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Food for Agile Thought #302: Agile Lies, 15. State of Agile Survey, Marketing vs. Engineering, Product Operations: From Zero to One

by Stefan Wolpers | 2021-07-25 News

TL; DR: Agile Lies, 15. State of Agile Survey — Food for Agile Thought #302

Welcome to the 302nd edition of the Food for Agile Thought newsletter, shared with 32,531 peers. This week, we lament the state of agile in the industry today, from its perception to agile lies to what people experience in the trenches. Also, we refer to a recent article by Jeff Patton that claims that the Agile Manifesto lacks a value statement, and we reflect on the benefits of creating situations for personal growth where failure will be safe.

We then summarize why the relationship between the marketing and engineering has been tense and filled with frustration for a long time. Moreover, we delve into how to set up ProductOps for the first time, and we provide a detailed guide on how to get going with the mystical minimum viable product.

Lastly, we download the latest version of the ‘State of Agile Survey,’ and we suggest planning and estimating a massive software project, requiring several teams, across several quarters of effort.

Food for Agile Thought #302: Agile Lies, 15. State of Agile Survey, Marketing vs. Engineering, Product Operations: From Zero to One — Age-of-Product.com

Food for Agile Thought #301: Knowledge Work & Cottage Industry, Tackling the Product Manager Career, Pre-Mortems to Avoid Disasters, Proof: Design Thinking Works

by Stefan Wolpers | 2021-07-18 News

TL; DR: Knowledge Work & Cottage Industry, Pre-Mortems — Food for Agile Thought #301

Welcome to the 301st edition of the Food for Agile Thought newsletter, shared with 32,359 peers. This week, we reflect on knowledge work, Taylorism, management & trust, and the future of working from home. Also, we tell the story of an empowered Agile product group of three Scrum teams working as contractors for the U.S. federal government, and we learn that digital marketing agencies can succeed in applying Scrum in a non-software environment.

We then talk about becoming the best product manager you can be; we combine Agile, Lean, and Design Thinking in a novel way, and we learn how to apply pre-mortems to avoid ship-wrecking major product launches. (There is a template for running the session, too.)

Lastly, we enjoy John Cutler and Shreyas Doshi delving into the dos and don’ts of a product manager’s career growth, creative intelligence, and product leadership.

Food for Agile Thought #301: Knowledge Work & the Return to the Cottage Industry, Tackling the Product Manager Career, Pre-Mortems to Avoid Disasters, Proof: Design Thinking Works — Age-of-Product.com

Food for Agile Thought #300: Killing Product Thinking, Software Isn’t Home Building, User Research in Discovery, Preventing Harmful Products

by Stefan Wolpers | 2021-07-11 News

TL; DR: Killing Product Thinking — Food for Agile Thought #300

Welcome to the 300th edition of the Food for Agile Thought newsletter, shared with 32,162 peers. This week, we delve into killing product thinking w/ Jeff Patton. Also, we remind ourselves why the idea that “building software should be like building a house” is an unsuitable metaphor and why structure drives strategy so often. (Spoiler alert: the preferred way would be way messier.)

We then reflect on the many ways you can turn a hypotheses validation into a v1, and we explain how user research fits into continuous product discovery. Moreover, we present the “3Q-DO NO HARM” framework to help you avoid causing harm at scale with your product.

Lastly, we share a team alignment exercise built on Liberating Structures.

Food for Agile Thought #300: Killing Product Thinking, Software Isn’t Home Building, User Research in Discovery, Preventing Harmful Products — Age-of-Product.com

Food for Agile Thought #299: Learning from Spotify, The Lizard Brain & Agile, Building Products at Slack, Product Thinking

by Stefan Wolpers | 2021-07-04 News

TL; DR: Learning from Spotify, The Lizard Brain & Agile—Food for Agile Thought #299

Welcome to the 299th edition of the Food for Agile Thought newsletter, shared with 32,056 peers. This week, we continue learning from Spotify: Kevin Goldsmith shares lessons learned during the hay days of the “Spotify Model.” Moreover, we delve into the psychology of our inner lizard, constantly on the alert and hiding below a thin crust of civilization and how it relates to team building. Finally, we also witness a desperate attempt by McKinsey to save the PMO by relabeling it ATO. (The sad thing is that C-level folks from BigCorp will go for it.)

We then reflect on autonomy, empowerment, agency, and what that means for work at the team level, and we try to define what “product sense” is about in design, product management, engineering, or venture capital. Also, Ken Norton shares another interview from his outstanding series on successful product practices, and there is an infographic on the differences between projects and products developed by agile teams.

Lastly, we share Patricia Thompson’s journey of teaching Agile in schools, the “triumphs and enlightenment and how we adapted along the way.”

Food for Agile Thought #299: Learning from Spotify, The Lizard Brain & Agile, Building Products at Slack, Product Thinking — Age-of-Product.com

Food for Agile Thought #298: Scaling Agility, Hard Product Discussions w/ CEOs, Product Team Health Signals, Enterprise Agility

by Stefan Wolpers | 2021-06-27 News

TL; DR: Scaling Agility, Product Team Health—Food for Agile Thought #298

Welcome to the 298th edition of the Food for Agile Thought newsletter, shared with 31,941 peers. This week, we advise how to create a system of interdependent agile teams also know as scaling agility. In addition, we advocate for a budgeting approach that will not impede your organization’s agile transformation, and we enjoy a moment of serendipity: Don’t use a big-name consultancy to support agile transformations and beware of their playbooks.

We then provide actionable advice on dealing with a CEO’s worldview that is impeding your product team; we delve into validation, de-risking, and when to use what, and we reflect on the short shelf life many solutions in today’s volatile environment have and how you may counter that effect.

Lastly, we appreciate a set of signals that hint at your product team’s progress in becoming more effective.

Food for Agile Thought #298: Scaling Agility, Hard Product Discussions w/ CEOs, Product Team Health Signals, Enterprise Agility — Age-of-Product.com

Food for Agile Thought #297: North Star Metric, Tech Debt Is any Opportunity, MBA Pathology in Product, Team Dynamics Explained

by Stefan Wolpers | 2021-06-20 News

TL; DR: North Star Metric, Team Dynamics Explained—Food for Agile Thought #297

Welcome to the 297th edition of the Food for Agile Thought newsletter, shared with 31,817 peers. This week, we point at data and case studies, providing insights into how to narrow in on your organization’s North Star Metric. Also, we advocate that technical debt is rather a strategic lever for your organization’s success than a liability, and we analyze the invisible undercurrents that determine your team’s culture.

We then continue reading Marty Cagan’s pathology series with a deep dive into the well-known problems with MBA programs. Moreover, we share six common product discovery anti-patterns and what you can do about them, and we introduce fundamental principles behind designing and maintaining a product roadmap tailored to the needs of agile teams.

Lastly, we enjoy listening to Richard Kasperowski and Seb Rose talking about how to help create a good team with less seasoned professionals.