Food for Agile Thought #102
Food for Agile Thought’s issue #102 applauds Mr. Hodgson for pointing at the obvious: There is no Spotify Model — you have to figure out ‘agile’ within your organization yourself. And by the way, ‘agile’ does not equal Scrum either. Hubspot ditched it years ago and got it right nevertheless. We also learn how to break up silos in your organization, and why people outside the product trenches regular have trouble understanding what we are talking about.
We watch Melissa Perri warn us to fall for the feature factory trap, and we come to understand that ‘feature creep’ is merely a disguise for us failing to identify the core of our product, and we figure out how to identify our customers’ need and to reverse-engineer it into a product.
Lastly, we listen to Jeff Gothelf to learn how continuous innovation can become the center of an organization.
Have a great week!
🏆 Tip of the Week
Matthew Hodgson (via Zen Ex Machina): Why Spotify’s agile patterns work and why you shouldn’t copy them
Matthew Hodgson rightfully points at a critical understanding: There is no Spotify agile model.
👍 Learn how to avoid falling for the ‘let’s scale Agile like Spotify’ fallacy.
Source: Zen Ex Machina: Why Spotify’s agile patterns work and why you shouldn’t copy them
Author: Matthew Hodgson
Agile & Scrum
Christopher ODonnell (via ThinkGrowth.org): Why We Traded Scrum for “Science Fair” to Build HubSpot

Christopher ODonnell looks back at the path of product creation at Hubspot over the years and why they ditched Scrum.
Source: ThinkGrowth.org: Why We Traded Scrum for “Science Fair” to Build HubSpot
Author: Christopher ODonnell
Tomas Laboutka: Break down your departments to build 100% agile company. This is how we did it!

Tomas Laboutka details HotelQuickly’s journey to become truly agile by breaking down silos and empowering the team.
Source: Break down your departments to build 100% agile company. This is how we did it!
Author: Tomas Laboutka
John Cutler (via Hackernoon): 42 Things Non-Front-Liners Misunderstand

John Cutler lists 42 issues of product and software development that are not self-explanatory to outsiders.
Source: Hacker Noon: 42 Things Non-Front-Liners Misunderstand
Author: John Cutler
Samantha Laing (via Growing Agile): Survey Results: Remote Agile Teams

Samantha Laing shares the ‘Remote Agile Teams’ survey results.
Source: Growing Agile: Survey Results: Remote Agile Teams
Author: Samantha Laing
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Download the “Scrum Anti-Patterns Guide” Ebook for Free
The ’Scrum Anti-Patterns Guide’ is another free ebook from the Hands-On Agile series of practical guides from the trenches. It covers more than 100 scrum anti-patterns that hold your scrum team back. Download the “Scrum Anti-Patterns Guide” for free now:

Product & Lean
Mike Fishbein and Jeff Gothelf (via This Is Product Management): Continuous Innovation is Product Management
Jeff Gothelf shares in this podcast his thoughts on how to move to a continuous innovation model as an organization.
Source: This Is Product Management: Continuous Innovation is Product Management
Authors: Mike Fishbein and Jeff Gothelf
Melissa Perri (via Mind The Product): Escaping the Build Trap

Melissa Perri describes her experience with the feature factory early in her career and how to avoid falling for it.
Source: Mind The Product: Escaping the Build Trap
Author: Melissa Perri
Hiten Shah (via Product Habits): Feature Creep Isn’t the Real Problem

Hiten Shah — the co-founder of Hubspot — dissects the ‘feature creep syndrome’: the inability to execute on the core value of your product.
Source: Product Habits: Feature Creep Isn’t the Real Problem
Author: Hiten Shah
David Bailey (via Medium): How To Sell The Problem Before Selling The Solution

David Bailey on identifying your customers’ need and reverse-engineering it into a product.
Source: Medium: How To Sell The Problem Before Selling The Solution
Author: David Bailey
Brent Tworetzky (via Medium): Negotiation Skills for Product Managers: 5 Things You Need to Know
Brent Tworetzky analyzes the principles of negotiation and how mastering them will improve your team’s outcome.
Source: Medium: Negotiation Skills for Product Managers: 5 Things You Need to Know
Author: Brent Tworetzky
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Food for Agile Thought #102 was first published on Age of Product.

