TL; DR: Traumatic Agile, Absurd Design Sprints—Food for Agile Thought #229
Welcome to the 229th edition of the Food for Agile Thought newsletter, shared with 25,103 peers. This week, we ask whether ‘Agile’ is a reactionary movement; we delve into suitable metrics for experiments, and we learn from a bank how to become agile with 20-plus teams.
We also learn how Pinterest keeps ideas for experiments coming. Speaking of which, we gain insight into suitable experiments at Slack, and we reconsider the usefulness of Design Sprints.
Lastly, we finally have a reference to answer the obvious question: Does Google use Scrum?
Did you miss last week’s Food for Agile Thought’s issue #228?
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🏆 The Tip of the Week
: Agile as Trauma
Dorian Taylor wants to heal ‘Agile’ as he believes it is still a tactical, technical, and ultimately reactionary movement.
Traumatic Agile & Scrum
(via Agile Velocity): Metrics in Agile: How to Effectively Measure Transformation
Andy Cleff explores healthy ways to use metrics to gain relevant insights into the outcomes of experiments.
(via AgiliX Agile Consulting): Large Dutch Bank: Our Journey Towards Agility at Scale
Cesario Ramos shares a detailed case study from a significant agile transformation, based on LeSS principles.
(via SmHarter): How large successful companies achieve agility at scale
SMHarter takes a look at how FANG companies become agile at scale.
📅 Professional Scrum Master Training PSM II — Berlin, March 24-25, 2020
This advanced Scrum Master training (PSM II) by Berlin Product People is a 2-day official Scrum.org class for advanced Scrum Masters, including the industry-acknowledged PSM II certification. This PSM training class will be offered in English. You can book your seat directly:
Looking for a different date? Back to the training schedule for the Advanced Scrum Master Training (PSM II).
Learn more: 📅 Professional Scrum Master Training PSM II — Berlin, March 24-25, 2020.
Product & Lean
: How Pinterest Supercharged its Growth Team With Experiment Idea Review
In this article, Jeff Chang and John Egan detail how Pinterest expects everyone to contribute quality experiment ideas.
(via Reforge): Good Experiment, Bad Experiment
Fareed Mosavat shares his lessons learned on experiments, Ben Horowitz style.
(via The Startup): Design Sprints are Absurd
Jeff Davidson has had enough and wants us to drop Google Ventures’ brainchild.
📯 Agile Movers & Shakers (4): Dave West, CEO of Scrum.org
Welcome to the Agile Movers & Shakers interview series. Today’s guest is Dave West, who is the Product Owner and CEO at Scrum.org.
Read more: Agile Movers & Shakers (4): Dave West, CEO of Scrum.org.
📅 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🖥 💯 🇬🇧 April 15-29, 2026 | Guaranteed: Claude Cowork BootCamp (English; Live Virtual Cohort) | Live Virtual Cohort | $149 incl. 19% VAT (If applicable.) |
| 🖥 💯 🇩🇪 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 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.) |
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.
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✋ Do Not Miss Out and Learn about Traumatic Agile: Join the 6,775-plus Strong ‘Hands-on Agile’ Slack Community
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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.
