Stefan Wolpers

Food for Agile Thought #440: Brilliant Jerks, Product Operating Model Template, Backlog Organization Patterns, Shape Up in Practice

by Stefan Wolpers | 2024-04-26 News

TL; DR: Product Operating Model Template — Food for Agile Thought #440

Welcome to the 440th edition of the Food for Agile Thought newsletter, shared with 42,461 peers. This week, Andy Birds shares a product operating model template to enhance ROI and customer outcomes. Brendan Gregg critiques the impact of disruptive “brilliant jerks” in engineering, while John Cutler advocates for engagement over layoffs. Also, Alex Debecker shares Basecamp’s Shape Up methodology, and Murray Robinson discusses the commodification of methodologies.

Then, Itamar Gilad warns about the potential pitfalls of Generative AI in degrading product culture. Roger Martin critiques traditional strategic planning, emphasizing genuine strategic thinking. Moreover, Ant Murphy introduces innovative Product Backlog formats and management techniques, and Teresa Torres and Stephanie Leue discuss transitioning from a feature factory to continuous discovery.

Lastly, Dave Rooney suggests replacing Story Points with simpler metrics, such as counting completed user stories. Nočnica Mellifera warns against misusing DORA metrics as high-stakes personnel tools. Abi Noda and Tim Cochran also promote qualitative metrics for measuring developer productivity. Cameron Presley advocates for blameless postmortems to learn from failures. Finally, Benedict Evans discusses evolving AI use cases, considering its potential to manage complex tasks.

Food for Agile Thought #440: Brilliant Jerks, Product Operating Model Template, Backlog Organization Patterns, Shape Up in Practice — Age-of-Product.com

Scrum Master Tasks: Join the 2024 Survey Now!

by Stefan Wolpers | 2024-04-22 Featured Agile and Scrum

TL; DR: Scrum Master Tasks: Let’s Bust Some Myths!

Rumor says that a great Scrum Master supports one team at a time. If that is true, how do you spend your time with the team members, helping them become self-managing? Moreover, what about stakeholders and the organization? Let’s gather some data on Scrum Master tasks anonymously and answer the question!

Scrum Master Tasks: What do you do all day, Scrum Master? Join the 2024 survey now — Age-of-Product.com

📈 Please join the 2024 survey on Scrum Master tasks here.

Food for Agile Thought #439: Ancient Scrum, AI Product Management, OKRs and Product Roadmaps, Perils of the Agile Community

by Stefan Wolpers | 2024-04-19 News

TL; DR: Ancient Scrum — Food for Agile Thought #439

Welcome to the 439th edition of the Food for Agile Thought newsletter, shared with 42,436 peers. This week, Tobias Mayer traces Scrum back to ancient human processes, suggesting its natural integration in creative endeavors. Scott Seivwright critiques the narrow focus of Agile coaches on methodology, advocating for adaptive practices in response to economic challenges, and David Burkus highlights the crucial role of managers in fostering autonomy and leadership amid rising trends towards managerless models. Chris Matts uses Eric Berne’s transaction analysis to contrast effective adult-adult interactions against the limiting parent-child dynamics in risk-averse environments. Also, Rami James champions asking for help as an essential developer skill, promoting collaboration and continuous learning over individualism.

Then, Marty Cagan and Marily Nika address the challenges of AI Product Management, and Evgenia Suvorova shares insights from her tenure at Revolut on achieving product-market fit. Chad McAllister and John Rossman emphasize the importance of “Big Bets” in business transformation, with John drawing on his Amazon experience to advocate for clarity, speed, and risk management. Leah Tharin offers a critical view on the implementation of SAFe, noting its complexity and the constraints it imposes on team autonomy, often resulting in inefficiency and dissatisfaction.

Lastly, Richard Kasperowski focuses on the role of pair programming and continuous delivery in agile practices. Moreover, Roman Pichler discusses the integration of OKRs with product roadmaps, while Andy Cleff and Colleen Johnson explore flow metrics like WIP and cycle time to enhance organizational agility through actionable metrics. Additionally, the 2024 AI Index report presents a comprehensive analysis of new AI trends, public perceptions, geopolitical dynamics, and the impact of AI on science and medicine.

Food for Agile Thought #439: Ancient Scrum, AI Product Management, OKRs and Product Roadmaps, Perils of the Agile Community — Age-of-Product.com

Scrum Master Interview Questions on Creating Value with Scrum

by Stefan Wolpers | 2024-04-15 Agile and Scrum

TL; DR: Scrum Master Interview Questions on Creating Value with Scrum

If you are looking to fill a position for a Scrum Master (or agile coach) in your organization, you may find the following 12th set of the Scrum Master interview questions useful to identify the right candidate. They are derived from my eighteen years of practical experience with XP as well as Scrum, serving both as Product Owner and Scrum Master as well as interviewing dozens of Scrum Master candidates on behalf of my clients.

So far, this Scrum Master interview guide has been downloaded more than 27,000 times.

Download now: 83 Scrum Master Interview Questions on Creating Value with Scrum — Age-of-Product.com

Food for Agile Thought #438: Agile in the AI Age, Product Operating Model, Effective Roadmaps, Failing Transformations

by Stefan Wolpers | 2024-04-12 News

TL; DR: Agile in the AI Age — Food for Agile Thought #438

Welcome to the 438th edition of the Food for Agile Thought newsletter, shared with 42,401 peers. This week, Henrik Kniberg challenges traditional Agile team sizes, advocating for smaller, AI-enhanced teams in his article on Agile in the AI age. Our Lemon champions a retro, bureaucratic approach to “Agile reporting,” and Murray Robinson and Shane Gibson discuss enhancing organizational agility with Evan Leybourn. Also, Michael Küsters argues for Agile as a dynamic, evolvable practice rather than a rigid dogma, while Petra Wille emphasizes structured strategies for effective organizational transformation. Moreover, Marty Cagan shares his perspective on Scrum and the Product Model.

Then, Agustin Soler shares insights from his tenure as Mural’s Chief Product Officer, detailing strategic initiatives that spurred growth. Ant Murphy discusses the nuanced differences between roadmaps and plans, advocating adaptability and audience-specific customization. Phil Hornby and John Cutler explore product management complexities, and Janna Bastow highlights the importance of closing the feedback loop in product management, suggesting AI could transform feedback mechanisms.

Lastly, First Round Capital introduces a new B2B framework to accelerate product-market fit and 37signals shares decision-making principles that underpin thoughtful business choices. Additionally, the Coaching Card Download Hub provides many practice cards for organizational learning and productivity enhancement. Finally, Todd Lankford emphasizes rational decision-making in product development, advocating for clarity over emotion to boost team performance and product evolution.

Food for Agile Thought #438: Agile in the AI Age, Product Operating Model, Effective Roadmaps, Failing Transformations — Age-of-Product.com

Marty Cagan on the Product Operating Model and Scrum’s Future

by Stefan Wolpers | 2024-04-08 Agile and ScrumLean and Product

TL; DR: The Product Operating Model — An Interview with Marty Cagan

Let’s explore Marty Cagan’s insights on revolutionizing product management, embracing empowered teams, and fostering innovation by employing the Product Operation Model described in his latest book “Transformed.” We will uncover how to effectively navigate the transformational path to a product-centric approach and how Marty sees Scrum in this context. (Move directly to the Scrum-related part of the interview.)

Marty Cagan highlights the Product Operating Model from his latest Book “Transformed” and analyzes Scrum’s usefulness — Age-of-Product.com