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Food for Agile Thought #476: PM Career-Defining AI Skills, Graph Theory for Orgs, Budget for Change, High-Performance Team Toolbox

by Stefan Wolpers | 2025-01-17 News

TL; DR: PM Career-Defining AI Skills — Food for Agile Thought #476

Welcome to the 476th edition of the Food for Agile Thought newsletter, shared with 42,817 peers. This week, we feature John Cutler on how Lean principles adapt to stabilize scaling challenges, Simon Powers on budgeting strategies for impactful organizational change, and Steven Sinofsky dissecting engineering patterns that fail despite sounding practical. James Hawkins addresses escaping the “deadline doom loop,” while Steve Denning examines the synergy of hierarchies and networks for fostering innovation and competence.

Next, Dan Olsen debunks claims of product management’s demise, highlighting AI’s role in enhancing PM effectiveness. Peter Yang interviews Aman Khan on PM Career-Defining AI Skills in 2025, while Mihika Kapoor shares her playbook for turning bold ideas into viral internal successes. Moreover, David Pereira offers practical guidance on refactoring, bridging technical and business priorities through actionable insights and real-world examples.

Lastly, we explore Stefan Lindegaard’s toolbox for scaling high-performance teams with tools like the Capability Gap Map. Petra Wille highlights trust and generosity as keys to thriving communities, and Melissa Suzuno showcases Vistaly’s role in continuous discovery. Finally, Katelyn Bourgoin shares psychology-driven strategies to shape customer pricing perceptions effectively.

Food for Agile Thought #476: PM Career-Defining AI Skills, Graph Theory, Budget for Change, High-Performance Team Toolbox–Age-of-Product.com

Food for Agile Thought #475: Natural Agility, Fake Product Transformations, AI Product Management, Fail a Lot!

by Stefan Wolpers | 2025-01-10 News

TL; DR: Natural Agility — Food for Agile Thought #475

Welcome to the 475th edition of the Food for Agile Thought newsletter, shared with 42,812 peers. This week, Dave Snowden challenges the “Agile Industrial Complex” to move beyond rote behaviors toward fostering natural agility and strategic impact. Charles Lambdin dissects Agile’s waning influence, citing political naïveté and misaligned priorities, while Chris Matts warns of superficial “Product Transformations” in 2025, echoing past Agile missteps. Gene Gendel discusses with Andy Cleff and Jay Hrcsko how HR and finance can either constrain or enable agility. Finally, Gregor Ojstersek and Michał Poczwardowski offer actionable tips for creating meetings engineers won’t hate, emphasizing relevance and purpose.

Next, Aletheia Delivre introduces “Walk the Park” and “Customer Love Sprints,” rituals that help teams tackle UX debt and prioritize customer-focused improvements. John Cutler advocates for nuanced customer segmentation via organizational psychographics, aligning strategy and product with GTM approaches, and Marty Cagan reflects on AI’s evolving role in product management, examining its effects on discovery, creativity, and team satisfaction. Also, Jason Cohen shares actionable strategies for uncovering customer insights before building a product, emphasizing creative outreach and leveraging networks.

Lastly, Nir Eyal reframes failure as a growth opportunity, advocating for resilience through structured reflection and positivity. Benji Weber explores overcoming resistance to Extreme Programming by inviting teams to embrace collaboration and shared ownership. Moreover, Kent Beck contrasts the “Desert” and “Forest” mindsets, showcasing how XP practices lead to near-zero production bugs. Gustavo Razzetti uncovers five hidden team habits that sabotage collaboration, while Van Halen’s “no brown M&Ms” clause offers a metaphor for identifying overlooked details, much like sentinel species signal broader systemic risks.

Food for Agile Thought #475: Natural Agility, Fake Product Transformations, AI Product Management, Fail a Lot! — Age-of-Product.com

Food for Agile Thought #474: Bureaucracies, Proactive Product Quality, Dark Lean, Growing Professional Relationships

by Stefan Wolpers | 2024-12-20 News

TL; DR: Bureaucracies — Food for Agile Thought #474

Welcome to the 474th edition of the Food for Agile Thought newsletter, shared with 42,8883 peers. This week, John Cutler examines the tension between adhocracies and bureaucracies in tech, while Miljan Bajić uses Kuhn’s paradigm shift theory to frame the transition from Waterfall to true agility. Christoph Roser warns against “Dark Lean,” where cost-centric misuse of lean practices undermines safety and respect. Maarten Dalmijn highlights the importance of simplicity and emergence in navigating uncertainty, and John Rauser champions probabilistic thinking and adaptive systems for large-scale software delivery success. Also, we consider whether “pure Scrum” is actually applicable.

Next, Richard Mironov emphasizes the need for product managers to tailor communication to diverse audiences, aligning with stakeholder needs. Pavel Samsonov highlights the pitfalls of focusing on product problems over customer needs, advocating outcome-driven planning. Aakash Gupta shares strategies for proactive product quality, including pre-mortems, lifecycle planning, user testing, and robust monitoring to build trust and avoid reactive issues.

Lastly, Gergely Orosz and Sean Goedecke discuss navigating Big Tech projects, blending technical expertise with management savvy, and Jason Yip challenges traditional productivity metrics, focusing on value and impact. Tejas Kumar introduces the TJS Collaboration Model to foster meaningful professional relationships, while Madeleine Wyatt explores navigating office politics with integrity to build authentic and effective connections.

Food for Agile Thought #474: Bureaucracies, Proactive Product Quality, Dark Lean, Growing Professional Relationships — Age-of-Product.com-

Food for Agile Thought #473: Effective Product Teams, Seth Godin on Acing Products, Agile’s Decline, The Real Double Diamond

by Stefan Wolpers | 2024-12-13 News

TL; DR: Effective Product Teams — Food for Agile Thought #473

Welcome to the 473rd edition of the Food for Agile Thought newsletter, shared with 42,878 peers. This week, Santiago Comella-Dorda and co-authors share data-driven strategies for effective product teams, while Jurgen Appelo critiques Agile’s commodification, advocating fresh paradigms. Simon Powers reflects on Agile’s relevance amidst leadership fatigue and AI’s rise, and Donna Spencer and Murray Robinson discuss organizational politics with John Cutler. Also, Martin Lohmann and Jorgen Krabbe’s case study on Alm Brand highlights lessons from descaling 25 Scrum teams, emphasizing role clarity, iterative change, and balancing simplicity with structure.

Next, Lenny Rachitsky interviews Seth Godin on crafting remarkable products, building trust through branding, and leveraging viral strategies. Aakash Gupta hosts Melissa Perri to explore strategic leadership, continuous discovery, and balancing user and business goals, and Eira Hayward analyzes 2024 product manager salaries, highlighting regional and industry trends amidst a challenging market. Moreover, Alexander Hipp underscores the value of aligning work with company goals to turn busywork into impactful progress.

Lastly, Dennis Hambeukers critiques the Double Diamond design model, emphasizing the need for adaptability in managing resistance. Teresa Torres provides strategies for tackling inherited backlogs, balancing historical value with forward-looking priorities, while Nilam Ganenthiran reflects on solving startup challenges through “code-yellow” crises, promoting focus and urgency over perfection. Finally, Gaurav Vohra introduces the Unfair Advantages Framework, helping startups craft marketing strategies by leveraging unique strengths and customer insights for unbeatable momentum.

Food for Agile Thought #473: Effective Product Teams, Seth Godin on Acing Products, Agile’s Decline, The Real Double Diamond — Age-of-Product.com

Food for Agile Thought #472: Team Dynamics Guide, Engineers Fixing Product Management, AI Eats the World, Learning Wardley Mapping

by Stefan Wolpers | 2024-12-06 News

TL; DR: Team Dynamics Guide — Food for Agile Thought #472

Welcome to the 472nd edition of the Food for Agile Thought newsletter, shared with 42,871 peers. This week, Andy Cleff shares a team dynamics guide for fostering team harmony and growth, while Jeff Sutherland predicts an AI-driven Agile future where adaptability is essential. Maarten Dalmijn challenges Scrum evangelism to promote pragmatic expertise, Pim de Morree spotlights Bayer’s shift to self-management, and we dissect leadership anti-patterns that undermine product team empowerment.

Next, James Hawkins highlights PostHog’s engineer-product manager collaboration model, while Aakash Gupta interviews Thibault Louis-Lucas on breaking product norms for SaaS success. Jonny Longden advocates dynamic resourcing to drive innovation, and Christina Wodtke emphasizes continuous reflection across product lifecycles to balance growth, adaptability, and sustainable success.

Lastly, Jeffrey Fredrick and Douglas Squirrel explore extreme constraints as a driver of innovation, while Will Larson delves into Wardley Mapping for engineering strategy. Ben Popper and Eran Yahav examine AI coding tools’ benefits and risks, Iccha Sethi links engineering metrics to business outcomes, and Benedict Evans presents 2025’s tech trend: “AI Eats the World.”

Food for Agile Thought #472: Team Dynamics Guide, Engineers Fixing Product Management, AI Eats the World, Learning Wardley Mapping - Age-of-Product.com

Food for Agile Thought #471: Disruptive Innovation, Empowered Product Teams, Decoupling OKRs, Leadership Transitions

by Stefan Wolpers | 2024-11-29 News

TL; DR: Disruptive Innovation — Food for Agile Thought #471

Welcome to the 471st edition of the Food for Agile Thought newsletter, shared with 42,887 peers. This week, Steven Sinofsky delves into the resilience and boldness required for disruptive innovation, while Robert A. Calkins gleans leadership insights from Star Trek: TNG. Michael Y. Lee tackles the complexities of decentralization, Jason Little and Dawna Jones offer strategies for managing organizational tangles, and Vincent Baas critiques the misuse of popular innovation quotes, advocating for thoughtful, context-aware application.

Next, Christophe Achouiantz reveals how meaningful problems and supportive environments enable true team empowerment, while Mike Fisher underscores the importance of outcomes over outputs for business success. Yue Zhao and Paweł Huryn share Meta’s pre-mortem approach to proactive risk management, and Paul McAvinchey explores retention strategies for sustainable growth and lasting user engagement.

Lastly, Christian Scheb unpacks Elon Musk’s “5 Step Process” for engineering rigor, while Itamar Gilad explores AI’s role in elevating data-driven product decisions. Christina Wodtke champions “decoupled OKRs” to foster team autonomy, and Ant Murphy warns against blind reliance on data. Finally, Tim Tully, Joff Redfern, and Derek Xiao examine generative AI’s 2024 evolution from pilots to enterprise-scale execution.