TL; DR: Agile Implementation — Food for Agile Thought #452
Welcome to the 452nd edition of the Food for Agile Thought newsletter, shared with 42,633 peers. This week, Alistair Cockburn and Jon Kern discuss differences in global Agile implementation. Hrishikesh Karekar explores evolving Scrum Master roles, and Maarten Dalmijn critiques overreliance on the Agile Manifesto. Yossi Kreinin advocates for incompetent management benefits, while Derk-Jan de Grood balances stable and restructured teams. We also enhance team effectiveness with alignment tools.
Next, Teresa Torres emphasizes the shift from outputs to outcomes for product success, and Vladimir Kalmykov champions the ‘MVP Razor’ for efficient feature development. Ian Vanagas outlines strategies for deciding what to build next. Moreover, Lenny Rachitsky interviewed Jeff Weinstein about customer obsession and impactful metrics at Stripe.
Lastly, Craig Larman and Bas Vodde introduce the LeSS version of the Scrum Guide, enhancing multi-team alignment. Prateek Singh explores the value of small-batch deliveries and continuous learning, and Ben Kuhn stresses the role of trust in team efficiency. Finally, Jim O’Shaughnessy advocates for handwritten journaling to maintain accurate self-reflection.
🎓 September 1, 2024: The Advanced Product Backlog Management Course for Just $99!
👉 Please note:
- The course includes membership in a new community of agile professionals.
- The course will only be available for sign-up until September 8, 2024!
This week, the most popular discussion on LinkedIn was: Scrum Masters, are you working too much?
Did you miss the previous Food for Agile Thought’s issue 451?
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🏆 The Tip of the Week: Product Manager Replacement
and (via YouTube): 📺 Jon Kern & Alistair Cockburn Discuss Agile’s Global Implementation Differences and Challenges
Alistair Cockburn and Jon Kern discuss the global differences in implementing ‘Agile.’ They emphasize the importance of low power distance for effective communication and early problem discovery while critiquing the resurgence of process-heavy approaches in the US.
🍋 Lemon of the Week
(via Medium): 10x More Effective Sprint Planning for High-Performance Scrum Team
Eiki Takeuchi hilariously bungles Sprint Planning for Scrum teams, missing the mark with misguided emphasis on over-preparation, redundant goals, impractical prioritization, and tedious facilitation, proving once again that some folks struggle to apply first principles.
➿ Agile & Scrum
(via Medium): Scrum Master — What Lies Ahead. Evolution or Obscolesence
Hrishikesh Karekar explores the evolving role of Scrum Masters, highlighting the impact of emerging technologies, such as AI, remote work, and the need for new skills to thrive in Agile environments.
: Agilesplaining: Why the C-level Doesn't Get Agile
Maarten Dalmijn argues that the C-level doesn’t get Agile because we over-rely on the outdated Agile Manifesto for explanations. Instead, we should focus on what matters to them without “Agilesplaining.”
: Advantages of incompetent management
Yossi Kreinin shares his unorthodox perspective on how the very nature of managerial competence often leads to inefficiency and resource wastage, advocating for the unexpected advantages of incompetent management.
(via AgileConnection): To Move or Not to Move: Optimizing Agile Teams
Derk-Jan de Grood explores the balance between stable and restructured Agile teams, emphasizing that while stability enhances collaboration, periodic team changes can foster employee growth, knowledge sharing, and alignment with organizational goals.
🎓 🖥 🇬🇧 Advanced Professional Scrum Master Training w/ PSM II Certificate — August 20-21, 2024
Discover Scrum’s four success principles in this 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 a live virtual immersive class with like-minded agile peers from 09:00 – 17:30 CEST.
Learn more: 🖥 🇬🇧 Advanced Professional Scrum Master Training w/ PSM II Certificate — August 20-21, 2024.
Customer Voice: “Dear Stefan, Thanks a lot for two intense and mindblowing days. Your way of teaching suites me perfectly. I must admit that all the positive feedback you have gotten is spot on! I would any time a day recommand your class to a Scrum Master who wants to add a whole new level to his/her scrum game. To all of you reading this. You have to experience Stefans class to understand how good it is.” (Source.)
👉 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 would like to be notified about these opportunities, please register here.
🎯 Product
: Shifting from Outputs to Outcomes: Why It Matters and How to Get Started
Teresa Torres explains why shifting from outputs to outcomes is crucial for product teams, detailing the steps to define, measure, and achieve meaningful outcomes that drive business success.
(via Product Coalition): ‘Can I Make It Smaller?’ How to Use an MVP Razor to Build Features
Vladimir Kalmykov advocates using an ‘MVP Razor’ to minimize features during product development, emphasizing efficiency and resource management by focusing on essential elements to validate and iterate on ideas quickly.
and : 🎙 Building at Stripe: craft, metrics, and customer obsession
Lenny Rachitsky interviews Jeff Weinstein on the power of customer obsession in product development, choosing impactful metrics, techniques for productivity in large companies, and the global mission behind Stripe Atlas.
(via PostHog): How we decide what to build
Ian Vanagas explains how to decide what to build next in product development, emphasizing shared principles, mapping user wants, prioritizing effort vs impact, clear ownership, and minimal effort testing.
📯 Alignment Tools
Understanding and implementing the right alignment tools in agile product development can significantly enhance the effectiveness of your team and organization. Fostering better relationships between stakeholders and teams can ensure strategic clarity, improve adaptability, and maintain a user-centric focus.
This article provides actionable insights on leveraging these tools to build trust, enhance collaboration, navigate risks, and maximize value creation. This will ultimately lead to more successful product outcomes aligned with organizational goals.
Learn more: Alignment Tools: Creating Better Relationships Between Stakeholders and Teams.
🛠 Concepts, Tools & Measuring
and (via LeSS): The Scrum Guide (LeSS Version) by Craig Larman & Bas Vodde
Craig Larman and Bas Vodde present the LeSS version of the Scrum Guide, aligning Scrum principles with Large-Scale Scrum for consistent and effective multi-team product development and emphasizing the importance of adhering to Scrum’s core elements.
(via Medium): Investigating the Central Claim of Agility — Does Frequent Delivery Create More Value? | by | Medium
Prateek Singh investigates the central claim of Agile, demonstrating that delivering work in smaller batches (Right Sizing) significantly increases value delivery and economic outcomes, especially when combined with continuous learning.
: Trust as a bottleneck to growing teams quickly
Ben Kuhn emphasizes that trust is essential for scaling team collaboration. Without it, increased supervision and inefficiency occur. Building trust requires proactive efforts like sharing mental models, one-on-one communication, trial tasks, and consistent feedback.
🎶 Encore
: Your Memory is Lying to You 🧠
Jim O’Shaughnessy highlights how handwritten journaling can counteract our brain’s tendency to rewrite memories, fostering accurate self-reflection and better decision-making by maintaining an unaltered record of our beliefs and decisions.
📅 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 6,000-plus Agile Peers on Youtube
Now available on the Age-of-Product Youtube channel to improve learning, for example, about the Product Manager Replacement:
- Hands-on Agile 62: From Backlog Manager to Product Manager with David Pereira.
- Hands-on Agile 61: Toyota Kata Coaching for Agile Teams & Transformations with Fortune Buchholtz.
- Hands-on Agile 59: Tackling Fake Agility with Johanna Rothman.
- Hands-on Agile 57: Humble Planning with Maarten Dalmijn.
- Hands-on Agile 53: An Agile Coaches Guide to Storytelling with Bob Galen.
- Hands-on Agile EXTRA: How Elon Musk Would Run YOUR Business with Joe Justice.
✋ Do Not Miss Out and Learn About Agile Implementation — Join the 20,000-plus Strong ‘Hands-on Agile’ Slack Community
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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 learn about Agile Implementation by pointing them to the free Scrum Anti-Patterns Guide: