May 6
Food for Agile Thought #341: Adopting Agility, Failure to Scale Ideas, Measuring Success, ‘Great’ Product Manager
TL; DR: Adopting Agility, Failure to Scale Ideas — Food for Agile Thought #341
Welcome to the 341st edition of the Food for Agile Thought newsletter, shared with 35,206 peers. This week, we learn about adopting agility with a research initiative of Thinkers 50 and Capgemini Invent, and we delve into the difficulties of answering a typical question: ‘What are the pros and cons of Agile?’ Moreover, we analyze the challenges of collaboration after switching to product-based funding, pointing at Conway and Brooks, and end with observations on how the subtleties of an organization influence the effectiveness of internal and external agile coaches, respectively.
We then identify five causes why some products peter out when they grow, from false positives to biased representation to cost traps, and outline three tactics for stakeholder collaboration and inclusion. Additionally, we share Jason Cohen’s framework for Product Management that defines what ‘great’ concerning product managers means in practical terms. We also shed light on the nature of the Scrum team regarding its product capabilities, namely its lack of stakeholder inclusion.
Then, we listen to Jeff Gothelf regarding his advice on adopting the goal-setting OKR framework to measure success, and we learn how Pendo practices continuous discovery, from recruiting interviewees to designing and running experiments. Finally, we are closing this edition with Tim Ferriss interviewing Tony Fadell, covering “Steve Jobs on ‘Vacation,’ Product Design and Team Building, Good Assholes vs. Bad Assholes, Investing in Trends Before They Become Trends, The Hydrogen Economy, [and] The Future of Batteries.”
Did you miss the previous Food for Agile Thought’s issue #340?
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🏆 The Tip of the Week: Adopting Agility
📖 (via Thinkers 50): Agility Inc.: Building Widespread Agility
Thinkers 50 and Capgemini Invent teamed up for a research initiative on the adoption of agile for organizational design and transformation.
Source: Thinkers 50: 📖 Agility Inc.: Building Widespread Agility
➿ Agile & Scrum
Staffan Nöteberg (via Medium): Agile ≠ Lean
Staffan Nöteberg delves into the difficulties of answering a typical question: ‘What are the pros and cons of Agile?’
Source: Medium: Agile ≠ Lean
Author: Staffan Nöteberg
Chris Combe (he / him) (via Medium): Untangling Organizational Dependencies
Chris Combe analyzes the challenges of collaboration after switching to product-based funding, pointing at Conway and Brooks.
Source: Medium: Untangling Organizational Dependencies
Author: Chris Combe
Bob Galen: Key Differences for Internal vs. External Agile Coaches
Bob Galen shares his observations on how the subtleties of an organization influence the two different approaches.
Source: Key Differences for Internal vs. External Agile Coaches
Author: Bob Galen
🎓 🖥 💯 🇬🇧 Hands-on Agile #42: The Skinny on Lean Roadmapping and OKRs w/ Janna Bastow — May 30, 2022
This presentation will look at modern roadmapping best practices, including where lean roadmapping came from and how to put it to use in your organization. It’ll cover practical tips on how to move away from old school feature and date driven roadmaps, and how to move your team on to a leaner, more objective-focused track of product management using OKRs (Objectives and Key Results).
Learn more: 🖥 💯 🇬🇧 Hands-on Agile #42: The Skinny on Lean Roadmapping and OKRs — Janna Bastow — Mai 30, 2022.
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🎯 Product
John List (via Harvard Business Review): Why It’s So Hard to Scale a Great Idea
John List identifies five causes why some products peter out when they grow, from false positives to biased representation to cost traps.
Source: Harvard Business Review: Why It’s So Hard to Scale a Great Idea
Author: John List
Itamar Gilad: Three Advanced Techniques for Working with Stakeholders
Itamar Gilad outlines three tactics for stakeholder collaboration and inclusion.
Source: Three Advanced Techniques for Working with Stakeholders
Author: Itamar Gilad
Jason Cohen: The Impossible Product Manager, a.k.a. the ‘Great’ Product Manager
Jason Cohen shares a framework for Product Management and defines what ‘great’ means in practical terms.
Source: The Impossible Product Manager, a.k.a. the ‘Great’ Product Manager
Author: Jason Cohen
Roman Pichler: Product Teams in Scrum
Roman Pichler sheds light on the nature of the Scrum team regarding its product capabilities, namely its lack of stakeholder inclusion.
Source: Product Teams in Scrum
Author: Roman Pichler
📯 Product Owner Anti-Patterns — 33 Ways to Improve as a PO
No other role in Scrum can contribute to mediocre outcomes like the Product Owner — garbage in, garbage out. Therefore, the following list of some of the most common Product Owner anti-patterns might be a starting point to reflect on the role; maybe, there is room for improvement?
If you recognize some anti-patterns in your daily work, why don’t you ask the rest of the Scrum Team for support? For example, run a Retrospective with teammates and stakeholders on how the team is doing regarding figuring out what is worth building.
👉 Learn more: Product Owner Anti-Patterns — 33 Ways to Improve as a PO
🛠 Tools & Measuring
🎙 Melissa Perri and Jeff Gothelf (via Produx Labs): Shifting How We Measure Success
Melissa Perri interviews Jeff Gothelf regarding his advice on adopting the goal-setting OKR framework to measure success.
Source: Produx Labs: 🎙 Shifting How We Measure Success
Authors: Melissa Perri and Jeff Gothelf
Teresa Torres: Tools of the Trade: A Look at Pendo’s Discovery Tech Stack — Product Talk
Melissa Suzuno talked to Steve Cheshire to figure out how Pendo practices continuous discovery, from recruiting interviewees to designing and running experiments.
Source: Tools of the Trade: A Look at Pendo’s Discovery Tech Stack — Product Talk
✂️ Cutting Room Floor
🎙 Tim Ferriss: Tony Fadell of iPod, iPhone, and Nest Fame
Tim Ferriss interviews Tony Fadell, covering “Steve Jobs on ‘Vacation,’ Product Design and Team Building, Good Assholes vs. Bad Assholes, Investing in Trends Before They Become Trends, The Hydrogen Economy, [and] The Future of Batteries.”
Source: 🎙 Tony Fadell of iPod, iPhone, and Nest Fame
Authors: Tim Ferriss and Tony Fadell
📅 Training Classes, Meetups & Events 2022
Upcoming classes and events:
- 🖥 💯 🇬🇧 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 30 — Live Virtual Meetup: Hands-on Agile 42: The Skinny on Lean Roadmapping and OKRs — Janna Bastow (English)
- 🖥 💯 🇬🇧 May 31–Jun 1 — Live Virtual Class: Advanced Professional Scrum Master Training (PSM II; English)
- 🖥 💯 🇩🇪 Jun 7–10 — Live Virtual Class: Professional Scrum Master Training (PSM I; German)
- 🖥 🇬🇧 Jun 20–23 — Live Virtual Class: Professional Scrum Master Training (PSM I; English)
- 🖥 💯 🇩🇪 Jun 28–Jul 1 — Live Virtual Class: Professional Scrum Product Owner Training (PSPO I; German)
See all upcoming classes here.
🗞️ Last Week’s Food for Agile Thought Edition
📺 Join 3,800-plus Agile Peers on Youtube
Now available on the Age-of-Product Youtube channel:
- 🆕 Hands-on Agile #40: The Best Team Ever with David Burkus.
- 🆕 Hands-on Agile #38: The Product Owner with Roman Pichler.
- 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 #341: Adopting Agility, Failure to Scale Ideas, Measuring Success, ‘Great’ Product Manager was first published on Age-of-Product.com.
