Food for Agile Thought #271: Remote Is Here to Stay, Pre-Mortems & Obstacles, Leaving the Feature Factory, OKR in Product Management

TL; DR: Pre-Mortems, Leaving the Feature Factory — Food for Agile Thought #271

Welcome to the 271st edition of the Food for Agile Thought newsletter, shared with 28,708 peers. This week, we understand the advantages of pre-mortems to kick-off agile transformations; we discover learning obstacles rooted in entrenched ways of operating, and we appreciate the learnings from a long yet successful lean transformation.

We then learn about how quarterly process changes can unshackle a product team to realize its full potential; we check a system to apply objectives and key results (OKR) to product management, and we acknowledge common traps of validating product ideas, such as false positives.

Lastly, we dissect the consequences of remote work, ranging from the remote hype cycle, the risk of return, new physical and digital solutions, and the implications of remote and hybrid work.

Food for Agile Thought #271: Remote Is Here to Stay, Pre-Mortems & Obstacles, Leaving the Feature Factory, OKR in Product Management—Age-of-Product.com

Did you miss last week’s Food for Agile Thought’s issue #270?

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Scrum Guide 2020 — Download the new edition of the Scrum Guide Reordered — Age-of-Product.com

🏆 The Tip of the Week

Packy McCormick: We're Never Going Back

Packy McCormick dissects the—still underappreciated—consequences of remote work, from the remote hype cycle, the risk of return, new physical and digital solutions, and the implications of remote and hybrid work.

Agile & Scrum

Ayman Idris (via InfoQ): Kick-off Your Transformation by Imagining It Had Failed

Ayman Idris describes the advantages of pre-mortems, thus creating safety for everyone to point at potential risks in advance.

(via Planet Lean): 10 obstacles to a lean transformation

Terry O’Donoghue summarizes lessons learned during a years-long—and ultimately successful—transformation of the Halfway Group.

Barry O'Reilly: The Obstacles to Unlearning

Barry O'Reilly introduces his Cycle of Unlearning to help large corporations with entrenched ways of operating change.

📅 🖥 💯 🇩🇪 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.

📅 🖥 💯 🇩🇪 Professional Scrum Master Training PSM I — Online: December 15-18, 2020 — Berlin Product People GmbH

Learn more: 📅 🖥 💯 🇩🇪 Professional Scrum Master Training PSM I — Online: December 15-18, 2020.

Product

Andrew Jordan Miller (via UX Collective): Going from feature factory to continuous discovery in 1 year

Andrew Jordan Miller shares a success story of quarterly process changes to unshackle a product team and realize its potential.

Roman Pichler: OKRs in Product Management

Roman Pichler details a system of how to apply objectives and key results to product management.

Linda Z: Don’t ask customers about your idea

Linda Zhang shares common traps of validating product ideas, such as false positives.

Sarah Gibbons (via Nielsen Norman Group): The 6 Steps to Roadmapping

In this article, Sarah Gibbons covers six critical steps to creating roadmaps that you can apply to any scope or industry.

📯 Hiring: 71 Scrum Product Owner Interview Questions to Avoid Agile Imposters

If you are looking to fill a position for a Product Owner in your organization, you may find the following 71 interview questions useful to identify the right candidate.

71 Product Owner Interview Questions to Avoid Imposters — Age-of-Product.com

Learn more: 71 Scrum Product Owner Interview Questions to Avoid Agile Imposters.

📅 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 2-30, 2024 GUARANTEED: Product Backlog Management Cohort Class (English; Live Virtual Class) Live Virtual Class €499 incl. 19% VAT
🖥 💯 🇬🇧 April 9, 2024 GUARANTEED: Hands-on Agile #60: A Q&A on Dynamic Reteaming with Heidi Helfand (English) Live Virtual Meetup FREE
🖥 💯 🇩🇪 April 10-11, 2024 GUARANTEED: Professional Scrum Product Owner Training (PSPO I; German; Live Virtual Class) Live Virtual Class €1,299 incl. 19% VAT
🖥 💯 🇬🇧 April 23-24, 2024 GUARANTEED: Professional Scrum Master (Advanced) Training (PSM II; English; Live Virtual Class) Live Virtual Class €1,299 incl. 19% VAT
🖥 🇬🇧 May 7, 2024 Professional Scrum Facilitation Skills Training (PSFS; English; Live Virtual Class) Live Virtual Class €749 incl. 19% VAT
🖥 💯 🇬🇧 May 7, 2024 GUARANTEED: Hands-on Agile #61: Toyota Kata Coaching for Agile Teams & Transformations with Fortune Buchholtz (English) Live Virtual Meetup FREE
🖥 🇩🇪 May 14-15, 2024 Professional Scrum Product Owner Training (PSPO I; German; Live Virtual Class) Live Virtual Class €1,299 incl. 19% VAT
🖥 🇬🇧 May 28-29, 2024 Professional Scrum Master (Advanced) Training (PSM II; English; Live Virtual Class) Live Virtual Class €1,189 incl. 19% VAT
🖥 🇩🇪 June 25-26, 2024 Professional Scrum Product Owner Training (PSPO I; German; Live Virtual Class) Live Virtual Class €1,299 incl. 19% VAT

See all upcoming classes here.

Professional Scrum Training by PST Stefan Wolpers, Berlin  Product People

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.

Download the Remote Agile Guide for Free — Age-of-Product.com

📺 Join 2,500-plus Agile Peers on Youtube

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✋ Do Not Miss Out and Learn about Pre-Mortems: Join the 8,800-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.

Large scale agile: Join the Hands-on Agile Slack Group

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Download the ’Scrum Anti-Patterns Guide’ for Free — Age-of-Product.com

🗞️ Last Week’s Food for Agile Thought Edition

Read more: Food for Agile Thought #270: Productive Uncertainty, Conway’s Law and Org Design for Success, Agile’s Intangibles, WSJF Prioritization.

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