News — Find all Issues of the Food for Agile Thought Newsletter

Food for Agile Thought #440: Brilliant Jerks, Product Operating Model Template, Backlog Organization Patterns, Shape Up in Practice

by Stefan Wolpers | 2024-04-26 News

TL; DR: Product Operating Model Template — Food for Agile Thought #440

Welcome to the 440th edition of the Food for Agile Thought newsletter, shared with 42,461 peers. This week, Andy Birds shares a product operating model template to enhance ROI and customer outcomes. Brendan Gregg critiques the impact of disruptive “brilliant jerks” in engineering, while John Cutler advocates for engagement over layoffs. Also, Alex Debecker shares Basecamp’s Shape Up methodology, and Murray Robinson discusses the commodification of methodologies.

Then, Itamar Gilad warns about the potential pitfalls of Generative AI in degrading product culture. Roger Martin critiques traditional strategic planning, emphasizing genuine strategic thinking. Moreover, Ant Murphy introduces innovative Product Backlog formats and management techniques, and Teresa Torres and Stephanie Leue discuss transitioning from a feature factory to continuous discovery.

Lastly, Dave Rooney suggests replacing Story Points with simpler metrics, such as counting completed user stories. Nočnica Mellifera warns against misusing DORA metrics as high-stakes personnel tools. Abi Noda and Tim Cochran also promote qualitative metrics for measuring developer productivity. Cameron Presley advocates for blameless postmortems to learn from failures. Finally, Benedict Evans discusses evolving AI use cases, considering its potential to manage complex tasks.

Food for Agile Thought #440: Brilliant Jerks, Product Operating Model Template, Backlog Organization Patterns, Shape Up in Practice — Age-of-Product.com

Food for Agile Thought #439: Ancient Scrum, AI Product Management, OKRs and Product Roadmaps, Perils of the Agile Community

by Stefan Wolpers | 2024-04-19 News

TL; DR: Ancient Scrum — Food for Agile Thought #439

Welcome to the 439th edition of the Food for Agile Thought newsletter, shared with 42,436 peers. This week, Tobias Mayer traces Scrum back to ancient human processes, suggesting its natural integration in creative endeavors. Scott Seivwright critiques the narrow focus of Agile coaches on methodology, advocating for adaptive practices in response to economic challenges, and David Burkus highlights the crucial role of managers in fostering autonomy and leadership amid rising trends towards managerless models. Chris Matts uses Eric Berne’s transaction analysis to contrast effective adult-adult interactions against the limiting parent-child dynamics in risk-averse environments. Also, Rami James champions asking for help as an essential developer skill, promoting collaboration and continuous learning over individualism.

Then, Marty Cagan and Marily Nika address the challenges of AI Product Management, and Evgenia Suvorova shares insights from her tenure at Revolut on achieving product-market fit. Chad McAllister and John Rossman emphasize the importance of “Big Bets” in business transformation, with John drawing on his Amazon experience to advocate for clarity, speed, and risk management. Leah Tharin offers a critical view on the implementation of SAFe, noting its complexity and the constraints it imposes on team autonomy, often resulting in inefficiency and dissatisfaction.

Lastly, Richard Kasperowski focuses on the role of pair programming and continuous delivery in agile practices. Moreover, Roman Pichler discusses the integration of OKRs with product roadmaps, while Andy Cleff and Colleen Johnson explore flow metrics like WIP and cycle time to enhance organizational agility through actionable metrics. Additionally, the 2024 AI Index report presents a comprehensive analysis of new AI trends, public perceptions, geopolitical dynamics, and the impact of AI on science and medicine.

Food for Agile Thought #439: Ancient Scrum, AI Product Management, OKRs and Product Roadmaps, Perils of the Agile Community — Age-of-Product.com

Food for Agile Thought #438: Agile in the AI Age, Product Operating Model, Effective Roadmaps, Failing Transformations

by Stefan Wolpers | 2024-04-12 News

TL; DR: Agile in the AI Age — Food for Agile Thought #438

Welcome to the 438th edition of the Food for Agile Thought newsletter, shared with 42,401 peers. This week, Henrik Kniberg challenges traditional Agile team sizes, advocating for smaller, AI-enhanced teams in his article on Agile in the AI age. Our Lemon champions a retro, bureaucratic approach to “Agile reporting,” and Murray Robinson and Shane Gibson discuss enhancing organizational agility with Evan Leybourn. Also, Michael Küsters argues for Agile as a dynamic, evolvable practice rather than a rigid dogma, while Petra Wille emphasizes structured strategies for effective organizational transformation. Moreover, Marty Cagan shares his perspective on Scrum and the Product Model.

Then, Agustin Soler shares insights from his tenure as Mural’s Chief Product Officer, detailing strategic initiatives that spurred growth. Ant Murphy discusses the nuanced differences between roadmaps and plans, advocating adaptability and audience-specific customization. Phil Hornby and John Cutler explore product management complexities, and Janna Bastow highlights the importance of closing the feedback loop in product management, suggesting AI could transform feedback mechanisms.

Lastly, First Round Capital introduces a new B2B framework to accelerate product-market fit and 37signals shares decision-making principles that underpin thoughtful business choices. Additionally, the Coaching Card Download Hub provides many practice cards for organizational learning and productivity enhancement. Finally, Todd Lankford emphasizes rational decision-making in product development, advocating for clarity over emotion to boost team performance and product evolution.

Food for Agile Thought #438: Agile in the AI Age, Product Operating Model, Effective Roadmaps, Failing Transformations — Age-of-Product.com

Food for Agile Thought #437: Dunbar’s Number & Team Building, Discovery Challenges, Heisenberg in Software, Job Stories vs. User Stories

by Stefan Wolpers | 2024-04-05 News

TL; DR: Dunbar’s Number — Food for Agile Thought #437

Welcome to the 437th edition of the Food for Agile Thought newsletter, shared with 42,378 peers. This week, Patrick O’Shaughnessy interviews Robin Dunbar on Dunbar’s Number, revealing insights into human connections and their relevance in organizational structures. Jim Doran links Heisenberg’s Uncertainty Principle with Agile, highlighting the balance between focus and speed, alongside the importance of collaboration between Product Managers and Technical Leads. Eric Barker offers strategies to enhance team performance, including keeping teams small and fostering mutual respect. Jutta Eckstein, Susan McIntosh, Craig Smith, Ben Linders, Rafiq Gemmail, and Shane Hastie discuss the latest tech industry trends, focusing on remote innovation, AI, inclusivity, and sustainability. Also, Derk-Jan de Grood tackles five dependencies that slow down agile teams and provides solutions to improve efficiency and delivery.

Then, Debbie Levitt criticizes feature-first mindsets, urging a shift to user-centered product development. Teresa Torres highlights the effectiveness of story-based interviews in grasping actual user needs, and Marcus Castenfors discusses overcoming “Discovery Illness” by refining product discovery processes. Moreover, Ant Murphy shares strategies for streamlining product backlogs to focus on impactful outcomes. Lastly, Ash Maurya advocates for a problem-discovery approach, emphasizing the value of genuine user insights in shaping solutions.

Lastly, Jim Morris critiques the integration of OKRs with conventional processes, advocating for an analytics-first mindset. Avi Siegel distinguishes between job stories and user stories, underlining their collective importance. Another piece dissects common mistakes in user journey mapping, advocating for SMART goals and ongoing updates. Finally, we delve into the evolution of prototyping, from basic sketches to advanced simulations, highlighting their role in refining design and development stages.

Food for Agile Thought #437: Dunbar’s Number & Team Building, Discovery Challenges, Heisenberg in Software, Job Stories vs. User Stories — Age-of-Product.com

Food for Agile Thought #436: State of Agile 2024, Amazon Product Model, Innovation and Disaster, Dynamic Reteaming

by Stefan Wolpers | 2024-03-29 News

TL; DR: State of Agile 2024 — Food for Agile Thought #436

Welcome to the 436th edition of the Food for Agile Thought newsletter, shared with 42,352 peers. This week, we dive into pivotal insights on Agile’s current landscape and organizational impacts. The State of Agile 2024 Report, as discussed by Joyce Tompsett and Shane Hastie, uncovers the evolving challenges and adaptations within Agile practices, highlighting a trend towards hybrid methodologies and the crucial alignment of Agile with business outcomes. Murray Robinson and Shane Gibson’s conversation with Ron Westrum sheds light on organizational culture, using insights from NASA and Boeing. Ben Hartshorne shares Honeycomb’s journey, illustrating the strategic incorporation of technical debt resolution to foster business growth. Lastly, Ben Werdmuller reflects on the evolution of web development, emphasizing the importance of purpose, teamwork, and a culture promoting innovation and inclusivity.

Then, Marty Cagan and Richard Russell delve into Amazon’s customer-focused approach through Prime, showcasing how to fuel technological advancements and long-term value. Leah Tharin discusses the realities versus the idealistic expectations in product management. At the same time, Geoff Watts addresses the challenge of people-pleasing in leadership, presenting techniques for maintaining project integrity while fostering positive relationships. Lastly, Petra Wille emphasizes the critical role of saying “no” in product management, proposing strategies to prioritize and encourage innovation within resource constraints.

Lastly, Andy Walker critiques traditional productivity metrics, advocating for a focus on team dynamics and best practices to enhance development. Willem-Jan Ageling explores the benefits and strategies of dynamic reteaming in product development, and Corinna Baldauf shares insights on using Open Space sessions for effective company-wide retrospectives. Also, we explore how Scrum teams can lose stakeholder support. Finally, David Luan discusses leading Adept in developing practical AGI, reflecting on missed opportunities with GPT-3 at Google.

Food for Agile Thought #436: State of Agile 2024, Amazon Product Model, Innovation and Disaster, Dynamic Reteaming — Age-of-Product.com

Food for Agile Thought #435: Overcoming the Feature Factory, Product Model First Principles, Output vs Outcome, Overproduction in Software

by Stefan Wolpers | 2024-03-22 News

TL; DR: Overcoming the Feature Factory — Food for Agile Thought #435

Welcome to the 435th edition of the Food for Agile Thought newsletter, shared with 42,329 peers. This week, John Cutler presents strategies for product managers or overcoming the feature factory by refining skills through customer interaction and collaboration. Elizabeth Ayer discusses the dangers of software overproduction and strategies for value maintenance, and Vadim Kravcenko examines software project failures, emphasizing the need for accountability and collaboration. Also, Maarten Dalmijn compares evolution’s adaptation mechanisms to Agile’s learning-focused approach, advocating adaptation over prediction, while Alex Miguel Meyer offers methods to counteract the highest-paid person’s opinion (HiPPO) in decision-making with fact-based analysis and structured communication.

Then, Paweł Huryn summarizes Marty Cagan’s insights from “TRANSFORMED” on Product Discovery, Delivery, and Culture, which are essential for product managers aiming for superior products and learning culture. Jonny Williams, Paul Brown, Adam Clark, and Ed Seymour champion a product mindset in platform engineering for value enhancement through incremental improvements and user focus. Moreover, Janna Bastow distinguishes between outputs and outcomes in Product Management, urging a focus on meaningful changes, and David Cox critiques the emphasis on “low-hanging fruit” and marginal gains, suggesting strategic efficiency and tackling valuable problems, drawing lessons from British Cycling’s strategic investment success.

Lastly, Jacob Kaplan-Moss emphasizes breaking down software projects into manageable tasks to ensure effective planning and delegation, aligning them with project goals. Johanna Rothman discusses using agility and real-time data to navigate market volatility, recommending a focus on cycle time and throughput for quick decision-making, and Marcus Hammarberg introduces using Monte Carlo Simulation in Google Sheets for backlog prognosis, offering a data-driven planning method. Finally, Suno is revolutionizing music production by allowing users to create professional-level songs through text prompts, sparking debate on its effects on artists and the future of music creation.