TL; DR: Taylorism & Agile, Kick-Start Self-Organization — Food for Agile Thought #220
Food for Agile Thought’s issue #220—shared with 24,421 peers—asks whether Taylorism is probably less of a villain than often believed; we get back to the agile-industrial complex, and we appreciate a simple introduction on how to kick-start self-organization.
We then learn more about value propositions in niche markets; we can compare our activities as product managers with the results of a recent study, and we listen to a discussion on six critical ingredients for a great product strategy.
Lastly, we consider a heretic thought: might the benefit of team longevity be overrated?
Did you miss last week’s Food for Agile Thought’s issue #219?
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🏆 The Essential Post
: Taylorism isn’t as far from Agile and Lean as you would think
Renee Troughton believes that Taylor’s Scientific Management is less of a villain that many agile folks believe,
📅 Agile Camp Berlin 2020 — We Are Back!
The Agile Camp Berlin 2020 will happen from April 17-18, 2020, at the Evangelische Schule Berlin Zentrum right in the center of Berlin.
We have already sold 40 percent of the available 200 tickets. You can secure yours right here:
Learn more: 📅 Agile Camp Berlin 2020 — We Are Back!
Agile & Scrum
: Advocating Against Advocating Against
Ron Jeffries points at that practices are devised, not just to solve a specific problem, but to make room for improvements.
(via Medium): How To Get Your Team Started With Self Organization
Gustavo Razzetti describes a roadmap to increase autonomy and to distribute authority in your organization.
(via The Agile Revolution): 🎙 [Episode 174: Dynamic Reteaming
Craig Smith interviews Heidi Helfand on why the best teams are not always the stable ones.
📅 Professional Scrum Master Training PSM I + Liberating Structures — Berlin, February 18-20, 2020
This extended PSM class adds a third day to the Professional Scrum Master training that focuses on the application of Liberating Structures to Scrum Events such as the Sprint Retrospective or the Sprint Review — to apply the PSM training immediately to practical problems. The class will be offered in English. You can book your ticket right here:
Learn more: 📅 Professional Scrum Master Training PSM I + Liberating Structures — Berlin, February 18-20, 2020.
Product & Lean
(via Medium): Value Proposition Interface Canvas
Amancio Bouza shares an interesting extension to the value proposition canvas for a niche market: APIs.
(via ProductCraft): Tactical vs. Strategic: Where PMs Spend Time
Paul Young delves into the results of a recent study on what activities product managers allocate their attention.
(via Intercom): 🎙 The intersection of company and product strategy: six key ingredients for a great product strategy
Des Traynor and Paul Adams discuss six key ingredients for a great product strategy.
📯 Join more than 400 Peers and Participate in the Agile Metrics Survey 2020
Let’s stop guessing and start crowdsourcing data and information on this critical topic: Who is using what metrics under which context to what success? Participate in the agile metrics survey now.
Learn more: Agile Metrics Survey 2020.
📅 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 💯 🇩🇪 May 19-20, 2026 | Guaranteed: Professional Scrum Product Owner Training (PSPO I; German; Live Virtual Class) | Live Virtual Class | €1,299 incl. 19% VAT (If applicable.) |
| 💯 🇬🇧 May 28 to June 25, 2026 | Guaranteed: AI4Agile BootCamp #7 (English; Live Virtual Cohort) | Live Virtual Cohort | €499 incl. 19% VAT (If applicable.) |
| 🖥 💯 🇬🇧 June 8, 2026 | GUARANTEED: Claude Cowork: Stop Prompting. Start Delegating. (English; Self-paced Online Course) | Self-Paced Online Course | $129 incl. 19% VAT (If applicable.) |
| 🖥 💯 🇬🇧 June 9, 2026 | GUARANTEED: HoA 74: "CLAUDE.md" — The One File That Makes AI Remember How You Work. (English) | Meetup | FREE |
| 🖥 💯 🇬🇧 June 10-July 2, 2026 | GUARANTEED: Claude Cowork BootCamp #2 (English; Live Virtual Cohort) | Live Virtual Cohort | $249 incl. 19% VAT (If applicable.) |
| 🖥 💯 🇬🇧 June 11, 2026 | GUARANTEED: HoA 75: Token Economics. (English) | Meetup | FREE |
| 🇩🇪 June 30-July 1, 2026 | Professional Scrum Product Owner Training (PSPO I; German; Live Virtual Class) | Live Virtual Class | €1,299 incl. 19% VAT (If applicable.) |
| 🖥 💯 🇬🇧 July 1, 2026 | GUARANTEED: AI 4 Agile Course v3 — Master AI for Agile Practitioners (English; Self-paced Online Course) | Self-Paced Online Course | $149 incl. 19% VAT (If applicable.) |
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 1,800-plus Agile Peers on Youtube
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✋ Do Not Miss Out and Learn about Taylorism: Join the 6,375-plus Strong ‘Hands-on Agile’ Slack Community
I invite you to join the “Hands-on Agile” Slack Community and enjoy the benefits of a fast-growing, vibrant community of agile practitioners from around the world.
If you like to join all you have to do now is provide your credentials via this Google form, and I will sign you up. By the way, it’s free.
🗞️ Last Week’s Food for Agile Thought Edition
Read more: Food for Agile Thought #219: Conflict Fear, Tough Conversations, Product Owner Stances, Skip MVPs.
