Join the Scrum Master Salary Report 2024 — Let Us Create Transparency

TL;DR: Scrum Master Salary Report 2024 — An Anonymous Poll by the Community for the Community

The purpose of this anonymous Scrum Master salary report is to create a clear, data-backed benchmark that allows everyone in the Agile community to understand whether their compensation is adequate. The report will cover Scrum Masters and Agile Coaches, both employed and freelancing.

The goal is to have at least 1,000 replies by the end of November 2023 to create the report in time for January 2024. Of course, the report will be available for free.

Join the Scrum Master Salary Report 2024 — Age-of-Product.com
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Food for Agile Thought #408: Developer Productivity, Double Diamond Improvements, Defining Product Problems, Scrum a Failure by Design?

TL; DR: Developer Productivity — Food for Agile Thought #408

Welcome to the 408th edition of the Food for Agile Thought newsletter, shared with 48,813 peers. This week, Kent Beck and Gergely Orosz dispute McKinsey’s measure of developer productivity, underscoring the essence of tailored metrics. Dave West at Agile 2023 notes a perceived halt in Agile’s evolution, highlighting issues from wavering executive support to misdirected investments. Maarten Dalmijn debates Scrum’s pitfalls, suggesting an organizational focus rather than dictating team dynamics. Meanwhile, Pim de Morree shares the Dutch National Police’s transformative journey from top-down to bottom-up methods, providing valuable takeaways for aspiring changemakers. Also, we ask why SAFe® is so successful, although many agile practitioners despise it.

Then, Jayendran Gopalsami exposes biases, like groupthink and popularity bias, that stealthily skew product trajectories. Scott Sehlhorst pinpoints a frequent product management error: addressing symptoms over root causes. Meanwhile, a riveting discourse between Chad McAllister and Atif Rafiq showcases a tripartite formula for expedited innovation. Rafiq, leveraging insights from industry giants, unveils “Decision Sprint,” bridging the chasm between strategy and tangible results.

Lastly, Ciera Jaspan and Collin Green explore the “technical debt” metaphor’s human-centric origins and its implications on software engineering. Lars Jerichau challenges the trend of collaborative ideation, spotlighting studies that laud the superior results of individual brainstorming over group efforts. Additionally, Andy Budd reshapes the revered “Double Diamond” design process, presenting a version more aligned with actual project executions, emphasizing optimal design leverage.

Food for Agile Thought #408: Developer Productivity, Double Diamond Improvements, Defining Product Problems, Scrum a Failure by Design? — Age-of-Product.com
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SAFe® — Despised, Yet Successful?

TL; DR: SAFe® — Despised, Yet Successful?

Many in the Agile community consider the Scaled Agile Framework designed by Dean Leffingwell and Drew Jemilo as unagile, violating the Agile Manifesto and the Scrum Guide. “True agilists” would never employ SAFe® to help transition corporations to agility. SAFe® is an abomination of all essential principles of “agility.” They despise it.

Nevertheless, SAFe® has proven not only to be resilient but thriving. SAFe® has a growing market share in the corporate world and is now the agile framework of choice for many large organizations.

How come? Learn more about nine reasons for this development.

PS: I have no affiliation with SAFe® whatsoever and consider it harmful. Yet there are lessons to learn.

SAFe® — Despised, Yet Successful? — Age-of-Product.com
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Food for Agile Thought #407: The Costs of Agile, Product Decision Spectrum, The Ultimate JTBD Guide, Stakeholder Alignment

TL; DR: The Costs of Agile — Food for Agile Thought #407

Welcome to the 407th edition of the Food for Agile Thought newsletter, shared with 48,702 peers. This week, Matt Rickard offers invaluable leadership lessons from his aerospace design experiences; Henrik Mårtensson explores the overlooked facets of the costs of Agile, and Jeff Langr and Nick Goede remind us that true agility stems from core values, not mere practices. Also, Chris Combe delves into the complexities of performance reviews in Agile settings. Moreover, once again, our lemon tries to measure Developer productivity.

Then, Austin Yang underscores the significance of the decision-making process over mere outcomes in product management, and Marty Cagan provides a roadmap from traditional product management to empowered product teams. Meanwhile, Jeff Gothelf points out the rare yet essential cross-functional collaboration in product discovery, emphasizing the combined effort of product management, design, and engineering.

Lastly, Lenny Rachitsky and Bob Moesta dive deep into the JTBD framework, using captivating examples from Snickers and Milky Way. Also, John Davidson sheds light on the complexities of stakeholder alignment, sharing ten indispensable lessons. Meanwhile, Johanna Rothman navigates the murky waters of project estimations, presenting a variety of techniques and highlighting the unpredictability of timeframes.

Food for Agile Thought #407: Costs of Agile, Product Decision Spectrum, The Ultimate JTBD Guide, Stakeholder Alignment — Age-of-Product.com
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Minimum Viable Library (2) — Product Owner Edition

TL; DR: The Minimum Viable Library Product Owner Edition

The Minimum Viable Library Product Owner edition is available! Explore a series of carefully curated collections of essential books, newsletters, podcasts, and tools to elevate your agile expertise.

Read on and learn how the recommendations for Product Owners cover a wide range of topics, including product management, product discovery, escaping the feature factory, and aligning with critical stakeholders.

Minimum Viable Library Product Owner Edition — Age-of-Product.com
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Food for Agile Thought #406: Great Strategies Are Simplistic, Zen and Product Management, Hypotheses for Framing, Agile’s Value Focus

TL; DR: Great Strategies, Agile’s Value Focus — Food for Agile Thought #406

Welcome to the 406th edition of the Food for Agile Thought newsletter, shared with 48,537 peers. This week, Jason Cohen discusses the hallmarks of great strategies; Donald Mark Haynes unpacks true agility beyond Scrum; Michael Göthe reviews Stephen Bungay’s insights on leadership drawn from military history; and David Perell examines Elon Musk’s improvement process.

Then, Gary Niemen delves into how Buddhism and meditation principles enhance product management; Jeff Gothelf underscores the value of framing work as a hypothesis; and Roman Pichler identifies common pitfalls in product strategy formulation.

Lastly, Ari Tikka corrects misconceptions about Tuckman’s “Orming” and its confusion with Katzenbach and Smith’s curve; Joshua Kerievsky champions probabilistic forecasting, using Monte Carlo simulations; and Enzo Avigo introduces Engineering-driven development (EDD), emphasizing engineer-led product processes at the expense of product managers.

Food for Agile Thought #406: Great Strategies Are Simplistic, Zen and Product Management, Hypotheses for Framing, Agile’s Value Focus — Age-of-Product.com
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