TL; DR: Product-Led Is Also Bad, From CTO to CPO—Food for Agile Thought #288
Welcome to the 288th edition of the Food for Agile Thought newsletter, shared with 30,952 peers. This week, we counter the popular complaint from product folks that their organization’s sales-drivenness impedes the creation of better products. We also explore the secret ingredients of building high-performance teams, and we suggest a few improvements for a critical step in creating useful software.
We then answer four questions regarding modern product management, from skills to metrics to how engineering can be supportive. Moreover, we share a guide on how to figure out the level of customer satisfaction that allows for sustained growth, and we select product metrics that matter—beyond the usual suspects like NPS.
Lastly, we follow Bill Wake’s reflections on “half-waterfall,” a blend of practices based on upfront planning and agile.
TL; DR: Product Owner Interview Questions — The Product Backlog and Refinement
If you are looking to fill a position for a Product Owner in your organization, you may find the following 71 interview questions useful to identify the right candidate. They are derived from my fourteen years of practical experience with XP and Scrum, serving both as Product Owner and Scrum Master and interviewing dozens of Product Owner candidates on behalf of my clients.
So far, this Product Owner interview guide has been downloaded more than 8,000 times.
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. The hardening Sprint is one of those Scrum failures that are particularly challenging.
Explore with me the deep-rooted issues we can learn from a team that practices a hardening Sprint, from the level of team maturity to possible organizational concerns of becoming agile in less than 100 seconds.
There are plenty of Scrum Masters failures. Given that Scrum is a framework with a precise and concise yet short “manual,” this effect should not surprise anyone.
Explore with me three widespread examples of how Scrum Masters fail their team in three short video clips, totaling 5 minutes and 31 seconds.
TL; DR: The Systems Change Problem, Agile Death Spirals—Food for Agile Thought #287
Welcome to the 287th edition of the Food for Agile Thought newsletter, shared with 30,878 peers. This week, we address the systems change problem and that an ‘agile transformation’ is often no more than the first initiative to clear a path to introduce agile ways of working. Also, we explain the Haier Model—Rendanheyi, microenterprises, micro-communities, and ecosystems—in a short animation.
We then discuss the two first principles of continuous product discovery; we enjoy a war story from the trenches of product discovery at Victoria’s Secret, and we come back to the common idea that ‘prioritization’ is a trivial mechanical process run on autopilot. (Spoiler alert: it’s not that trivial.)
Lastly, we point at the elephant in the room: companies use unsuitable metrics to track their innovation efforts.
TL; DR: The virtual Agile Camp Berlin 2021 Has A Job Opening
I am looking for someone (m/f/x) to support me in running the Agile Camp Berlin 2021; use the form below to apply for the job.
The virtual Agile Camp Berlin 2021
The virtual Agile Camp Berlin 2021 (ACB21) will take place from May 27 to May 29, 2021, from 1 pm to 7 pm CEST. You can find all information on the event here: Virtual Agile Camp Berlin from May 27-29, 2021.
As of 2021-04-10, we are 130-plus participants, and I expect the number to grow to probably 200. Since we are not giving away free tickets, I expect a high show rate among the attendees.
The Job Opening at the Agile Camp Berlin 2021
I am looking for someone (m/f/x) to support me in running the Agile Camp Berlin 2021. For example, your tasks would cover:
Admitting attendees to the event
Inviting attendees to the ACB21 Slack channel
Pointing attendees to where they can find more information
Updating the public schedule.
Generally, it is about addressing questions and issues that attendees might have and supporting them to have the best experience possible.
Your main working hours would be:
May 27, 2021, from 1-7 pm CEST: Day 1 of the Agile Camp Berlin 2021.
May 28, 2021, from 1-7 pm CEST: Day 2 of the Agile Camp Berlin 2021.
On May 27 and May 28, I will host the live-stream of the ACB21 from 2-6 pm. Hence, I won’t be able to support you full time during these sessions. (Please note: You won’t be able to attend any session on either May 27 or 28. Feel free, though, to join the sessions on May 29, 2021.)
Remuneration will be in the ballpark of USD 500/€450; our accountant is still working on the details. (For residents of Germany, we plan to go with a mini-job.)
If that sounds interesting to you, please spend five minutes on the following application form:
