Food for Agile Thought #221: Flow Thinking, Trust Building, North Star Playbook, Prediction & Planning

TL; DR: Flow Thinking, Trust Building, North Star Playbook, Prediction & Planning — Food for Agile Thought #221

Food for Agile Thought’s issue #221—shared with 24,513 peers—addresses the evolution of flow thinking; we delve into visualizing of forecasts, OKR, and non-static roadmaps, and we learn how to build professional trust in the workspace.

We also appreciate a new guide on north star metrics; we face our industry’s dismal track record regarding dealing with uncertainty, and we agree on that product strategies shouldn’t be executed blindly, but inspected and adapted like all the rest.

Lastly, we thank Allan Holub for voicing the obvious: when teamwork becomes the new standard, HR techniques from the Roaring Twenties need to be ditched.

Did you miss last week’s Food for Agile Thought’s issue #220?

Food for Agile Thought #221: Flow Thinking, Trust Building, North Star Playbook, Prediction & Planning

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Scrum Guide 2020 — Download the new edition of the Scrum Guide Reordered — Age-of-Product.com

🏆 The Essential Post: Flow Thinking

Nigel Thurlow (via InfoQ): The Evolution of Lean Thinking – Transitioning from Lean Thinking to FLOW Thinking

Nigel Thurlow elaborates on the requirements of achieving flow, thus making customer-centricity a reality.

📅 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.

Agile & Scrum

Jimmy Janlén (via Crisp): Make OKRs and Forecasts come alive!

Jimmy Janlén provides examples of visualizations of forecasts and non-static roadmaps.

Esther Derby: Six Ways to Build Trust

Esther Derby lists six ways on how to build professional trust in the workspace.

Allen Holub: Individual Performance Appraisals, Just Say No!

Allen Holub advocates dumping individual performance reviews entirely.

📯 Scrum Master Anti-Patterns — 20 Signs Your Scrum Master Needs Help

Scrum Master anti-patterns: The reasons why Scrum Masters violate the spirit of the Scrum Guide are multi-faceted. They run from ill-suited personal traits and the pursuit of individual agendas to frustration with the team itself.

Read on and learn in this post on Scrum anti-patterns how you can identify if your Scrum Master needs support from the team.

Scrum Master Anti-Patterns — 20 Signs Your Scrum Master Needs Help

Learn more: Scrum Master Anti-Patterns — 20 Signs Your Scrum Master Needs Help.

Product & Lean

John Cutler (via Amplitude): The North Star Playbook

John Cutler and the Amplitude team created a free guide to discovering your product’s North Star.

(via InfoQ): On Uncertainty, Prediction, and Planning

J. Meadows delves into our industry’s dismal track record regarding predicting and planning in the face of uncertainty.

Roman Pichler: Tips for Effective Product Strategy Reviews

Roman Pichler points at the necessity to regularly review and adjust product strategy instead of blindly executing it.

📅 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
🖥 🇩🇪 January 28-31, 2025 Professional Scrum Product Owner Training (PSPO I; German; Live Virtual Class) Live Virtual Class €1,299 incl. 19% VAT
🖥 💯 🇬🇧 Feburary 4-6, 2025 GUARANTEED: Hands-on Agile 2025: From Concept-Based to Context-Based Agility (English) Live Virtual Conference FREE
🖥 🇬🇧 February 12-13, 2025 Professional Scrum Master Advanced Training (PSM II; English; Live Virtual Class) Live Virtual Class €1,299 incl. 19% VAT
🖥 💯 🇬🇧 February 27, 2025 GUARANTEED: Professional Scrum Facilitation Skills Class (PSFS; English; Live Virtual Class) Live Virtual Class €749 incl. 19% VAT
🖥 💯 🇬🇧 March 6-April3, 2025 GUARANTEED: Align, Discover, Deliver: The Product Backlog Management Cohort Class (English; Live Virtual Class) Live Virtual Cohort €499 incl. 19% VAT
🖥 🇩🇪 March 11-12, 2025 Professional Scrum Product Owner Training (PSPO I; German; Live Virtual Class) Live Virtual Class €1,299 incl. 19% VAT
🖥 🇬🇧 March 26-27, 2025 Professional Scrum Master Advanced Training (PSM II; English; Live Virtual Class) Live Virtual Class €1,299 incl. 19% VAT
🖥 🇩🇪 April 10, 2025 Professional Product Discovery and Validation Class (PPDV; German; Live Virtual Class) Live Virtual Class €749 incl. 19% VAT

Professional Scrum Training by PST Stefan Wolpers, Berlin  Product People

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.


Scrum Guide Reordered Free Download Age-of-Product.com

📺 Join 1,800-plus Agile Peers on Youtube

Now available on the Age-of-Product Youtube channel:

✋ Do Not Miss Out and Learn about Flow Thinking: Join the 6,425-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.

Large scale agile: Join the Hands-on Agile Slack Group

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.

Scrum Master Interview Question: free download of the most popular ebook on Scrum Master job interviews — by Age-of-Product

🗞️ Last Week’s Food for Agile Thought Edition

Read more: Food for Agile Thought #220: Taylorism & Agile, Kick-Start Self-Organization, Product vs. Company Strategy, PM Time Allocation.

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