Food for Agile Thought #404: Social Status, In Defense of Strategy, Broken Ownership, Amazon’s Document Culture

Welcome to the 404th edition of the ‘Food for Agile Thought’ newsletter, shared with 48,271 peers. My name is Stefan Wolpers.

This week, we explore intriguing perspectives on social dynamics: David Pinsof delves into the psychology of social status, while Alex Ewerlöf discusses ownership in project management. We also feature Daniele Altomare’s insights on ethics in Agile environments and John Cutler’s viewpoint on the influence of culture on organizational frameworks.

Then, Packy McCormick warns about the pitfalls of execution without a robust strategy, using Breather as a case study. Aatir Abdul Rauf identifies common blunders in product discovery that affect success. Also, Melissa Perri and Teresa Torres address complex issues in large companies, emphasizing skilled product management and standardized processes.

Finally, Justin Garrison examines Amazon’s unique document-centered meeting approach. Lenny Rachitsky and Dr. Nicole Forsgren unpack productivity in DevOps with the DORA and SPACE frameworks. Dave Hora advocates for strategic agility in software production, while Casey Rosengren explores non-coercive leadership strategies. Lastly, a McKinsey report delves into the growth and impact of generative AI tools in organizations.

🏅 The most popular discussion on LinkedIn this week was: Your stakeholders don't care about how good you are at Scrum. But they'll listen if you show how agility makes them successful. 🚀

PS: 🗞 Did you miss past issues? No worries, here we go: 402, 403.

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

👉 Es gibt für die Professional Scrum Master Schulung PSM I am 5. und 6. September 2023 Schulung ein Community-Ticket für “Food for Agile Thought”-Abonnenten mit 50 % Nachlass. Bei Interesse meldet Euch bitte bei mir.

📅 Join my first public in-person training in years on October 24-25, 2023, in Berlin: Use the code Berlin to save € 200. Please note that the “first come, first serve” principle applies, and legal recourse is excluded.

🏆 Tip of the Week

David Pinsof delves into the peculiarities of social status and the unspoken games people play to achieve it. Status, often shrouded in denial and indirect pursuits, is subject to change and cultural context. Learn more about the psychology of status: "Status Is Weird."

📖 Book Tip of the Week: Maarten Dalmijn

I recently finished reading Maarten Dalmijn’s new book “Driving Value With Sprint Goals: Humble Plans, Exceptional Results” — great work! He mentions many issues I address in my classes, but it is the first time I realized the beauty of applying the Sprint Goal as a magnifying glass for Scrum and all its nitty, gritty details.

Moreover, I like starting the narrative with von Clausewitz and friction, followed by von Moltke the Elder and Auftragstaktik/commander’s intent. It provides a compelling framework to develop the rest of the book. So, if you are looking to understand agile product development beyond the mechanical replication of some Scrum practices, acquiring Maarten’s book is a lower-brainer! 👍 💯

➿ Agile & Scrum

• Alex Ewerlöf investigates scenarios where elements of the “ownership trio”—knowledge, mandate, responsibility—are absent, arguing that this leads to broken ownership. The article underscores the interconnectedness of these elements for successfully managing any project: "Broken Ownership."

• Medium: Daniele Altomare explores the role of ethics in Agile environments, emphasizing the importance of fostering a culture of ethical behavior. He discusses common ethical dilemmas, provides tools for ethical decision-making, and underscores the significance of maintaining values in Agile transformations: "Navigating the Ethical Dimensions of Agile."

• John Cutler asserts that organizational frameworks reflect the unique culture within a company, not an input to shape it. These frameworks’ effectiveness varies across companies due to distinct cultural contexts. Learn more about culture’s role in shaping practices, think of the Spotify model: "Whenever you read about a “framework” that was home-cooked in a company […] remember that what you need to copy is the culture."

🎓 🖥 💯 🇬🇧 Professional Scrum Facilitation Skills Class — October 4, 2023

The Professional Scrum Facilitation Skills (PSFS) training by Berlin Product People is a guaranteed one-day official Scrum.org class for advanced Scrum practitioners and agile coaches, including the industry-acknowledged PSFS certification. This PSFS training class is in English.

Enjoy the benefits of an immersive class of two compact sessions with like-minded agile peers from 09:00 – 17:30 o’clock CEST.

👉 New in 2023: Refresher Classes: Attend a free refresher class as a former student upon arrangement and availability.

Learn more: 🖥 💯 🇬🇧 Professional Scrum Facilitation Skills Class — October 4, 2023.

👉 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

• Packy McCormick argues that execution without strategic direction, even with the best resources, can lead to failure, using Breather’s downfall as an example. A good strategy is crucial, especially for companies excellent at execution: "In Defense of Strategy."

• Aatir Abdul Rauf reveals common mistakes Product Managers make during product discovery, leading to failed engagement and retention goals, low adoption rates, and frequent strategy pivots. Learn more about avoiding these product discovery pitfalls: "11 lesser-known mistakes PMs make during discovery."
  
  

• 🎙 Produx Labs: Melissa Perri and Teresa Torres discuss the challenges in large companies, including conflicting methodologies and strategic alignment, highlighting the role of a skilled product manager and standardized processes: "Navigating Conflicting Methodologies in Product Management."

🛠 Concepts, Tools & Measuring

• Justin Garrison highlights Amazon's unique approach to meetings, centered around documents, typically in a press release format. This method fosters focused discussions and clarity while also accommodating asynchronous input: "Document Driven Meetings at Amazon."

• 🎙Lenny Rachitsky and Dr. Nicole Forsgren discuss developer productivity and DevOps, DORA and SPACE frameworks, benchmarks for success, common mistakes, and tools for improving metrics. Learn more about developer productivity measurement: "How to Measure and Improve Developer Productivity."

• Dave Hora emphasizes that strategic agility is essential as software production gets commoditized. The goal at each organizational level is to make timely decisions driven by increased contextual awareness and insight: "User Models for Product Work."
  
  

🎶 Encore

• Casey Rosengren discusses effective leadership strategies without direct control, drawing parallels with addiction psychology. The focus is on fostering colleagues’ desire for self-improvement, making leadership more about subtle influence than command but non-coercive techniques: "The Art of Subtle Influence: How to lead when you don’t have control."

• McKinsey & Company: In this comprehensive research report, McKinsey reveals the rapid growth and effects of generative AI tools in organizations. Despite the emerging risks, the authors anticipate increased investments due to advances in AI: "The state of AI in 2023: Generative AI’s breakout year."

📅 Training Classes, Meetups & Events

Upcoming classes and events:

• 🖥 💯 🇬🇧 August 17 — Meetup: Hands-on Agile #52: Jim Highsmith & the Agile Manifesto (English)
• 🖥 💯 🇬🇧 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)
• 🖥 💯 🇬🇧 September 5 — Meetup: Hands-on Agile #53: An Agile Coaches Guide to Storytelling w/ Bob Galen (English)
• 🖥 💯 🇩🇪 September 26-29 — Live Virtual Class: Professional Scrum Product Owner Training (PSPO I; German)
• 🖥 💯 🇬🇧 October 4 — Live Virtual Class: Professional Scrum Facilitation Skills Training (PSFS; English)
• 🖥 💯 🇬🇧 October 10 — Meetup: Overcoming Common Product Backlog Management Traps w/ David Pereira
• 🇬🇧 October 24-25 — In Berlin: Advanced Professional Scrum Master Training (PSM II; English)

See all upcoming classes here.

📺 Youtube Channel

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

Your Opinion Matters

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Best,