Food for Agile Thought’s issue #183—shared with 21,403 peers—covers a new leadership health check tool by Crisp, InfoQ’s State of Practices report 2019—Liberating Structures made it onto the list—, and we analyze what ‘executive sponsorship’ means for change in reality.
We also address how to move from an output-minded to outcome-minded organization; we attempt to figure out whether there is an end to customer development and we warm up to a coaching tool for product managers looking for excellence.
Lastly, we dive into the issue that providing feedback does not seem to have a real impact on other people. What does that mean for retrospectives and self-organizing teams?
Did you miss last week’s Food for Agile Thought’s issue #182?
🏆 The Essential Read
InfoQ): Culture & Methods – the State of Practice in 2019
and (viaShane Hastie and Ben Linders report on the state of practices adoption in 2019—from Liberating Structures to mobbing, to remote-only teams, to vanilla Agile.
Agile & Scrum
Crisp): Health checks for Teams and Leadership
(viaJimmy Janlén shares a powerful tool—the Leadership Health Check—to help you become stronger as a management team by revealing improvement opportunities.
What ‘Executive Sponsorship’ Actually Means
:Venkatesh Rao busts the myth that a wise and courageous leader inspires change, pointing at the complexity of the situation given the incumbents’ opposing interests.
Harvard Business Review): Why Feedback Rarely Does What It’s Meant To
(viaThere is more myth busting, this time by Marcus Buckingham who claims that feedback as a technique is regularly failing us at triggering change in other people.
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Product & Lean
How Do I Know When I’m Done with Customer Discovery?
:Tristan Kromer shares his thought on the question of whether the customer discovery process ever comes to an end.
Product Talk): Adopting a Continuous Discovery Mindset Across the Organization
(viaTeresa Torres shares insights from her Northwestern University classes on how to achieve the mindset shift within an organization that enables continuous discovery.
Coaching Tools—The Narrative
:Marty Cagan discusses his single favorite coaching tool for product managers in search of professional excellence.
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