News — Find all Issues of the Food for Agile Thought Newsletter

Food for Agile Thought #413: Firing Agile Coaches? Are All Feature Factories Bad? Why Didn’t They Say No? Dumb Decisions?

by Stefan Wolpers | 2023-10-06 News

TL; DR: Firing Agile Coaches? — Food for Agile Thought #413

Welcome to the 413th edition of the Food for Agile Thought newsletter, shared with 49,263 peers. This week, Anthony Mersino reflects on firing agile coaches due to financial constraints and urges a focus on continuous improvement to prove value. David Rodenas discusses the misguided adoption of “Agile” due to a lack of understanding, and Marty Cagan emphasizes holistic organizational involvement in digital transformations. Joost Minnaar advocates for subtraction over addition in workplace transformation, promoting identifying and eliminating unnecessary tasks for more effective change.

Then, Sam Gimbel addresses the general disdain towards ‘feature factories,’ advocating for a more nuanced approach and customer-centric development. John Cutler delves into the tendency of teams to overcommit, attributing it to a culture of affirmative bias and advocating for realistic engagement in work commitments. Moreover, Kilian Butler narrates Papercup’s experience in machine learning product development, offering practical insights to help others navigate this challenging yet rewarding domain.

Lastly, Jimmy Janlén explores blending Scrum and Kanban for optimized workflows, providing a roadmap for an informed choice or fusion of these agile frameworks. Oscar Ibars discusses the art of saying ‘no’ in Product Management to maintain realistic project scopes. Paweł Huryn delves into Product-Led Growth strategies, emphasizing customer-centric approaches for product growth. Also, David Perell shares 50 insightful ideas focusing on critical thinking, human behavior understanding, and system optimization, introducing principles like Inversion, Doublespeak, and the Theory of Constraints.

Food for Agile Thought #413: Firing Agile Coaches? Are All Feature Factories Bad? Why Didn’t They Say No? Dumb Decisions? — Age-of-Product.com

Food for Agile Thought #412: The Dark Age Has Returned, Product Management Axioms, Scrum Guide 202(X), Storytelling as a PM

by Stefan Wolpers | 2023-09-29 News

TL; DR: The Dark Age of Waterfall — Food for Agile Thought #412

Welcome to the 412th edition of the Food for Agile Thought newsletter, shared with 49,218 peers. This week, Henrik Mårtensson criticizes the re-emergence of the Waterfall method in software development; Ken Schwaber discusses refining the 2020 Scrum Guide to better serve as a reflective framework, inviting community feedback. Also, Emily Webber highlights three collaboration anti-patterns that create power imbalances and hinder problem-solving, while Burcu A. Şengün offers ten valuable tips for budding Scrum Masters, emphasizing patience, continuous learning, and effective communication. Moreover, the Lemon introduces “time-mapped Estimation” to simplify Scrum estimations by mapping story points to person-hours. (Yub, you read this correctly.)

Then, Saeed Khan introduces four Product Management Axioms to guide and communicate fundamental principles in product management, and Rich Mironov discusses the organizational transformation from a services-centric to a product-centric model, stressing the distinct business models and the need for a clear stance to improve alignment and efficiency.. Anthony Murphy showcases the value of structured storytelling in product management, a skill transitioned from his military training. He asserts that a well-constructed narrative greatly enhances clarity and influence in professional communication.

Finally, Kimberly Hendrick celebrates user stories as a catalyst for meaningful dialogue rather than mere task descriptors. At the same time, Ari Tikka critiques the unscientific “Team Performance Curve” in “The Wisdom of Teams” by Katzenbach and Smith, advocating for emphasizing organizational conditions over “teamyness” for enhanced team performance. Johanna Rothman proposes reducing Work in Progress (WIP) and increasing team size to improve collaboration and efficiency, evolving them into small-world networks for better results. Lastly, Marc Randolph reflects on Netflix’s trust-centric approach during its DVD-by-mail era, illustrating how trust, balanced with verification, fortified customer relations.

Food for Agile Thought #412: The Dark Age Has Returned, Product Management Axioms, Scrum Guide 202(X), Storytelling as a PM — Age-of-Product.com

Food for Agile Thought #411: Team Diversity Problems, Marginal Users’ Tyranny, Useful Agile Mantras, Shared Understanding?

by Stefan Wolpers | 2023-09-22 News

TL; DR: Team Diversity Problems — Food for Agile Thought #411

Welcome to the 411th edition of the Food for Agile Thought newsletter, shared with 49,134 peers. This week, Christiaan Verwijs and Daniel Russo scrutinize the complex relationship between team diversity and performance, pointing to team diversity problems. Emily Webber identifies three collaboration anti-patterns sabotaging teamwork in organizations, and Jason Little takes us back to the foundational Agile principles that we should remember. Also, Jason Evanish dispels myths around introverted leadership, highlighting its unique strengths and benefits, and we enjoy a great interview with Jim Highsmith.

Then, Ivan Vendrov critiques the sacrifice of user experience for metrics in consumer software, while David Pereira distinguishes between genuine product management and its hollow counterpart, urging us to develop a “bullshit radar.” Leah Tharin cautions Airtable on its enterprise focus, potentially jeopardizing product-led growth for smaller clients. Moreover, Jenny Wanger showcases a food delivery company that has successfully integrated customer-centricity through operational choices.

Finally, Benji Huser-Berta underscores the importance of feature forecasting for effective planning in organizations with long release cycles. Chris Meyer delves into the Dunning-Kruger Effect, spotlighting its impact on self-awareness. Kai Hellström critiques superficial approaches to ‘Shared Understanding,’ advocating a more profound commitment to solving customer problems.

Food for Agile Thought #411: Team Diversity Problems, Marginal Users’ Tyranny, Useful Agile Mantras, Shared Understanding? — Age-of-Product.com

Food for Agile Thought #410: Best Product Teams, Communication in Low Trust, Killing Features, Stop Using ‘Failure’ When Learning

by Stefan Wolpers | 2023-09-15 News

TL; DR: Best Product Teams — Food for Agile Thought #410

Welcome to the 410th edition of the Food for Agile Thought newsletter, shared with 49,013 peers. This week, Shane Parrish discusses with Shreyas Doshi the nuances of best product teams and product development; Charity Majors touches upon communication dynamics in strained relationships, emphasizing the role of trust; Jason Cohen advocates for redefining the narrative around business setbacks, championing terms like “experiment” over “fail,” and Ryan Holiday dissects the art of leadership, reminding us that leadership roles manifest in diverse ways throughout life. Also, we shed a light on unspoken reasons to resist Agile transformations.

Then, Andrew Quan delves into the self-doubt that plagues many Product Leaders, shedding light on their challenges and offering guidance. Assaph Mehr sets an intriguing take on the potential value of altering favorite product features, elucidating its long-term benefits for the product and business. Meanwhile, Roman Pichler examines the intricate process of assembling product teams in organizations unfamiliar with the digital product’s true essence.

Finally, Jason Yip debunks common productivity myths, urging a deeper understanding of effectiveness. Jeff Gothelf emphasizes the value of consistent customer interactions to gain insights without hefty investments. Stephen Puiszis highlights the intricacies of evaluating product roadmaps, providing tools for those outside product management. Lastly, Łukasz Korecki offers a candid reflection on the challenges of implementing OKRs within software engineering teams.

Food for Agile Thought #410: Best Product Teams, Communication in Low Trust, Killing Features, Stop Using ‘Failure’ When Learning — Age-of-Product.com

Food for Agile Thought #409: How to Be Unproductive, Customers Hate the MVP, Waterfall Misconceptions, Supporting Continuous Discovery

by Stefan Wolpers | 2023-09-08 News

TL; DR: How to Be Unproductive — Food for Agile Thought #409

Welcome to the 409th edition of the Food for Agile Thought newsletter, shared with 48,883 peers. This week, we explore several provocative perspectives: John Cutler delves into factors affecting developer productivity, or: how to be unproductive, suggesting the environment plays a more substantial role than individual aptitude. Kris Brandow makes a case for the undervalued potential of the Waterfall method. Stephan Schmidt pinpoints the unintentional merger of Scrum and Waterfall into “Scrumfall” due to external pressures. Lastly, Ben Biran shares insights from Zapier’s Interfaces team, emphasizing how shifting prioritization duties to engineering leaders can catalyze team performance and culture.

Then, Jason Cohen critiques the widely adopted MVP approach for sidelining the user experience and calls for its reevaluation. In conversation with Lenny Rachitsky, Tim Holley of Etsy unfolds his ten-year odyssey with the e-commerce giant, touching on various facets, from handling the pandemic-induced surge to fine-tuning marketplace dynamics. Meanwhile, Arne Kittler brings product maven Teresa Torres into the spotlight, who, in dialogue with Petra Wille, clarifies the essence of product discovery grounded in customer feedback.

Lastly, Mike Cottmeyer tackles the growing disillusionment among leaders with Agile, offering ways to reignite their interest and commitment. Mikkel Krenchel sheds light on the rising societal apprehensions around AI, emphasizing the often-overlooked importance of ethnographers in shaping AI’s ethical trajectory. Lastly, Nick Ianetta puzzles over the marked distinction between Research Operations and Market Research Operations, probing the reasons behind their strategic organizational separation.

Food for Agile Thought #409: How to Be Unproductive, Customers Hate the MVP, Waterfall Misconceptions, Supporting Continuous Discovery — Age-of-Product.com

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

by Stefan Wolpers | 2023-09-03 Agile and ScrumNews

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