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.
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.
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.
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.
TL; DR: Dysfunction Mapping — Food for Agile Thought #405
Welcome to the 405th edition of the Food for Agile Thought newsletter, shared with 48,416 peers. This week, we delve into Maarten Dalmijn’s introduction of “Dysfunction Mapping” to address organizational complexities, explore the principles behind Jeff Bezos’ success as dissected by Jason Evanish, and learn about the emotional roots of resistance to change with insights from David Burkus. Additionally, Miss_HayaX reflects on the prevalent use of Scrum in technical projects and explores when teams might consider alternatives.
Then, we discover Peter Yang’s valuable insights on acing behavioral interviews for PM candidates, explore what Deb Liu learns from the 1960s Milgram experiment about requests, and dive into Lenny Rachitsky’s comprehensive playbook for kickstarting and scaling B2B businesses.
Finally, we explore Tim Metz’s advocacy for essential “team health checks,” delve into Christoph Roser’s insights into the “soft power” of the Toyota Production System, unravel Kim Scott’s reflections on the misconceptions surrounding Radical Candor, and find out about a precarious alternative approach to Product Backlog refinement.
TL; DR: Social Status — Food for Agile Thought #404
Welcome to the 404th edition of the Food for Agile Thought newsletter, shared with 48,271 peers. This week, we explore intriguing perspectives on social dynamics: David Pinsof delves into the psychology of social status, while Alex Ewerlöf discusses ownership in project management. We also feature Daniele Altomare’s insights on ethics in Agile environments and John Cutler’s viewpoint on the influence of culture on organizational frameworks.
Then, Packy McCormick warns about the pitfalls of execution without a robust strategy, using Breather as a case study. Aatir Abdul Rauf identifies common blunders in product discovery that affect success. Also, Melissa Perri and Teresa Torres address complex issues in large companies, emphasizing skilled product management and standardized processes.
Finally, Justin Garrison examines Amazon’s unique document-centered meeting approach. Lenny Rachitsky and Dr. Nicole Forsgren unpack productivity in DevOps with the DORA and SPACE frameworks. Dave Hora advocates for strategic agility in software production, while Casey Rosengren explores non-coercive leadership strategies. Lastly, a McKinsey report delves into the growth and impact of generative AI tools in organizations.
