Food for Agile Thought #108: Agile’s Heart, Let the Best Ideas Win, Management Anti-Patterns

Food for Agile Thought’s issue #108—shared with 11,308 peers—covers once again what is agile’s heart: from Deming’s lean production principles to jobs-to-be-done.

We also gain insight into the advantages of radical transparency leading the competition of ideas to new levels. We learn new entrepreneurial mental models from the one who coined product-market fit and embrace 12 certain innovation techniques.

Lastly, we understand that product management is just another sales job, and how we can use guerrilla testing to understand better what to build.

Have a great week!


🏆 The Tip of the Week

Clayton Christensen and Marc Andreessen (via Andreessen Horowitz): a16z Podcast: Competing Against Luck – Andreessen Horowitz

Clayton Christensen and Marc Andreessen share their thoughts for how theories like jobs-to-be-done can play out practically in both managing business and priorities in life.

Agile’s Heart & Scrum

Ray Dalio (via TED Talks): How to build a company where the best ideas win

Ray Dalio makes the business case for using radical transparency and algorithmic decision-making to create an idea meritocracy.

Ryn Melberg: Mary & Tom Poppendieck Discuss Agile & Lean

Mary & Tom Poppendieck Discuss Agile & Lean on The Guardian Podcast.

(via DZone): Grakn’s (Mostly) Agile Methodology

Learn how Grakn transformed their team from a group of cats running in random directions to cats running in the same direction by developing their Agile workflow.

Leon Tranter: The Lean wisdom at the heart of Agile

Leon Tranter points at Deming’s Lean Manufacturing principles at the heart of the Agile movement.

Ben Linders: State of Practice in Agile Retrospectives

Ben Linders summarized the Annual Agile Retrospective Report 2017—courtesy of Retrium.

From the Blog: Agile Management Anti-Patterns — An Introduction

Learn more about agile management anti-patterns the aspiring agile manager should avoid during the organization’s transition. From stage-gate through the back door to the ‘where is my report’ attitude.

Agile’s Heart: Agile Management Anti-Patterns — An Introduction

Read More: Agile Management Anti-Patterns — An Introduction

Product & Lean

Andy Rachleff (via NextView Ventures): The Man Who Coined "Product-Market Fit" Shares Mental Models for Entrepreneurs

Rob Go sits down with Andy Rachleff, VC veteran, and CEO of Wealthfront. They talk about how Andy came up with the term product-market fit.

Janna Bastow (via ProdPad): 7 Brilliant Little Ways to Master Your Role as a Product Manager

Janna Bastow reveals what no one has told you about your role as a product manager: Except it’s possibly the hardest sales job of your life.

Sarah Cooper: 12 Innovative Ways to Innovate and Increase Innovation

Sarah Cooper suggests 12 innovative steps to innovate and increase innovation in the workplace.

Elizabeth Chesters (via WhatUsersDo): What is guerrilla testing and how do I use it?

Elizabeth Chesters shares a beginner’s guide to guerrilla testing: The pros, the cons and how to plan this technique into your usability strategy.

Shardul Mehta: SaaS product management

Shardul Mehta stresses that any product manager’s job is to find ways to drive the growth and profitability of the business.

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