Food for Agile Thought’s issue #211—shared with 23,728 peers—celebrates John Cutler’s Feature Factory Reloaded; we bust the myth that not having a Sprint Goal would be okay, and we learn how to maximize collaboration time with distributes teams.
We also ask: Is it time to eliminate Scrum’s specialized role of the Product Owner? We then delve into how to gain a competitive edge, and we consider basing our product thinking on a set of fundamental propositions.
Lastly, we enjoy Shane Parrish’s excursion into the mental model behind root cause analysis.
Did you miss last week’s Food for Agile Thought’s issue #210?
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🏆 The Essential Read: The Feature Factory Reloaded
(via Amplitude): 12 Signs You’re Working in a Feature Factory—3 Years Later
John Cutler revisits his landmark article on anti-patterns of product discovery and development.
Agile & Scrum
(via The Liberators): Myth: Having A Sprint Goal Is Optional In Scrum
Christiaan Verwijs points at the importance of having a Sprint Goal every single Sprint to avoid running Zombie Scrum in the long run.
(via Farnam Street): Proximate vs Root Causes: Why You Should Keep Digging to Find the Answer
Shane Parrish reflects on the mental model of proximate vs. root causes to improve your creative and innovative thinking.
and (via AgileConnection): Creating Time for Collaboration with Distributed Teams and Agile Approaches
Johanna Rothman and Mark Kilby list ways how to visualize when your distributed team works, thus creating more collaboration time.
📅 Just 2 Seats Left: Professional Scrum Master Training PSM I — Berlin, October 8-9, 2019
Join your peers for this hands-on Scrum Master training, including up to two attempts at the Professional Scrum Master® I certification by Scrum.org. Learn everything about empiricism, self-organization & the ‘Definition of Done’ in two energizing days in Berlin, Oct 8-9, 2019.
Learn more: 📅 Professional Scrum Master Training PSM I — Berlin, October 8-9, 2019.
Product & Lean
: Has the Scrum Product Owner Role Run Its Course?
Mike Cohn continues rocking the {Scrum) boat and asks: Should the PO indeed be a specialized role?
and (via Agile Alliance): 📺 Product Innovation
In this Agile 2019 talk, Melissa Perri and Marissa Fong delve into how to achieve a “competitive edge” when creating innovative products.
(via Medium): Product Management from First Principles
Jens-Fabian Goetzmann suggests basing your product thinking on a set of basic propositions.
📅 Scrum Training & Event Schedule
You can secure your seat for Scrum training classes, workshops, and meetups directly by following the corresponding link in the table below:
| Date | Class and Language | City | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🖥 💯 🇬🇧 February 3, 2026 | Guaranteed: Hands-on Agile #71: A3 Framework — Assist, Automate, Avoid — Let’s Build a Playbook! (English; Live Virtual Meetup) | Meetup | FREE |
| 🖥 💯 🇩🇪 February 10-11, 2026 | Guaranteed: Professional Scrum Product Owner Training (PSPO I; German; Live Virtual Class) | Live Virtual Class | €1,299 incl. 19% VAT |
| 🖥 💯 🇬🇧 February 19, 2026 | Guaranteed: Hands-on Agile #72: Become Your Organization's AI Champion: A Crowdsourced Playbook (English; Live Virtual Meetup) | Meetup | FREE |
| 🖥 🇬🇧 March 10-11, 2026 | Professional Scrum Master—Advanced Training (PSM II; English; Live Virtual Class) | Live Virtual Class | €1,299 incl. 19% VAT |
| 🖥 💯 🇬🇧 March 19 to April 16, 2026 | Guaranteed: AI4Agile BootCamp #6 (English; Live Virtual Cohort) | Live Virtual Cohort | €499 incl. 19% VAT |
| 🖥 🇩🇪 March 24-25, 2026 | Professional Scrum Product Owner Training (PSPO I; German; Live Virtual Class) | Live Virtual Class | €1,299 incl. 19% VAT |
You can book your seat for the training directly by following the corresponding links to the ticket shop. If the procurement process of your organization requires a different purchasing process, please contact Berlin Product People GmbH directly.
📺 Join 1,675-plus Agile Peers on Youtube
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