TL; DR: Descaling Manifesto, Cultivating Ownership, Release Planning, 5th Product Manager Report—Food for Agile Thought #224
Food for Agile Thought’s issue #224—shared with 24,821 peers—introduces the Descaling Manifesto; we address why great teams have the habit of ‘rule-breaking,’ and we analyze why great Scrum Masters are CEO-material.
We also revisit product releases; we download the 5th Product Manager Report, and we get back to output, outcome, input, effort, and how they are all related to each other.
Lastly, we enjoy a look behind the scenes at Netflix and talk about five levels of ownership.
Did you miss last week’s Food for Agile Thought’s issue #223?
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🏆 The Essential Post: The Descaling Manifesto
: A Descaling Manifesto
Peter Merel extends the agile manifesto to whole organizations to counter bureaucracy.
📅 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.
For those who are interested in applying Liberating Structures as a Scrum Master, we made only the third day of the training class available.
Book your ticket right here:
Learn more: 📅 Professional Scrum Master Training PSM I + Liberating Structures — Berlin, February 18-20, 2020.
Agile & Scrum
: Great Teams Break the ‘Rules’ All the Time
John Cutler delves into obvious — but rarely addressed — team issues.
(via InfoQ): 📺 Mistakes and Discoveries While Cultivating Ownership
Aaron Blohowiak talks about Netflix’s model of the five levels of Ownership: Demonstration, Oversight, Observation, Execution, and Vision.
(via Medium): Why your Scrum Master might be your next CEO
Scott Weiner analyzes the qualities of a great Scrum Master.
📯 Agile Movers & Shakers (3): Ben Linders
Welcome to the Agile Movers & Shakers interview series. Today’s guest is Ben Linders, who is an independent advisor, trainer, and coach. He helps organizations with effectively deploying software development and management practices to deliver business value to customers.
Learn more: Agile Movers & Shakers (3): Ben Linders.
Product & Lean
(via Medium): Outcome Over Output: Also Impact and Effort
Kent Beck reflects on commerce, growth, and trade-offs.
: Release Planning Advice
Roman Pichler points at the importance of release planning to keep the product moving in the right direction and connected to strategy and tactics.
(via ProductPlan): 📖 Download ProductPlan's 2020 Product Management Report
ProductPlan’s fifth annual product management report is now available for download.
📅 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.) |
See all upcoming classes here.

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 1,850-plus Agile Peers on Youtube
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🗞️ Last Week’s Food for Agile Thought Edition
Read more: Food for Agile Thought #223: Innovation Failure, Distributed Teams, PMs to CEOs, Keeping Track of Hypotheses.