Food for Agile Thought #332: Talking to Customers, The Learning Repository, Team Dependencies, Resources for Product Owners

TL; DR: Talking to Customers, Learning Repository — Food for Agile Thought #332

Welcome to the 332nd edition of the Food for Agile Thought newsletter, shared with 34,681 peers. This week, we regret that most product managers seem to have stopped talking to customers nowadays. Also, we list nine reasons to become agile, from a bad ‘it’s the trendy thing to do’ to a good ‘we believe in the Agile values and principles.’ Moreover, we deal with fixing unnecessary dependencies, and we suggest utilizing seven classic team building models to ‘inspire, troubleshoot, and build alignment,’ from Tuckman to Katzenbach to Hackman.

We then argue that it is essential to create a learning repository to run experience-informed experiments, and we share an epic list of binge-worthy material on product ownership. In addition to that, Teresa Torres provides her approach to identifying candidates for both “beginner” and experienced product teams for user interviews.

Lastly, we share a simple visualization tool to foster rapid idea generation—quantity may have its own quality, and we follow Jeff Gothelf, who vigorously opposes the notion that goals do not need continuous review and adjustment. And there is one more thing: The Guardian reports on a damning new Netflix documentary, detailing the consequences when a once engineering- and quality-driven culture is forced by the new management to bow to Wall Street.

Food for Agile Thought #332: Talking to Customers, The Learning Repository, Team Dependencies, Resources for Product Owners — Age-of-Product.com

Did you miss the previous Food for Agile Thought’s issue #331?

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Hands-on Agile #40, March 23, 2022: Best Team Ever—David Burkus — Berlin Product People GmbH

📅 Join 200-plus peers on March 23, 2022: HoA #40: Best Team Ever—David Burkus.

🏆 The Tip of the Week: Talking to Customers

Brad Dunn (via Medium): The Great Silence: Why have Product Managers stopped speaking to customers?

Brad Dunn regrets that nowadays, most product managers no longer seem to talk to customers.

➿ Agile & Scrum

Mario Moreira: Good and Bad Reasons for Moving to Agile

Mario Moreira lists nine reasons to become agile, from a bad ‘it’s the trendy thing to do’ to a good ‘we believe in the Agile values and principles.’

Johanna Rothman: See and Resolve Team Dependencies

Johanna Rothman created a short article series on fixing unnecessary dependencies. This article addresses the outside architect or (chief) product person.

(via Atlassian): What strong teamwork looks like: 7 proven models

Kat Boogaard suggests utilizing seven classic team building models to ‘inspire, troubleshoot, and build alignment,’ from Tuckman to Katzenbach to Hackman.

🎓 🖥 🇬🇧 Advanced Professional Scrum Master Online Training w/ PSM II Certificate — March 29-April 1, 2022

Discover Scrum’s four success principles in this official Scrum.org Advanced Professional Scrum Master training class, leading to and including the industry-recognized PSM II certification. The training is designed as a live virtual class and will be offered in English.

Enjoy the benefits of an immersive class of four sessions with like-minded agile peers in the morning hours from 09:00 – 13:00 o’clock CET.

🖥 Advanced Professional Scrum Master Online Training w/ PSM II Certificate — March 29-April 1, 2022 — Berlin Product People GmbH

Learn more: 🖥 🇬🇧 Advanced Professional Scrum Master Online Training w/ PSM II Certificate — March 29-April 1, 2022.

Customer review: “Very hands-on class with lots of concrete takeaways to help in real world scenarios. Reinforced practices and highlighted things that helped in passing the PSM II exam but that was merely a bonus as the content of the class is so useful – certifications or not. Stefan Wolpers is an excellent trainer with broad practical and theoretical knowledge on the subject and his classes seem to have very good working atmosphere (this was a second class by him that I have taken).” (Link.)

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🎯 Product

(via Convert.com): You Need an A/B Testing Learning Repository to Run Experience-Informed Experiments (Experts Say)

Trina Moitra, Daniel Daines Hutt, and Uwemedimo Usa argue that it is essential to create a learning repository if you want to run experience-informed experiments.

Andy Cleff: A Working List of Resources for Product Owners

Andy Cleff aggregated an epic list of binge-worthy material on product ownership.

Teresa Torres: Ask Teresa: How Do You Select Customers for Customer Interviews?

Teresa Torres provides her approach to identifying candidates for both “beginner” and experienced product teams for user interviews.

📺 The Power and Pains of Autonomy — Jimmy Janlén at the Agile Camp Berlin 2021

In this highly engaging talk at the Agile Camp Berlin 2021, Jimmy Janlén addresses the core element of “Agile,” it’s key to speed, innovation, and success: team autonomy. Learn more about its benefits, challenges, fears, and pains and what organizations can do to unleash it.

📺 The Power and Pains of Autonomy — Jimmy Janlén at the Agile Camp Berlin 2021 — Berlin Product People GmbH

Watch now: 📺 The Power and Pains of Autonomy — Jimmy Janlén at the Agile Camp Berlin 2021.

🛠 Tools & Measuring

Paulo Caroli: Crazy Eights

Paulo Caroli shares a simple visualization tool to foster rapid idea generation—quantity may have its own quality.

Jeff Gothelf: OKRs are not ‘Set it and forget it!’

Jeff Gothelf vigorously opposes the notion that goals do not need continuous review and adjustment.

✂️ Cutting Room Floor

(via The Guardian): ‘All those agencies failed us’: inside the terrifying downfall of Boeing

The Guardian reports on a damning new Netflix documentary, detailing the consequences when a once engineering- and quality-driven culture is forced by the new management to bow to Wall Street.

📅 Scrum Training Classes, Workshops, and Events

Date Class and Language City Price
🖥 💯 🇩🇪 April 20-21, 2022 GUARANTEED: Professional Scrum Product Owner Training (PSPO I; German; Live Virtual Class) Live Virtual Class €1.189 incl. 19% VAT
🖥 💯 🇩🇪 April 25-26, 2022 GUARANTEED: Professional Agile Leadership Essentials Training (PAL I; German; Live Virtual Class) Live Virtual Class €1.189 incl. 19% VAT
🖥 💯 🇬🇧 May 9-10, 2022 Professional Scrum Product Owner Training (PSPO I; English; Live Virtual Class) Live Virtual Class €1.189 incl. 19% VAT
🖥 💯 🇩🇪 May 17-20, 2022 Advanced Professional Scrum Product Owner Training (PSPO-A; German; Live Virtual Class) Live Virtual Class €1.399 incl. 19% VAT
🖥 💯 🇬🇧 May 30, 2022 GUARANTEED: Hands-on Agile 42: The Skinny on Lean Roadmapping and OKRs with Janna Bastow (English; Live Virtual Meetup) Live Virtual Meetup FREE
🖥 🇬🇧 May 31-June 1, 2022 Advanced Professional Scrum Master Online Training (PSM II; English; Live Virtual Class) Live Virtual Class €1.189 incl. 19% VAT
🖥 🇩🇪 June 7-10, 2022 Professional Scrum Master Training (PSM I; German; Live Virtual Class) Live Virtual Class €1.189 incl. 19% VAT
🖥 🇬🇧 June 20-23, 2022 Professional Scrum Master Training (PSM I; English; Live Virtual Class) Live Virtual Class €1.189 incl. 19% VAT
🖥 🇩🇪 June 28-July 1, 2022 Professional Scrum Product Owner Training (PSPO I; German; Live Virtual Class) Live Virtual Class €1.189 incl. 19% VAT

See all upcoming classes here.

Professional Scrum Trainer Stefan Wolpers

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 3,500-plus Agile Peers on Youtube

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✋ Do Not Miss Out and Learn more about Talking to Customers, — Join the 11,000-plus Strong ‘Hands-on Agile’ Slack Community

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🗞️ Last Week’s Food for Agile Thought Edition

Read more: Food for Agile Thought #331: Scaling Ideas From Experiments, #hackerlaws, Communication Stakeholder Read, Healthy Data-Informed Product Teams.

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