TL; DR: Dissonance Causes, The Age of Scrum Is Over — Food for Agile Thought #345
Welcome to the 345th edition of the Food for Agile Thought newsletter, shared with 35,369 peers. This week, we analyze dissonance causes — resulting in tension, loss, fear, or curiosity — from information to expectations to constraints. Chris Lennon believes that ‘Scrum has given us a lot, but it’s time for some conscious uncoupling.’ And we also share an approach to dealing with the management’s unreal desire to have reliability, predictability, and numbers in software development.
Then, we dissect the idea of ‘managing’ stakeholders instead of aligning all parties in the product game by including everyone and giving everyone a voice, and we have a look at how to create better user stories. Also, we reflect on ‘mastering the delicate relationship between the builders and sellers,’ and we define what a transformation to a product-led organization is about, from ‘changing how you build and deploy’ to ‘changing how you decide which problems to solve.’
Moreover, we analyze the challenges of pursuing an agile-traditional hybrid approach as an organization at the same time to achieve business agility. We also point to an HBR study, claiming that ‘employee productivity was 71% higher when meetings were reduced by 40%.’ Finally, we share the analysis of an Estonian company’s approach to becoming agile at scale.
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🏆 The Tip of the Week: Dissonance Causes
: Your Head Hurts. But Why?
John Cutler analyzes the causes of dissonance—resulting in tension, loss, fear, or curiosity—from information to expectations to constraints.
➿ Agile & Scrum
(via Medium): The Age of Scrum Is Over
Chris Lennon believes that ‘Scrum has given us a lot, but it’s time for some conscious uncoupling.’
(via Silicon Valley Product Group): Transformation Defined
Jon Moore and Marty Cagan share their thoughts on what a transformation to a product-led organization is about, from ‘changing how you build and deploy’ to ‘changing how you decide which problems to solve.’
(via InfoQ): Why the Dual Operating Model Impedes Enterprise Agility
Kurt Bittner analyzes the challenges of pursuing an agile-traditional hybrid approach as an organization at the same time to achieve business agility.
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🎯 Product
(via Medium): Reimagining the Term ‘Stakeholder Management’
Lisa Zane dissects the idea of ‘managing’ stakeholders instead of aligning all parties in the product game by including everyone and giving everyone a voice.
(via Medium): Notes on ‘Better User Stories’
Oleg Chursin recently took Mike Cohn’s online class on creating user stories. Here are his notes.
(via Department of Product): How Product Managers and Sales teams can work effectively together
Richard Holmes reflects on ‘mastering the delicate relationship between the builders and sellers.’
📺 David Burkus: Best Team Ever — Hands-on Agile #40
In this energizing 40th Hands-on Agile ‘Best Test Ever’ session, David Burkus delved into the surprising science of high-performing teams.
📺 Watch the video now: David Burkus: Best Team Ever — Hands-on-Agile #40.
🛠 Concepts, Tools & Measuring
(via Farnam Street): Efficiency is the Enemy
Shane Parrish advocates letting ‘slack’ into your life, detailing its benefits.
(via Tealfeed): How to tell your manager you can’t estimate
Fredrik Carleson shares his approach to dealing with the management’s unreal desire to have reliability, predictability, and numbers in software development.
(via Corporate Rebels): Research Concludes: We Waste Our Time At Work
Pim de Morree points to an HBR study, claiming that ‘employee productivity was 71% higher when meetings were reduced by 40%.’
✂️ Cutting Room Floor
(via InfoQ): Pipedrive Unfixed - Case Study of a Unicorn Company
Jurgen Appelo shares an analysis of an Estonian company’s approach to becoming agile at scale.
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Now available on the Age-of-Product Youtube channel to improve learning:
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