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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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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📺 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
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.
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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.
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