Effective product development requires both strategic alignment and healthy Product Backlog management. Misalignment leads to backlog bloat, trust erosion, and building the wrong products. By implementing proper alignment tools, separating discovery from delivery, and maintaining appropriate backlog size (3-6 sprints), teams can build products that truly matter. Success depends on trust, collaboration, risk navigation, and focusing on outcomes over outputs. Learn more about how to embrace the alignment-to-value pipeline and create your product operating model.
I have been interested in how artificial intelligence as an emerging technology may shape our work since the advent of ChatGPT; see my various articles on the topic. As you may imagine, when OpenAI’s Deep Research became available to me last week, I had to test-drive it.
I asked it to investigate how AI-driven approaches enable agile product teams to gain deeper customer insights and deliver more innovative solutions. The results were enlightening, and I’m excited to share both my experience with this research approach and the key insights that emerged. (Download the complete report here: AI in Agile Product Teams: Insights from Deep Research and What It Means for Your Practice.)
If you weren’t at the virtual Hands-on Agile 2025 conference earlier this month, you missed an incredible opportunity to explore the shift from concept-based to context-based agility with nearly 800 fellow agilists. But don’t worry – I’m here to share some of the key takeaways and insights!
Check out the slides from the Live Stream speakers below; I will keep you posted on the availability of the recordings.
TL; DR: Psychological Safety as a Competitive Edge
Psychological safety isn’t about fluffy “niceness”—it is the foundation of agile teams that innovate, adapt, and deliver.
When teams fearlessly debate ideas, admit mistakes, challenge norms, and find ways to make progress, they can outperform most competitors. Yet, many organizations knowingly or unknowingly sabotage psychological safety—a short-sighted and dangerous attitude in a time when knowledge is no longer the moat it used to be. Read on to learn how to keep your competitive edge.
TL; DR: Moving Beyond Agile Frameworks in the Agile Reset
Remember my article from six months ago about reinventing Hands-on Agile to counter the great agile reset? (Just kidding; of course, you don’t.) Back then, I reflected on how to adapt my business model best, given the massive changes in the marketplace for “Agile.” (See the link below.)
Well, it’s time for an honest update, and it is not pretty.
