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Food for Agile Thought #423: How to Ditch the Project Mindset, Who Rules Product, Thoughtful HIPPOs, Radical Candor

by Stefan Wolpers | 2023-12-15 News

TL; DR: How to Ditch the Project Mindset — Food for Agile Thought #423

Welcome to the 423rd edition of the Food for Agile Thought newsletter, shared with 49,908 peers. This week, Janna Bastow discusses how to ditch the project mindset, emphasizing user-centric development, and Annie Duke and Howard Marks explore decision-making in uncertainty. At the same time, John Cutler examines the value of top-down decision-making, and Martijn Oost critiques the “SpotiSAFe®” model’s harmful effect on transformations. Also, I highlight pitfalls in the Scrum Framework from my book, “Scrum Anti Patterns Guide.”

Then, Itamar Gilad advocates for evidence-based leadership in product development, critiquing Airbnb’s approach. Noah Desai Weiss of Slack reveals his bold overhaul of user experience, while Jeff Gothelf discusses the effectiveness of empowered product teams over output-driven feature teams. Stay SaaSy contributes practical tips to enhance team velocity, focusing on removing dependencies and streamlining project narratives.

Lastly, Kate Leto highlights the importance of conflict resolution and emotional intelligence in product development. Also, Kim Scott and Lenny Rachitsky explore Scott’s books “Radical Candor” and “Radical Respect,” focusing on leadership and feedback. Ben McRedmond discusses principles for increasing startup product velocity, and Chris Lewicki recounts a near-miss incident at NASA, emphasizing resilience and learning from mistakes. Finally, we unravel the secrets of what makes a Scrum Master not just good but amazingly outstanding. From regularly achieving Sprint Goals, delivering value to customers, and building stakeholder rapport easily, discover the traits that set apart successful Scrum Masters.

Food for Agile Thought #423: How to Ditch the Project Mindset, Who Rules Product, Thoughtful HIPPOs, Radical Candor — Age-of-Product.com

Successful Scrum Masters

by Stefan Wolpers | 2023-12-10 Agile and ScrumAgile Transition

TL; DR: How To Spot Successful Scrum Masters

In this article, I unravel the secrets of what makes a Scrum Master not just good but amazingly outstanding. From regularly achieving Sprint Goals, delivering value to customers, and building stakeholder rapport easily, discover the traits that set apart successful Scrum Masters.

Moreover, we also shed light on the pitfalls to avoid if you want to keep the respect of your teammates and probably your job.

Successful Scrum Masters — Age-of-Product.com

Food for Agile Thought #422: Human Misjudgment, Evaluating Product Managers, Fake Agile, Scaling Simplified

by Stefan Wolpers | 2023-12-08 News

TL; DR: Human Misjudgment — Food for Agile Thought #422

Welcome to the 422nd edition of the Food for Agile Thought newsletter, shared with 49,901 peers. This week, Farnam Street highlights the revised edition of Charlie Munger’s “The Psychology of Human Misjudgment,” Nigel Thurlow critiques “Fake Agile,” while John Cutler analyzes Brian Chesky’s leadership insights. Also, Marco Nink identifies key traits of agile companies, and we examine how to miss Sprint Goals consistently.

Then, Jeff Patton offers a framework for assessing Product Managers across seven vital areas. Moreover, Roman Pichler discusses the role of a validated product strategy and the Opportunity Solution Tree in product discovery, and Richard Mironov critiques annual planning, advocating for continuous, inclusive corporate and product strategy.

Lastly, Troy Lightfoot and Andy Cleff discuss with Prateek Singh and Dan Vacanti their book “Scaling Simplified,” focusing on Agile scaling through flow. Mark Ridley investigates Bruce Tuckman’s “Stages of Group Development,” its evolution, and its current relevance. Additionally, Casey Rosengren addresses startup decision-making, underscoring the impact of fear and uncertainty, and Dr. Stuart Woolley critiques the gap between management practices and their effectiveness in software engineering.

Food for Agile Thought #422: Human Misjudgment, Evaluating Product Managers, Fake Agile, Scaling Simplified — Age-of-Product.com

Why Succeed When You Can Fail? A Guide to Missing Sprint Goals

by Stefan Wolpers | 2023-12-04 Agile and ScrumAgile Transition

TL; DR: Missing Sprint Goals

Do you excel in the art of setting unattainable, imposed, or plain non-existing Sprint Goals? In other words, are you good at missing Sprint Goals with regularity? If not, don’t worry; help is on the way!

In this article, we’ll explore how to consistently miss the mark. For example, enjoy the thrill of cherry-picking unrelated backlog items and defining success by sheer output, not outcome. Countless Scrum Teams have thoroughly tested all suggestions. They are ideally suited for teams who love the challenge of aimlessly wandering through Sprints!

Why Succeed When You Can Fail? A Sarcastic Guide to Missing Sprint Goals — Age-of-Product.com

Food for Agile Thought #421: Fairytale Planning, Alternatives To Product Managers, Slowing Down to Speed Up, Insights from Spotify

by Stefan Wolpers | 2023-12-01 News

TL; DR: Fairytale Planning — Food for Agile Thought #421

Welcome to the 421st edition of the Food for Agile Thought newsletter, shared with 49,812 peers. This week, we explore Jason Cohen’s Fairytale Planning for strategic simplicity, examine Jim Highsmith’s critique of the waterfall model’s impact on organizational dynamics, and delve into John Cutler’s insights on balancing productivity in product management. Also, we highlight Eiki’s emphasis on the importance of psychology in agile coaching through transformative leadership methods, and we explore the Scrum trap of applying unsuited practices.

Then, we listen to Agile Uprising’s interview with Maarten Dalmijn, discussing his book ‘Driving Value with Sprint Goals,’ while Marty Cagan critiques Brian Chesky’s take on product management. Aatir Abdul Rauf offers insights on crafting product strategies, and Charles Lambdin laments the persistent focus on output over outcomes.

Lastly, Jason Yip discusses lessons from Spotify on autonomy and team building, while Dan Shipper honors Charlie Munger’s legacy in decision-making. Shane Hastie’s podcast with Todd Little delves into Kanban’s advantages, and David Pinsof critically analyzes the nature of opinions in social contexts.

Food for Agile Thought #421: Fairytale Planning, Alternatives To Product Managers, Slowing Down to Speed Up, Insights from Spotify — Age-of-Product.com

The Scrum Trap: How Unfit Practices Will Harm Return on Investment

by Stefan Wolpers | 2023-11-27 Agile and ScrumAgile Transition

TL, DR: The Scrum Trap

Scrum is a purposefully incomplete framework. Consequently, it needs to be augmented with tools and practices to apply its theoretical foundation to an organization’s business reality: what problems shall be solved for whom in which market? Moreover, there is an organization’s culture to take into account. However, the intentional “gap” is not a free-for-all to accept whatever comes to mind or is convenient. Some tools and practices have proven highly effective in supporting Scrum’s application and reaping its benefits. And then there are others — the Scrum trap.

Let’s look at what practices and tools for collaboration and team building are not helpful when used with Scrum.

The Scrum Trap: How Unfit Practices Will Harm Return on Investment — Age-of-Product.com