then answer four questions regarding modern product management, from skills to metrics to how engineering can be supportive. Moreover, we share a guide on how to figure out the level of customer satisfaction that allows for sustained growth, and we select product metrics that matter—beyond the usual suspects like NPS.
Lastly, we follow Bill Wake’s reflections on “half-waterfall,” a blend of practices based on upfront planning and agile.
Did you miss the previous Food for Agile Thought’s issue #287?
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🏆 The Tip of the Week: The Systems Change Problem
: Product-Led is Just as Bad as Sales-Driven
Itamar Gilad counters the popular complaint from product folks that their organization’s sales-drivenness impedes the creation of better products.
➿ Agile & Scrum
: What Does It Take to Have a Great Agile Team?
In this interview, Richard Kasperowski and Stephen Harrison explore the secret ingredients of building high-performance teams.
: Improving Code Reviews
Michael Küsters suggests a few improvements for a critical step in creating useful software.
: Half-Waterfall: Extra Cost, Uncertain Benefits — Blending planned and agile
Bill Wake reflects on “half-waterfall,” a blend of practices based on upfront planning and agile.
🎓 🖥 🇩🇪 Professional Scrum Master Schulung mit PSM I-Zertifikat: 11. und 12. Mai 2021
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🎯 Product
: 4 Questions from CTOs to a CPO
Giff Constable elaborates on four questions regarding modern product management, from skills to metrics to how engineering can be supportive.
(via Amplitude): Why VoC Is Not Enough
John Cutler claims that organizations need to have a much more comprehensive view of their customers’ experiences, one that exceeds the original idea of the “Voice of Customer.”
: Casey’s Guide to Finding Product/Market Fit
Casey Winters shares his guide on how to figure out the level of customer satisfaction that allows for sustained growth.
📯 Three Wide-Spread Scrum Master Failures in 5:31 Minutes—Making Your Scrum Work
There are plenty of Scrum Masters failures. Given that Scrum is a framework with a precise and concise yet short “manual,” this effect should not surprise anyone.
Explore with me three widespread examples of how Scrum Masters fail their team in three short video clips, totaling 5 minutes and 31 seconds.
Learn more: Three Wide-Spread Scrum Master Failures in 5:31 Minutes—Making Your Scrum Work.
🛠 Tools & Measuring
: How to Choose the Right KPIs for Your Product
Roman Pichler helps you to select product metrics that matter—beyond the usual suspects like NPS.
(via Medium): Rapid Design Thinking template: Ideate customer solutions in less than 30 minuten
Takeshi Yoshida shares a template (CC-BY-SA) to speed up the ideation process.
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📺 Join 2,700-plus Agile Peers on Youtube
Now available on the Age-of-Product Youtube channel:
- 🆕 Scrum Guide 2020: Eight Remarkable Changes — Hands-on Agile #28.
- Remote Agile (1) Replay: Practices and Tools for Scrum Masters, Agile Coaches, and Product Owners.
- Scrum Sprint Retrospective Anti-Patterns.
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