Mar 18
Food for Agile Thought #334: Shape Up, Product Sense, Adaptive Self-Organization
TL; DR: Shape Up, Product Sense — Food for Agile Thought #334
Welcome to the 334th edition of the Food for Agile Thought newsletter, shared with 34,804 peers. This week, we share lessons learned on what it takes to succeed with Shape Up, Basecamp’s framework for running product development teams by collaboration and productivity. Also, we explore “the impact of hybrid work environments on Agile work,” and we delve into anything Spike-related, from purpose to common misunderstandings.
We then follow Jules Walter as he explains what ‘product sense’ is all about and shares actionable and practical advice on how to develop your product sense. At the same time, John Cutler summarizes the must-haves to get a product team started, from having some process to artifacts to tools. Moreover, we analyze why the collaboration between Product and Marketing may unravel, how to fix this issue, or — better — prevent it from happening in the first place.
Lastly, we reflect on the eleventh principle of the Agile Manifesto: “The best architectures, requirements, and designs emerge from self-organizing teams,” and we point at five estimation failures, from settling for the average to skipping the Definition of Done to fixing time to story points.
Did you miss the previous Food for Agile Thought’s issue #333?
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🏆 The Tip of the Week: Shape Up vs. Scrum
Mart Objartel (via Medium): From Scrum to Shipping Work that Matters with Shape Ups
Mart Objartel shares lessons learned on what it takes to succeed with Shape Up.
Source: Medium: From Scrum to Shipping Work that Matters with Shape Ups
Author: Mart Objartel
➿ Agile & Scrum
📺 (via Agile Alliance): The Future of Agile in a Hybrid World
In this video, the panelists explore “the impact of hybrid work environments on Agile work.”
Source: Agile Alliance: 📺 The Future of Agile in a Hybrid World
Stephen Cavaliere (via Leading Agile): All About Spikes
In this podcast, Dennis Stevens and Stephen Cavaliere delve into anything Spike-related, from purpose to common misunderstandings.
Source: Leading Agile: All About Spikes
Author: Stephen Cavaliere
Al Tenhundfeld (via Simple Thread): Agile Principles: Adaptive Self-Organizing
Al Tenhundfeld reflects on the eleventh principle of the Agile Manifesto: “The best architectures, requirements, and designs emerge from self-organizing teams.”
Source: Simple Thread: Agile Principles: Adaptive Self-Organizing
Author: Al Tenhundfeld
🎓 🖥 💯 🇬🇧 Hands-on Agile #40: Best Team Ever w/ David Burkus— March 23, 2022
Why are some teams more motivated, more innovative, and more successful than others? Why do some groups of talented and seemingly compatible people fall short against lesser teams with less suitable members? And why are we still so surprised about which team members excel, and which ones fail?
We know that high-performing teams deliver higher value results more consistently. But how do you build that high performing team? More often than not, great teams don’t become great because they recruit top talent or pay top dollar. Instead, building the best team ever is about shaping the habits and culture that bring out the best in each team member.
In this persuasive and provocative keynote, David Burkus argues that talent doesn’t make the team. The team makes the talent. Drawing on decades of research and diverse case studies, Burkus reveals what some of the most effective teams in the world do differently, and how you can start doing the same on your team. Audience members will leave with a clear and concise understanding of how the culture of their team affects its performance, and a simple and practical blueprint for how to build the best team ever.
RSVP now: 🖥 💯 🇬🇧 Best Team Ever — David Burkus.
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🎯 Product
Jules Walter: How to develop product sense
Jules Walter explains what ‘product sense’ is all about and shares actionable and practical advice on how to develop your product sense.
Source: How to develop product sense
Authors: Jules Walter
John Cutler: The Basics
John Cutler summarizes the must-haves to get a product team started, from having some process to artifacts to tools.
Source: The Basics
Author: John Cutler
Adam Fishman and Natalie Rothfels (via Reforge): 3 Ways Marketing and Product Teams Can Improve Collaboration — And Drive Better Business Outcomes
Adam Fishman and Natalie Rothfels analyze why the collaboration between Product and Marketing may unravel, how to fix this issue, or — better — prevent it from happening in the first place.
Authors: Adam Fishman and Natalie Rothfels
📯 How to Pass the Scrum Master Certification — PSM I, PSM II, and PSM III
The first article of this mini-series established that you do not need a certificate to become good at what you do, for example, working as a Scrum Master. However, getting certified may be a piece of sound investment advice, as documented by the Scrum Master Salary Report 2022: There is a statistical correlation between your remuneration and the certificates you hold. If you want to take advantage of this signaling power that Scrum certificates seem to have, the question is how to pass the Scrum Master certification?
Learn more: How to Pass the Scrum Master Certification — PSM I, PSM II, and PSM III
🛠 Tools & Measuring
Jim Apodaca: The Five Anti-patterns of Estimating User Stories
Jim Apodaca points at five estimation failures, from settling for the average to skipping the Definition of Done to fixing time to story points.
Source: Medium: The Five Anti-patterns of Estimating User Stories
Adam Jarczyn (via ProductLed): Activation Velocity: Why time-to-value wasn’t enough to measure user onboarding at Shopify
Adam Jarczyn shares lessons learned from his time at Shopify, leading the Solution Engineering for the retail merchant segment.
Author: Adam Jarczyn
✂️ Cutting Room Floor
There are no entires in this category this week.
📅 Training Classes, Meetups & Events 2022
Upcoming classes and events:
- 🖥 💯 🇬🇧 Mar 23 — Live Virtual Meetup: Hands-on Agile #40: Best Team Ever — David Burkus (English)
- 🖥 💯 🇬🇧 Mar 29-Apr 1 — Live Virtual Class: Advanced Professional Scrum Master Training (PSM II; English)
- 🖥 💯 🇩🇪 Apr 4–5 — Live Virtual Class: Professional Scrum Master Training (PSM I; German)
- 🖥 💯 🇬🇧 Apr 11–12 — Live Virtual Class: Professional Scrum Master Training (PSM I; English)
- 🖥 💯 🇬🇧 Apr 13 — Live Virtual Meetup: Hands-on Agile 3941: Scrum Master & Agile Coach Remuneration 2022 (English)
- 🖥 💯 🇩🇪 Apr 20–21 — Live Virtual Class: Professional Scrum Product Owner Training (PSPO I; German)
- 🖥 💯 🇩🇪 Apr 25–26 — Live Virtual Class: Professional Agile Leadership Essentials Training (PAL I; German)
- 🖥 🇩🇪 May 3–6 — Live Virtual Class: Advanced Professional Scrum Master Training (PSM II; German)
- 🖥 🇬🇧 May 9–10 — Live Virtual Class: Professional Scrum Product Owner Training (PSPO I; English)
- 🖥 🇩🇪 May 17–20 — Live Virtual Class: Advanced Professional Scrum Product Owner Training (PSPO-A; German)
- 🖥 🇬🇧 May 31–Jun 1 — Live Virtual Class: Advanced Professional Scrum Master Training (PSM II; English)
See all upcoming classes here.
🗞️ Last Week’s Food for Agile Thought Edition
📺 Join 3,500-plus Agile Peers on Youtube
Now available on the Age-of-Product Youtube channel:
- 🆕 Agile Camp Berlin 2021: The Power and Pains of Autonomy with Jimmy Janlén.
- 🆕 Hands-on Agile #31: The Zones of Value Framework with Valerio Zanini & Zeina Zeitouni.
- Hands-on Agile #35: Designing Powerful Questions to help you Coach & Create with Daniel Stillman.
- Hands-on Agile #34: Core Protocols for Psychological Safety with Richard Kasperowski.
- Agile Camp Berlin 2021: Adapt How You Lead for Agile Success with Johanna Rothman.
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Food for Agile Thought #334: Shape Up, Product Sense, Adaptive Self-Organization, User Onboarding at Shopify was first published on Age-of-Product.com.
