Food for Agile Thought #397: From Tech Debt to Tech Health, Avoiding Lousy Experiments, The Drama Triangle

Welcome to the 397th edition of the ‘Food for Agile Thought’ newsletter, shared with 47,417 peers. My name is Stefan Wolpers.

This week, we demystify technical debt, offering a tangible way to achieve tech health instead. Moreover, according to Mark Zuckerberg, Elon Musk’s actions at Twitter prompted industry reflection on the potential benefits of “firing hordes of middle managers,” reports Yahoo Finance. Also, Ken Norton describes Stephen Karpman’s model from the 1960s, identifying three roles people tend to assume when reacting to their environment, and we learn about fixing agile transformations in an interview with Peter Lam.

Then, Peter Yang discusses effective experimentation with Eric Metelka from Eppo, and we delve into how to build in public without revealing too much. In an epic article, Marty Cagan explores how generative AI could reshape product development, stressing the importance of embracing disruptive technologies. Also, we explore inviting users to participate directly in UX workshops and analyze into the “free to paid” conversion, often considered an indicator of business opportunities and product appeal.

Finally, Eric Chima and John Nevins Most advocate that most teams can benefit from eliminating estimations, supposedly an easy win in Agile. Moreover, we address that concerns rise over AI training on AI-created content instead of human-generated content and examine why some content engrosses us and others fail to pique our interest. We are closing this week’s edition with a simple question: How do you know your team’s Scrum Master is successful?

🏅 The most popular discussion on LinkedIn this week was: Team Metrics can be game-changers!

PS: 🗞 Did you miss past issues? No worries, here we go: 396, 395.

PPS: 📖 Get notified when the Scrum Anti-Patterns Guide will become available.

🚀 Advertise with the ‘Food for Agile Thought’ newsletter and reach more than 47,000 agile practitioners worldwide!

🏆 Tip of the Week

Medium: In this piece, Mikael Vesavuori demystifies technical debt, offering a tangible way to manage it. Readers will grasp the importance of repaying this debt, understanding its risks and costs, and will be equipped with a 6-step strategy to tackle it effectively: "From Technical Debt to Technical Health with HealthCheck."

🍋 The Lemon of the Week

We are lemon-free this week.

➿ Agile & Scrum

• Yahoo Finance: Steve Mollman According to Mark Zuckerberg, Elon Musk’s actions at Twitter prompted industry reflection on the potential benefits of “firing hordes of middle managers,” Steve Mollman reports. While many considered these changes beneficial, some may have hesitated to implement them due to shyness or apprehension: "Mark Zuckerberg credits Elon Musk with kicking off the tech trend of firing middle managers when other CEOs were ‘a little shy’."

• Continuing his leadership series, Ken Norton describes Stephen Karpman’s model from the 1960s, identifying three roles—termed ‘The Drama Triangle’—that people tend to assume when reacting to their environment: "The Drama Triangle."
  
  

• 🎙 Murray Robinson and Shane Gibson discuss with Peter Lam about fixing agile transformations, the debate on centralized agile approaches, the disconnection between executives and workers, and issues related to bureaucracy and functional silos: "Working with executives."

🎓 🖥 🇬🇧 Advanced Professional Scrum Master Online Training — August 29-30, 2023

Discover Scrum’s four success principles in this official Scrum.org Advanced Scrum Master training class including the industry-recognized PSM II certification. The PSM II training class is designed as a live virtual class of two compact sessions from 9 am to 5:30 pm CEST and will be offered in English.

Learn more: 🖥 🇬🇧 Advanced Professional Scrum Master Online Training w/ PSM II Certificate — August 29-30, 2023.

Customer voices: “Outstanding PSM II experience: Having looked forward to attending this class, literally for years, it was everything I expected, hoped for and then some. I am so grateful that this was an online virtual class, as it added an additional dimension to the learning, and was incredibly insightful. The trainer did an outstanding job of taking us through the learning plan, facilitating discussions, guiding the outcome and believing in the structures. Whether the learning was tangible curriculum, or intangible observation, it was excellent – made even more solid by the open sharing from my classmates and willingness from everyone to participate.” (Link.)

👉 From time to time, we can offer last-minute seats for training classes at cost to individuals who do not have access to a corporate training budget. If you like to be notified about these opportunities, please register here.

🎯 Product

• Peter Yang discusses effective experimentation with Eric Metelka from Eppo, exploring optimal times for experiments, strategies for success, and introducing a culture of experimentation into your organization: "How to Run Experiments That Don't Suck."
  
  

• Arvid Kahl believes that fear of oversharing hinders entrepreneurs from ‘Building in Public.’ However, sharing your journey without divulging your business secrets is possible, thereby gaining traction without benefiting competitors: "How to Build in Public Without Revealing Too Much."

• Silicon Valley Product Group: Marty Cagan explores how generative AI could reshape product development, stressing the importance of embracing disruptive technologies. It highlights how the Internet revolutionized product creation methods, leading to Agile and Lean Startup techniques, and asks how generative AI might further impact this field: "Preparing For The Future."

🛠 Concepts, Tools & Measuring

• NYT Open: Eric Chima and John Nevins advocate that most teams can benefit from eliminating estimations—an easy win in Agile: Try it, adjust as needed, and observe the likely relief from your engineers when the meeting doesn't reappear on the calendar: "Estimation Isn’t for Everyone."

• Nielsen Norman Group: Matt Brown explores inviting users to participate directly in UX workshops, which can vastly improve the workshop output, and explains how to do so: "How and Why to Include Users in UX Workshops."
  
  

• Leah Tharin delves into the "free to paid" conversion, often considered an indicator of business opportunities and product appeal. However, the reality of their objectivity is more complex: "Good "Free to Paid" Metrics for B2C / B2B / Enterprise."

🎶 Encore

• david pinsof examines why some content engrosses us, and others fail to pique our interest. He probes the allure that makes one read, the strange anticipation of finding value in words, even when it's not evident. So, he asks, what is it that makes content truly compelling? "You Will Find This Interesting."

• Venturebeat: As generative AI like OpenAI's ChatGPT proliferates, concerns rise over AI training on AI-created content instead of human-generated content. Researchers warn this could cause irreversible defects in AI models, posing a potential risk to the future of generative AI: "The AI feedback loop: Researchers warn of ‘model collapse’ as AI trains on AI-generated content."

📯 Scrum Master Success Indicators — How Do You Compare?

How do you know your team’s Scrum Master is successful?

I identified ten Scrum Master success indicators from a team perspective, from self-sufficiency to delivering valuable Increments to embracing self-management. How Do You Compare?

👉 Learn more: Scrum Master Success Indicators — How Do You Compare?

📅 Training Classes, Meetups & Events

Upcoming classes and events:

• 🖥 💯 🇩🇪 June 21-22 — Live Virtual Class: Professional Scrum Master Training (PSM I; German)
• 🖥 🇬🇧 August 29-30 — Live Virtual Class: Advanced Professional Scrum Master Training (PSM II; English)
• 🖥 💯 🇩🇪 September 5-6 — Live Virtual Class: Professional Scrum Master Training (PSM I; German)
• 🖥 🇬🇧 October 4 — Live Virtual Class: Professional Scrum Facilitation Skills Training (PSFS; English)

See all upcoming classes here.

📺 Youtube Channel

• Joe Justice: How Elon Musk Would Run YOUR Business — Hands-on Agile EXTRA.

Your Opinion Matters

Would you like to suggest a post for next week's edition or provide general feedback? You can reply to this email, or contact stefan@age-of-product.com.

If you like the newsletter, please forward it to a friend or colleague—it would mean a lot to me! 🙏

If you want to receive even more news, just follow @AgeOfProduct or @StefanW on Twitter for your daily dose.

Last, but not least: If you are a first time reader of this newsletter, click here to subscribe and join 47,417 peers.

Best,