TL; DR: Managing Complexity, Difficult People on Software Projects—Food for Agile Thought #280
Welcome to the 280th edition of the Food for Agile Thought newsletter, shared with 30,344 peers. This week, we discover almost 50 different personality types you may encounter on software teams while managing complexity; we have a personal view on what success to a Scrum Master means, and we learn about the key takeaways from a development team’s transition from Scrum to Basecamp’s Shape Up.
We then delve into research outlining characteristics of organizations and tasks best suited to Agile. We also talk about chasing innovation, why it needs to be sustainable and the risks of taking it too far, and we embrace a one-hour virtual pre-mortem workshop before our team is heading into a high-stakes project.
Lastly, we download the brand-new free field guide on how to deal with complexity and uncertainty—courtesy of the EU’s Joint Research Centre (JRC) and Cognitive Edge.
Did you miss the previous Food for Agile Thought’s issue #279?
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🏆 The Tip of the Week
(via Cognitive Edge): Announcing the publication of Managing complexity (and chaos) in times of crisis. A partnership between the Cynefin Centre and the EU
Download the brand-new free field guide on how to deal with complexity and uncertainty—courtesy of the EU’s Joint Research Centre (JRC) and Cognitive Edge.
➿ Agile & Scrum
: How to Deal with Difficult People on Software Projects
Neil Green describes almost 50 different personality types you may encounter on software teams.
(via Medium): What every Scrum Master should know about success
Wilson Govindji embarks on a journey to define what success as a Scrum Master means to him.
(via Process Street): Shape Up vs Scrum: 6 Months to 6 Weeks – How We Cut Our Dev Cycle 75%
Molly Stovold reports on the key takeaways from a development team’s transition from Scrum to Basecamp’s Shape Up.
🎓 🖥 💯 🇬🇧 Advanced Professional Scrum Master Online Training w/ PSM II Certificate — March 10-11, 2021
This guaranteed Advanced Scrum Master Training (PSM II) 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 from 9:00 am to 5:45 pm CET and will be offered in English.
Learn more: 📅 🖥 🇬🇧 Advanced Professional Scrum Master Online Training w/ PSM II Certificate — March 10-11, 2021.
What our customer say about this Advanced Scrum Master Training (PSM II):
“Outstanding PSM II experience: Having looked forward to attending this class, literally for years, it was everything I expected, hoped for and then some. I am so grateful that this was an online virtual class, as it added an additional dimension to the learning, and was incredibly insightful. The trainer did an outstanding job of taking us through the learning plan, facilitating discussions, guiding the outcome and believing in the structures. Whether the learning was tangible curriculum, or intangible observation, it was excellent – made even more solid by the open sharing from my classmates and willingness from everyone to participate.” (Link.)
🎯 Product
(via INSEAD Knowledge): Not Everyone Can Be Agile
Based on their research, Yves Doz and Maria Guadalupe outline characteristics of organizations and tasks best suited to Agile.
: TBM 7/52: Risk Checklist Activity
John Cutler shares a list of questions he uses to help his team to deal with risk and uncertainty, urging you to create your own list.
(via Intercom): 🎙 Intercom on Product: the siren call of innovation
In this podcast episode, Des Traynor and Paul Adams talk about chasing innovation, why it needs to be sustainable, and the risks of taking it too far.
🛠 Tools & Measuring
: PM Tactic: Running a Remote Pre-Mortem Meeting | giffconstable.com
Giff Constable details how to run a one-hour virtual pre-mortem workshop before your team is heading into a high-stakes project.
: OKR anti-pattern: reverse engineering key results to match your backlog
Jeff Gothelf details a common anti-pattern when utilizing OKRs and how to avoid falling prey to it.
📯 How to Make Agile Work — Six Fallacies and Seven Remedies
For years, I worked in several Berlin-based, fast-growing startups in my capacity as Scrum Master, agile coach, and Product Owner. These are my lessons learned on making ‘agile’ — including Scrum as a framework — work in a fast-growing startup. Also, let me introduce you to the anti-patterns agile startups shall avoid at all costs.
👉 Learn more: How to Make Agile Work in Fast-Growing Startups.
📅 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 2,600-plus Agile Peers on Youtube
Now available on the Age-of-Product Youtube channel:
- 🆕 Scrum Guide 2020: Eight Remarkable Changes — Hands-on Agile #28.
- Remote Agile (1) Replay: Practices and Tools for Scrum Masters, Agile Coaches, and Product Owners.
- Scrum Sprint Retrospective Anti-Patterns.
✋ Do Not Miss Out and Learn about Managing Complexity: Join the 9,000-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.