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Food for Agile Thought #394: Amazon Product Management Framework, Ethics of Agile Coaching, Product-led Transformations, The Dunning-Kruger Effect

TL; DR: Amazon Product Management Framework — Food for Agile Thought #394

Welcome to the 394th edition of the Food for Agile Thought newsletter, shared with 46,957 peers. This week, we start with exploring the Amazon product management framework, a 10-step process. Moreover, we assess the state of ethics in agile coaching and apply Goldratt’s idea that a business aims to make money now and in the future to Scrum. Moreover, Murray Robinson and Shane Gibson interviewed Jim Highsmith, one of the authors of the Agile Manifesto, and we explore a magic technique to turn a boring Retrospective into an outstanding one.

Then, we reflect on the trend in product development of dropping the dogma and seeking what works, sharing an excellent primer on a problematic strategic decision with an often underestimated importance for your business to get you going. Speaking of what works for you: Lenny Rachitsky interviewed Gustav Söderström, Co-President, CPO, and CTO at Spotify, on what has worked for them.

Finally, we attempt to debunk the original findings of Dunning and Kruger, claiming that the actual effect is that “everyone thinks they are better than average.” We also dip into the meaning of IKIGAI and share a comprehensive essay mapping the similarities and differences between Sociocracy and Holacracy. Lastly, we point to research by the Laboratory for Innovation Science at Harvard, shedding “light on what it takes for people to get comfortable with machine learning.”

🤖 Check out my new AI-based chatbot: ScrumBot is based on my blog posts and OpenAI’s GPT 3.5. What do you think? 🧐

🏅 The most popular discussion on LinkedIn this week was: Scrum is challenging. Where do you find it toughest? 🚧.

📖 Get notified when the Scrum Anti-Patterns Guide book is available!

Did you miss the previous Food for Agile Thought’s issue 393?

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🏆 The Tip of the Week: The Amazon Product Management Framework

(via Medium): 10-Step Product Management Cycle

Ryan Lysne aggregates Amazon’s product management process into a 10-step framework.

🍋 The Lemon of the Week—From the Archives

Steven A. Lowe (via TechBeacon): Why Scrum sucks

Steven A. Lowe hopes that we can learn from and prevent future disasters like Scrum.

➿ Agile & Scrum

Robert Galen: Ethics -- Front and Center...Again!

Robert Galen revisits his 2022 assessment of the ethical focus of the primary agile certification and influencing bodies and asks: have they improved?

(via Medium): Applying Goldratt’s ‘The Goal’ to Your Scrum Team: Maximizing Efficiency and Profitability

Alexander Hilton applies Goldratt’s idea that a business aims to make money now and in the future to Scrum.

Jim Highsmith: 🎙 No Nonsense Agile Podcast: Jim Highsmith — From the Wild West to Agile and Beyond

Murray Robinson and Shane Gibson interview Jim Highsmith, one of the authors of the Agile Manifesto, on various topics.

🎓 🖥 💯 🇬🇧 Advanced Professional Scrum Master Online Training w/ PSM II Certificate — May 30-31, 2023

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

Enjoy the benefits of an live-virtual immersive class with like-minded agile peers from 09:00 – 17:30 o’clock CEST.

Learn more: 🖥 💯 🇬🇧 Advanced Professional Scrum Master Online Training w/ PSM II Certificate — May 30-31, 2023.

👉 From time to time, we can offer last-minute seats for training classes at cost to individuals who do not have access to a corporate training budget. If you like to be notified about these opportunities, please register here.

🎯 Product

Paweł Huryn (via Medium): Product Pricing Strategies 101

Paweł Huryn shares an excellent primer on a problematic strategic decision with an often underestimated importance for your business, from considering product strategy to running experiments.

Ant Murphy (via Medium): The Rise of Product-led Transformations

Ant Murphy reflects on the trend of dropping the dogma and seeking what works.

Lenny Rachitsky and Gustav Söderström: 🎙 Lessons from scaling Spotify: The science of product, taking risky bets, and how AI is already impacting the future of music

Lenny Rachitsky interviews Gustav Söderström, Co-President, CPO, and CTO at Spotify.

📯 Retrospective Facilitation: A Simple Hack to Go from Good to Great

The magic technique to turn a boring Retrospective into an outstanding Retrospective is the rotation of the facilitator role equally among all team members. Check out the following ten benefits of this Retrospective facilitation practice, from boosting learning and skill development to ensuring continuity to encouraging ownership.

Learn more: Retrospective Facilitation: A Simple Hack to Go from Good to Great.

🛠 Concepts, Tools & Measuring

(via Scientific American): The Dunning-Kruger Effect Isn’t What You Think It Is

Eric C. Gaze attempts to debunk the original findings of Dunning and Kruger, claiming that the actual effect is that “everyone thinks they are better than average.”

(via Management 3.0): What IKIGAI means for the Japanese: a personal reflection

Kumiko Sugiyama surveyed 100-plus people on their IKIGAI—purpose of life—from resilience to personal benefits.

Ted Rau (via Sociocracy For All): Sociocracy and Holacracy: Sameness and differences

Ted Rau shares a comprehensive essay mapping the similarities and differences between the two self-governance systems.

🎶 Encore

(via HBS Working Knowledge): What Makes Employees Trust (vs. Second-Guess) AI?

Rachel Layne shares research by the Laboratory for Innovation Science at Harvard, shedding “light on what it takes for people to get comfortable with machine learning.”

📅 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
🖥 🇩🇪 January 28-31, 2025 Professional Scrum Product Owner Training (PSPO I; German; Live Virtual Class) Live Virtual Class €1,299 incl. 19% VAT
🖥 💯 🇬🇧 Feburary 4-6, 2025 GUARANTEED: Hands-on Agile 2025: From Concept-Based to Context-Based Agility (English) Live Virtual Conference FREE
🖥 🇬🇧 February 12-13, 2025 Professional Scrum Master Advanced Training (PSM II; English; Live Virtual Class) Live Virtual Class €1,299 incl. 19% VAT
🖥 💯 🇬🇧 February 27, 2025 GUARANTEED: Professional Scrum Facilitation Skills Class (PSFS; English; Live Virtual Class) Live Virtual Class €749 incl. 19% VAT
🖥 💯 🇬🇧 March 6-April3, 2025 GUARANTEED: Align, Discover, Deliver: The Product Backlog Management Cohort Class (English; Live Virtual Class) Live Virtual Cohort €499 incl. 19% VAT
🖥 🇩🇪 March 11-12, 2025 Professional Scrum Product Owner Training (PSPO I; German; Live Virtual Class) Live Virtual Class €1,299 incl. 19% VAT
🖥 🇬🇧 March 26-27, 2025 Professional Scrum Master Advanced Training (PSM II; English; Live Virtual Class) Live Virtual Class €1,299 incl. 19% VAT
🖥 🇩🇪 April 10, 2025 Professional Product Discovery and Validation Class (PPDV; German; Live Virtual Class) Live Virtual Class €749 incl. 19% VAT

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 5,000-plus Agile Peers on Youtube

Now available on the Age-of-Product Youtube channel to improve learning, for example, about the Amazon product management framework:

✋ Do Not Miss Out and Learn more about the Amazon Product Management Framework — Join the 12,000-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.

Help your team to explore the Amazon product management framework by pointing them to the free Scrum Anti-Patterns Guide:

🗞️ Last Week’s Food for Agile Thought Edition

Read more: Food for Agile Thought #393: The Double Diamond Problem, Why Agile Coaches Fail, Effort vs. Value Curves, Waterfall’s Comeback.

Categories: News
Stefan Wolpers: Stefan, based near Hamburg, Germany, has worked for 18-plus years as a Product Manager, Product Owner, Agile Coach, and Scrum Master. He is a Professional Scrum Trainer (PST) with Scrum.org and the author of Pearson’s “Scrum Anti-Patterns Guide.” He has developed B2C as well as B2B software, for startups as well as corporations, including a former Google subsidiary. Stefan curates the ‘Food for Agile Thought’ newsletter and organizes the Hands-on Agile Conference, a Barcamp for agile practitioners.
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