TL; DR: Reliable Predictions, Well-Done Discovery — Food for Agile Thought #246
Welcome to the 246th edition of the Food for Agile Thought newsletter, shared with 26,711 peers. This week, we dissect reliable predictions; we explore a new Retrospective template to analyze year-long projects, and we warm up to the idea that visual thinking makes us better coaches.
We then learn how to measure and guide our product discovery efforts; we stop believing that prioritization needs to be based on value, and we get our hands on customer-retention statistics.
Lastly, we are grateful for a new framework that makes psychological safety in the workplace more tangible.
Did you miss last week’s Food for Agile Thought’s issue #245?
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🏆 The Tip of the Week: Reliable Predictions
(via Mind The Product): Making Better Predictions
In this podcast, Margaret Heffernan examines the futility of predicting the future and what to do about it.
The problem with models is that they are incomplete, almost by definition. They are biased and they often have agendas – in other words, we are using them to sell ideas that we already have.
Agile & Scrum
: Final retrospective – activities and template on Mural
Paulo Caroli suggests a template for the last retrospective of a year-plus long project.
: Psychological Safety In The Workplace – An Integrative Framework
Viktor Cessan lays out a framework detailing what psychological safety is and how to create it.
(via Medium): How visual thinking can make you a better agile coach
Yuri Malishenko believes that applying visual thinking as an agile coach can make you more professional.
📅 🖥 Professional Scrum Master II Online Training — June 23-26, 2020
Just two seats left: This guaranteed advanced Scrum Master training (PSM II) by Berlin Product People is an official Scrum.org class for advanced Scrum Masters, including the industry-acknowledged PSM II certification. The PSM II training class is designed as a live virtual class of 4 h per day and will be offered in English.
Learn more: 📅 🖥 Professional Scrum Master II Online Training — June 23-26, 2020.
Product & Lean
: Doing Discovery Well: How to Measure and Guide Your Team
Teresa Torres asks: If you want to improve your discovery process, what outcomes help you track your progress?
(via Product Coalition): Prioritization is about Confidence, not Value
Anthony Murphy delves into the idea that prioritization needs to be based on value. What if that is no the case?
: What Is Good Retention: An Exhaustive Benchmark Study with Lenny Rachitsky
Casey Winters points to a comprehensive benchmark study across industries on what good retention figures are.
📯 Quo Vadis, Scrum Master: How to Deal with Remote Agile — the Results of Our Virtual Strategy Session
Last week, 30-plus participants in the 23rd Hands-on Agile meetup had a virtual strategy session where they explored Liberating Structures’ Critical Uncertainties microstructure. They identified robust and hedging strategies for Scrum Masters and agile coaches regarding the challenges of remote work and distributed agile teams.
Read on to learn more about wildest dreams, overconfident teams, and Scrum Masters to the rescue.
Learn more: Quo Vadis, Scrum Master: The Results of Our Virtual Strategy Session.
📅 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 |
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 2,275-plus Agile Peers on Youtube
Now available on the Age-of-Product Youtube channel:
- 🆕 Remote Agile (1) Replay: Practices and Tools for Scrum Masters, Agile Coaches, and Product Owners.
- Scrum Sprint Retrospective Anti-Patterns.
- Scrum Master Anti-Patterns.
✋ Do Not Miss Out and Learn about Reliable Predictions: Join the 7,725-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.
