Shift Left: Value Creation in Scrum

TL; DR: Value Creation in Scrum

As a tactical framework, Scrum is good at delivering Increments into customers’ hands. As we work in iterations, we probably do that several times per month, mitigating risk by closing feedback loops. Nevertheless, there is a potentially hazardous void in the framework that successful Scrum teams start plugging early: how to figure out what is worth building—product discovery—in the first place. As a result, value creation in Scrum is not as straightforward as you might have thought.

Value Creation in Scrum — Shift Left — Age-of-Product.com
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Allan Kelly: Honey, I Shrunk the Backlog — Hands-on Agile 44

TL; DR: HoA #44: Honey, I Shrunk the Backlog w/ Allan Kelly

In this energizing 44th Hands-on Agile session on product backlog management, Allan Kelly clarified one thing: The backlog was a great idea until it wasn’t. Many successful teams deliver backlog items daily, but their backlogs aren’t getting smaller. The never-ending backlog overshadows delivery success. Product discovery, dual-track agile, OKRs, etc., make it worse by accelerating backlog growth without taking any of the rotting items away.

Learn more about Allan’s remedy for oversized product backlogs in less than an hour.

Allan Kelly: Honey, I Shrunk the Backlog — Hands-on Agile 44 — Age-of-Product.com

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The Product Backlog: 14 First Principles to Help Your Scrum Team Succeed

TL; DR: Product Backlog Principles

Contrary to popular belief, the Product Owner does not have dictatorial powers regarding the composition and order of the Product Backlog. Instead, Scrum as a framework is based on a delicate system of checks and balances, collaboration, and joint decision-making to mitigate risk; for example, the Product Owner falling in love with their solution over the problem of the customers. Learn more about critical Product Backlog principles, from the size and growth of the Product Backlog to whether a Product Backlog is necessary in the first place. (Some lean practitioners dispute its existence is justified.)

Product Backlog Principles — Age-of-Product.com
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Jeff Gothelf: Outcome-Based Product Planning — Hands-on Agile 43

TL; DR: HoA #43: Outcome-Based Product Planning w/ Jeff Gothelf

In this energizing 43rd Hands-on Agile session on outcome-based product planning, Jeff Gothelf clarified one thing: “Roadmapping is a flawed concept in the age of Agile. Maps, by their definition, are linear, and we don’t build linear products and services anymore. We build continuous systems.” Learn more about what he considers product roadmap flaws and what you can do about them.

Jeff Gothelf: Outcome-Based Product Planning — Hands-on Agile 43 — Age-of-Product.com

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📺 Roman Pichler: The Product Owner — Hands-on-Agile #38

TL; DR: HoA #38: Ask-Me-Anything w/ Roman Pichler: The Product Owner

In this energizing 38th Hands-on Agile session, Roman Pichler delved into your questions on the role of the Product Owner. The topics range from product manager vs. Product Owner vs. business analyst to the right size of a Product Backlog to linking product vision to Product Goal and Sprint Goal.

📺 Watch the video now: Roman Pichler: The Product Owner — Hands-on-Agile #38.

Hands-on-Agile #38: AMA with Roman Pichler: The Product Owner — Age-of-Product.com
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The Oversized Product Backlog Will Cost You Dearly — Making Your Scrum Work #11

TL; DR: The Oversized Product Backlog Problem — When Noise Interferes with Signal

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. Neglecting the critical Scrum artifact for continuous value creation is one of the common Scrum anti-patterns. If your Scrum Team strives to make your customers’ lives easier Sprint after Sprint, beware of the oversized Product Backlog.

📺 Join me and explore the consequences of inadequate Product Backlog management in less than three minutes.

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

Update: I am running a poll on LinkedIn—join the voting: “What reasons have you observed why Scrum Teams stuff their Product Backlogs — a very costly pattern that diminishes ROI and value creation?”

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