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Food for Agile Thought #402: Agile First Principles, Digging Moats, Steve Jobs on ‘No,’ The Right Product Metrics

by Stefan Wolpers | 2023-07-21 News

TL; DR: Agile First Principles — Food for Agile Thought #402

Welcome to the 402nd edition of the Food for Agile Thought newsletter, shared with 48,061 peers. This week, Maarten Dalmijn unravels Agile first principles without the usual labels, while Steve Jobs elucidates the importance of ‘no.’ Pierre Pureur and Kurt Bittner propose incorporating sustainability into a team’s DoD, and Pete Hodgson examines the nuances of effective collaboration within platform teams. Additionally, we delve into health checks for agile teams.

Then, Saeed Khan advises on ensuring lasting business success beyond mere feature delivery, Packy McCormick’s challenge to tech industry beliefs regarding the need for ‘moats’, and Jin Leem’s intriguing parallels between Roman military innovation and modern design thinking principles.

Finally, Jason Cohen discusses the importance of a comprehensive metric system over a singular metric; Catherine Norris stresses the art of saying ‘no’ in product management, and Ash Maurya critiques the traditional experimental approach, arguing it often leads to unproductive cycles. Lastly, Ethan Mollick notices the AI industry’s neglect of user documentation despite fast-paced advances.

Food for Agile Thought #402: Agile First Principles, Digging Moats, Steve Jobs on ‘No,’ The Right Product Metrics — Age-of-Product.com

Health Checks for Agile Teams — From Spotify to The Liberators to Self-Made

by Stefan Wolpers | 2023-07-17 Agile and Scrum

TL; DR: Health Checks for Agile Teams

Agile teams thrive on continuous improvement and adaptability. Self-assessment isn’t just a health check measuring tool but a compass guiding teams toward their potential. It enables teams to understand their strengths, identify areas of improvement, and delve deeper into work dynamics beyond mere output.

The true essence of self-assessment in Agile is fostering transparency, collaboration, and relentless improvement. It’s not an audit; it’s a mirror reflecting a better version of your Agile team.

This article comprises a few well-known self-assessment tools; use them or have them inspire you to create your own assessment.

Health Checks for Agile Teams — Age-of-Product.com

Food for Agile Thought #401: Product Thinking, Prioritization to Accountability, Product-Market Fit Game, Inside The Scrum Team

by Stefan Wolpers | 2023-07-14 News

TL; DR: Product Thinking — Food for Agile Thought #401

Welcome to the 401st edition of the Food for Agile Thought newsletter, shared with 47,937 peers. This week, we join Murray Robinson, Shane Gibson, and Jeff Patton to delve into product thinking. Also, we highlight misconceptions around Agile adoption, clarifying that the term “faster” is not mentioned in definitions of “Agile” or “agility” before we move to combine Wardley Mapping, Domain-Driven Design (DDD), and Team Topologies to develop “adaptive socio-technical systems.” Moreover, Peter Stevens created an informative and concise 15-minute animated presentation introducing Scrum.

Then, we explain why opting for agile coaches instead of product coaches as a cost-saving alternative often falls short, and John Cutler suggests that product leaders must establish their product’s investment and governance framework to avoid one being imposed on them. Moreover, we emphasize the importance of finding product-market fit in a startup, pointing to a comprehensive guide that provides valuable lessons from six pivots and achieving product-market fit. Another goodie comes from Paweł Huryn, as he delves into the implications, exploring the distinction between product management and product marketing.

Finally, we highlight the importance of post-mortem meetings to uncover lessons from failed projects. Learn more about running them, including their definition, timing, benefits, conducting methods, etc. The DORA 4 metrics, derived from Accelerate, help engineering teams understand what it means to operate as an elite team. However, there is a problem with typical implementations. Lastly, Dean Peters explores how ChatGPT can aid product managers in formulating user stories, providing a fictional example of a product manager, and we take another shot at the perils of an oversized Product Backlog.

Food for Agile Thought #401: Product Thinking, Prioritization to Accountability, Product-Market Fit Game, Inside The Scrum Team — Age-of-Product.com

The Expensive Folly of the Oversized Product Backlog

by Stefan Wolpers | 2023-07-10 Agile and ScrumAgile Transition

TL; DR: The Costs of an Oversized Product Backlog

Some Product Owners believe that a comprehensive Product Backlog is the best way to accomplish the Product Goal and be fully transparent simultaneously—never let a possibly valuable idea slip away. However, a comprehensive backlog may quickly become an oversized Product Backlog with unintended side effects.

Learn more about an oversized Product Backlog’s negative impact on innovation, your Scrum team’s ability to create value, and your relationship with stakeholders.

The Oversized Product Backlog Problem — Making Your Scrum Work #11 — Age-of-Product.com

Food for Agile Thought #400: Doing Great Work, Introverted Product Managers, Sphere of Influence, Experimentation Fallacy

by Stefan Wolpers | 2023-07-07 News

TL; DR: Doing Great Work — Food for Agile Thought #400

Welcome to the 400th edition of the Food for Agile Thought newsletter, shared with 47,822 peers. This week, we explore the common elements of doing great work across various fields, and we reflect on a discussion around the rigidity of Agile rules, encapsulating the paradox of Agile’s call for adaptation and experimentation versus the perceived necessity of rules. Moreover, we consider a coaching tool, prompting introspection on control, influence, and concerns while analyzing transformations’ need for a radical shift from rigid, top-down management to flexible, people-centric operations rooted in simplified structures and autonomous teams.

Then, we warn against nine common stakeholder management pitfalls and highlight the common pitfall of product teams getting too engrossed in perfecting their process at the cost of practical action. Also, an introverted product manager shares her journey from self-doubt to finding her unique way of navigating the role’s demands, and Jiaona Zhang, SVP of Product at Webflow, discusses building a “minimum lovable product.”

Finally, we emphasize Wardley Mapping’s role in strategy and its evolution, making intangible elements visible for effective product development and organizational transformation. Additionally, we advocate for Trunk-Based Development (TBD) and discuss the importance of CEOs dedicating significant time to innovation activities, implementing novel metrics, and developing inclusive, high-performing teams. Lastly, this week’s lemon offers Scrum “best practices,” from “Practice stand-ups, literally” to “Plan new sprint when product backlog has enough items.” Yes, you read correctly.

Food for Agile Thought #400: Doing Great Work, Introverted Product Managers, Sphere of Influence, Experimentation Fallacy — Age-of-Product.com

The Uncomfortable Truth of Scaling ‘Agile’

by Stefan Wolpers | 2023-07-03 Agile and ScrumAgile Transition

TL; DR: The Uncomfortable Truth of Scaling Agile

Agile transformations, scaling Agile from a team level to the whole organization, are more than implementing frameworks like SAFe®. They require a radical shift from rigid, top-down management to flexible, people-centric operations rooted in simplified structures, autonomous teams, and frequent, sustainable value delivery rather than promising quicker, cheaper results.

The Uncomfortable Truth of Scaling Agile — Age-of-Product.com