TL; DR: Continuous Improvement, Innovation Heroes? — Food for Agile Thought #307
Welcome to the 307th edition of the Food for Agile Thought newsletter, shared with 32,883 peers. This week, we explore the heart of continuous improvement; we dissect the leadership anti-pattern of rewarding the continuation of a broken system, and we suggest eight attitudes to describe leadership styles in a VUCA world, ranging from the organizational refactorer to the flow manager.
We then delve into the anti-pattern of product requirements documents (PRD), substituting proper product discovery. Moreover, we show that successful businesses figure out how to align their goals with the customers they serve. Also, we provide insight into how to practice empathy and communicate effectively with the leadership.
Lastly, we enjoy a podcast with Mr. User Story Mapping Jeff Patton, explaining how you can transform ordinary teams into extraordinary ones by fixing the product backlog.
Did you miss the previous Food for Agile Thought’s issue #306?
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🏆 The Tip of the Week: The Heart of Continuous Improvement
(via YouTube): 📺 Agile Retrospectives: The Heart of Team Improvement
In this video, Ester Derby delves into why Retrospectives play such a crucial role in a team’s continuous improvement efforts.
➿ Agile & Scrum
: Why Innovation Heroes are a Sign of a Dysfunctional Organization
Steve Blank dissects the leadership anti-pattern of rewarding the continuation of a broken system.
: The Eight Stances of a Transformational Leader
Matt Philip suggests eight attitudes to describe leadership styles in a VUCA world, ranging from the organizational refactorer to the flow manager.
(via InfoQ): Improving Speed and Stability of Software Delivery Simultaneously at Siemens Healthineers
Vladyslav Ukis shares the story of a significant, successful software delivery transformation, improving speed and stability simultaneously.
🎓 🖥 🇩🇪 Professional Scrum Product Owner Schulung mit PSPO-Zertifikat — Online: 21. bis 24. September 2021
Entdecken Sie die vier Erfolgsprinzipien von Scrum mit dieser offiziellen, garantierten Scrum.org Professional Scrum Product Owner-Schulung, die zur branchenweit anerkannten PSPO I-Zertifizierung führt und diese beinhaltet. Die Unterrichtssprache ist Deutsch und die Schulung ist als virtueller Live-Unterricht von 4 Stunden/Tag (9-13 Uhr MESZ) konzipiert.
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🎯 Product
: Discovery vs. Documentation
Marty Cagan delves into the anti-pattern of product requirements documents (PRD), substituting proper product discovery.
: Which problem are we solving?
Seth Godin shows that successful businesses figure out how to align their goals with the customers they serve.
(via Heap): 🎙 Product Therapy: What Do You Do With a HIPPO?
In this podcast, Rich Mironov provides insight into how to practice empathy and communicate effectively with the leadership.
📯 Should Managers Attend Retrospectives? — Making Your Scrum Work #19
There are plenty of failure possibilities with Scrum. Given that Scrum is a framework with a reasonable yet short “manual,” this effect should not surprise anyone. A classic discussion is whether it is appropriate that (line) managers attend the Retrospectives of the Scrum team. Probably, making their attendance a regular habit—or even a requirement—is not a good idea. However, what about managers that occasionally attend a Retrospective? Moreover, what if the (line) manager is also a team member?
Join me and delve into the how and when of managers attending Retrospectives in less than two minutes.
Learn more: Should Managers Attend Retrospectives?
🛠 Tools & Measuring
(via Mind The Product): 🎙 Getting started with User Story Mapping
In this podcast, Jeff Patton explains how you can transform ordinary teams into extraordinary ones by fixing the product backlog.
(via Medium): How to Solve Impossible Problems: Reframing
Jennifer Clinehens suggests a mental model to overcome the unsolvable.
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📺 Join 3,000-plus Agile Peers on Youtube
Now available on the Age-of-Product Youtube channel:
- 🆕 Agile Camp Berlin 2021: Linking Strategy to Everyday Work with John Cutler.
- 🆕 Agile Camp Berlin 2021: Sustainable Agility at the Enterprise Level with Jorgen Hesselberg.
- Agile Camp Berlin 2021: How to Win with Agile Resistant Teams - A Case Study with Scott Weiner.
- Agile Camp Berlin 2021: Increasing the Velocity of Value with Dave West.
- Agile Camp Berlin 2021: Evidence-based Interventions with Viktor Cessan.
- Agile Camp Berlin 2021: Real Cross-functional Teams for Creating real and better Products with Jutta Eckstein and Maryse Meinen.
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