TL; DR: Decision Making, Technical Debt Explained — Food for Agile Thought #268
Welcome to the 268th edition of the Food for Agile Thought newsletter, shared with 28,041 peers. This week, we delve into the dirty secrets of decision making; we refresh our memory regarding eight agile estimation practices, and we take appreciation beyond the usual Kudo cards.
We then welcome eleven lessons on how to escape the build trap; we come back Lean’s four phases of a product’s lifecycle, and we learn more about the results of evaluating an app in a real-life context.
Lastly, we embrace another approach to understanding technical debt.
Did you miss last week’s Food for Agile Thought’s issue #267?
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🏆 The Tip of the Week
The dirty little secrets of decision making
:Jock Busuttil asks: What makes one decision better than another?
Agile & Scrum
Parabol Focus): 8 Agile Estimation Techniques to Try With your Team
(viaGareth Davies reflects on the actual value of estimation efforts: getting everyone on the same page.
Technical debt as a lack of understanding
:Dave Rupert on technical debt’s underlying problem of ‘never reorganizing [the code] to reflect your understanding.’ The article includes a brief yet excellent video with Ward Cunningham, who coined the phrase ‘technical debt.’
(via InfoQ): Applying Languages of Appreciation in Agile Teams
Christine Thompson describes five languages of appreciation for team building beyond the usual Kudo cards.
📅 🖥 💯 🇩🇪 Professional Scrum Master Training PSM I — Online: December 15-18, 2020
This guaranteed Professional Scrum Master training is an official Scrum.org class that leads to and includes the industry-recognized PSM I certification. The training is designed as a live virtual class of 4 hours per day and will be offered in German.
Learn more: 📅 🖥 💯 🇩🇪 Professional Scrum Master Training PSM I — Online: December 15-18, 2020.
Product & Lean
(via The Startup): ‘How to Avoid the Build Trap’ By Melissa Perri – 11 Key Learnings
Julia Park summarizes her eleven key takeaway from th ebook, from outcomes to product kata to a culture of safety and learning.
(via Playing Lean): The four stages of innovation
Dora Jelčić refreshes our memories of the four phases of a product's lifecycle, from business modeling to scaling.
(via UX Magazine): Product Validation In A Real-Life Scenario: Intercept Field Study
Bence Mózer shares lessons learned from evaluating an app in a real-life context.
📯 Sprint Planning Checklist
A Sprint Planning checklist? How dare you: Agile is a mindset, not a methodology. It is a journey, not a destination. There is no one-size-fits-all approach, and what else could you possibly cover with a checklist, the mother of all standardized processes?
Well, it always depends on the purpose of a tool’s application. Read more about why Scrum checklists are a handy tool if applied at an operational, hands-on level, reduce your cognitive load, and free up time for more relevant things.
Learn more: Sprint Planning Checklist.
📅 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:
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 2,500-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 Decision Making: Join the 8,500-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.