TL; DR: Adopting Agility, Failure to Scale Ideas — Food for Agile Thought #341
Welcome to the 341st edition of the Food for Agile Thought newsletter, shared with 35,206 peers. This week, we learn about adopting agility with a research initiative of Thinkers 50 and Capgemini Invent, and we delve into the difficulties of answering a typical question: ‘What are the pros and cons of Agile?’ Moreover, we analyze the challenges of collaboration after switching to product-based funding, pointing at Conway and Brooks, and end with observations on how the subtleties of an organization influence the effectiveness of internal and external agile coaches, respectively.
We then identify five causes why some products peter out when they grow, from false positives to biased representation to cost traps, and outline three tactics for stakeholder collaboration and inclusion. Additionally, we share Jason Cohen’s framework for Product Management that defines what ‘great’ concerning product managers means in practical terms. We also shed light on the nature of the Scrum team regarding its product capabilities, namely its lack of stakeholder inclusion.
Then, we listen to Jeff Gothelf regarding his advice on adopting the goal-setting OKR framework to measure success, and we learn how Pendo practices continuous discovery, from recruiting interviewees to designing and running experiments. Finally, we are closing this edition with Tim Ferriss interviewing Tony Fadell, covering “Steve Jobs on ‘Vacation,’ Product Design and Team Building, Good Assholes vs. Bad Assholes, Investing in Trends Before They Become Trends, The Hydrogen Economy, [and] The Future of Batteries.”
Did you miss the previous Food for Agile Thought’s issue #340?
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🏆 The Tip of the Week: Adopting Agility
(via Thinkers 50): 📖 Agility Inc.: Building Widespread Agility
Thinkers 50 and Capgemini Invent teamed up for a research initiative on the adoption of agile for organizational design and transformation.
➿ Agile & Scrum
(via Medium): Agile ≠ Lean
Staffan Nöteberg delves into the difficulties of answering a typical question: ‘What are the pros and cons of Agile?’
(via Medium): Untangling Organizational Dependencies
Chris Combe analyzes the challenges of collaboration after switching to product-based funding, pointing at Conway and Brooks.
: Key Differences for Internal vs. External Agile Coaches
Bob Galen shares his observations on how the subtleties of an organization influence the two different approaches.
🎓 🖥 💯 🇬🇧 Advanced Professional Scrum Master Online Training w/ PSM II Certificate — May 31 – June 1, 2022
Discover Scrum’s four success principles in this guaranteed official Scrum.org Advanced Scrum Master training class including the industry-recognized PSM II certification. The PSM II training class is designed as a live virtual class and will be offered in English.
Enjoy the benefits of an compact class of two sessions with like-minded agile peers from 09:00 – 17:30 o’clock CEST.
Learn more: 🖥 💯 🇬🇧 Advanced Professional Scrum Master Online Training w/ PSM II Certificate — May 31 – June 1, 2022.
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🎯 Product
(via Harvard Business Review): Why It’s So Hard to Scale a Great Idea
John List identifies five causes why some products peter out when they grow, from false positives to biased representation to cost traps.
: Three Advanced Techniques for Working with Stakeholders
Itamar Gilad outlines three tactics for stakeholder collaboration and inclusion.
: The Impossible Product Manager, a.k.a. the ‘Great’ Product Manager
Jason Cohen shares a framework for Product Management and defines what ‘great’ means in practical terms.
: Product Teams in Scrum
Roman Pichler sheds light on the nature of the Scrum team regarding its product capabilities, namely its lack of stakeholder inclusion.
📯 Product Owner Anti-Patterns — 33 Ways to Improve as a PO
No other role in Scrum can contribute to mediocre outcomes like the Product Owner—garbage in, garbage out. Therefore, the following list of some of the most common Product Owner anti-patterns might be a starting point to reflect on the role; maybe, there is room for improvement?
If you recognize some anti-patterns in your daily work, why don’t you ask the rest of the Scrum Team for support? For example, run a Retrospective with teammates and stakeholders on how the team is doing regarding figuring out what is worth building.
👉 Learn more: Product Owner Anti-Patterns — 33 Ways to Improve as a PO.
🛠 Tools & Measuring
and (via Produx Labs): 🎙 Shifting How We Measure Success
Melissa Perri interviews Jeff Gothelf regarding his advice on adopting the goal-setting OKR framework to measure success.
: Tools of the Trade: A Look at Pendo’s Discovery Tech Stack – Product Talk
Melissa Suzuno talked to Steve Cheshire to figure out how Pendo practices continuous discovery, from recruiting interviewees to designing and running experiments.
✂️ Cutting Room Floor
and : 🎙 Tony Fadell of iPod, iPhone, and Nest Fame
Tim Ferriss interviews Tony Fadell, covering “Steve Jobs on ‘Vacation,’ Product Design and Team Building, Good Assholes vs. Bad Assholes, Investing in Trends Before They Become Trends, The Hydrogen Economy, [and] The Future of Batteries.”
📅 Scrum Training & Event Schedule
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📺 Join 3,800-plus Agile Peers on Youtube
Now available on the Age-of-Product Youtube channel to improve learning:
- 🆕 Hands-on Agile #38: The Product Owner with Roman Pichler.
- 🆕 Agile Camp Berlin 2021: The Power and Pains of Autonomy with Jimmy Janlén.
- Hands-on Agile #31: The Zones of Value Framework with Valerio Zanini & Zeina Zeitouni.
- Hands-on Agile #35: Designing Powerful Questions to help you Coach & Create with Daniel Stillman.
- Hands-on Agile #34: Core Protocols for Psychological Safety with Richard Kasperowski.
- Agile Camp Berlin 2021: Adapt How You Lead for Agile Success with Johanna Rothman.
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