Food for Agile Thought #430: Bureaucracy & Agile, Product Strategy that Sucks, Bridging Silos, Product Theater II

Welcome to the 430th edition of the ‘Food for Agile Thought’ newsletter, shared with 42,191 peers.

This week, Kevin Meadows critiques the bureaucratization of Agile, advocating for a return to its core values. Andy Cleff, in conversation with Tanner Wortham, draws parallels between agile leadership and military strategies, emphasizing adaptability and the “Power of Three.” Bob Galen highlights a dialogue with David Pereira on the importance of clear, courageous communication and acknowledging privilege in thought leadership. Also, Emily Webber offers solutions to break down silos and enhance collaboration in multidisciplinary teams, and Christina Wodtke addresses the psychological barriers to decision-making, proposing strategies to focus and maximize productivity in the workplace. Additionally, Michael Lloyd introduces Dysfunction Mapping in a recording from the last Hands-on Agile Meetup.

Then, Martin Eriksson challenges the one-size-fits-all strategy, stressing the need for focus and tough decision-making for success. Beck Novaes champions the Lean Startup approach, advocating for prioritizing impactful development through minimal viable products and user feedback, while Dave Hora discusses the significance of aligning research with both external and internal organizational cycles across different scales to foster progress and influence. Moreover, Marty Cagan reflects on the responses to his Product Management Theater article, underscoring the importance of skill development and the pivotal role of product leaders in steering teams and organizational change toward a product-centric model.

Lastly, Ant Murphy shares practical techniques for enhancing user interviews, highlighting the importance of structured sessions and insightful questioning. Yonatan Zunger introduces the POMKRA method, transforming OKRs into powerful tools for clear goal-setting and organizational productivity, and Joshua Seiden discusses the nuances of setting numerical targets with OKRs, advocating for a blend of conversation, data, and conjecture in goal-setting. Lastly, Peter Merel champions AI-Driven Development (AIDD), underlining the synergy between AI efficiency and Agile team oversight for aligning technology with business objectives, demonstrating the critical balance between technological advancement and human expertise.

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🏆 Tip of the Week

Medium: Kevin Meadows critiques the growing bureaucratization of Agile, highlighting that the proliferation of complex frameworks and administrative roles directly contradicts Agile’s original principles of simplicity, trust, customer focus, and quick adaptability, urging a significant shift back to foundational values for actual effectiveness in agility: "The Bureaucratization of Agile: Why Bureaucratic Software Environments Aren’t Agile."

🍋 Lemon of the Week

Medium: Wow, Emil discovered the secret to peak productivity: ditching Agile and Scrum for the groundbreaking method of just winging it and getting plastered. Who knew the pinnacle of team bonding was found at the bottom of a bottle, not in Daily Scum? Who needs structured processes when you have alcohol and a disdain for management fads? Cheers to progress! "I Have Now Been Working at an Agile-Free Workplace for 8 Months. It’s the Most Productive Place I Have Been."

➿ Agile & Scrum

• 🎙 Andy Cleff explores agile leadership with Tanner Wortham, highlighting military parallels, the “Power of Three,” and embracing uncertainty for effective team collaboration and decision-making: "Unraveling the ‘Power of Three’ in Agile Leadership with Tanner Wortham."

• Bob Galen reflects on a LinkedIn exchange with David Pereira, praising the no-nonsense clarity and courage in communication while highlighting the importance of recognizing and acknowledging the privilege inherent in thought leadership within the agile community: "Privilege Awareness."

• 📺 InfoQ: Emily Webber discusses overcoming collaboration anti-patterns and silo effects in multidisciplinary organizations, offering techniques to enhance teamwork and dismantle barriers for improved collaboration: "Bridging Silos and Overcoming Collaboration Antipatterns in Multidisciplinary Organizations."

• Christina Wodtke delves into the psychological hurdles of decision-making in the workplace, such as outcome anxiety and choice overload. She proposes strategies to overcome these challenges, emphasizing the role of focus in achieving peak productivity: "Beyond Indecision: The Psychological Forces Shaping Our Choices."

🎓 🖥 💯 🇬🇧 Product Backlog Management Cohort Class of April 2-30, 2024

Discover the Product Owner success principles in this guaranteed engaging Product Backlog Management cohort class and accelerate your professional growth and career perspective with tried & tested, hands-on practices:

• Excel at delivering value regularly — your #1 career success factor.
• Learn to distinguish between valuable and useless ideas.
• Abandon the feature factory. Instead, learn to contribute to customer and organizational success.
• Gain actionable insights, learn supportive tools, and practice everything in a safe community of like-minded peers.
• Learn to say no and build trust and rapport with stakeholders while focusing on creating value.
• Create engaging feedback loops.

Enjoy the benefits of an immersive cohort class and its community with like-minded agile peers on April 2, April 16, and April 30, 2024, from 4-7 pm CEST. The class will be offered in English.

👉 Join now: 🖥 💯 🇬🇧 Product Backlog Management Class of April 2-30, 2024.

🎯 Product

• Martin Eriksson debunks the myth of a one-size-fits-all strategy, emphasizing the importance of focus, clear communication, and making hard choices to move from mediocrity to success in business and product management: "Your strategy (probably) sucks."

• Medium: Beck Novaes advocates prioritizing impact over feature production in software development, emphasizing the Lean Startup philosophy of minimal viable products and the importance of rapid, iterative learning through user feedback to enhance software innovation and efficiency: "Beyond Feature Factories: Prioritizing Impact in Software Innovation."

• Dave Hora highlights the importance of aligning research with external feedback for insights and internal cycles for change across three scales: landscape, initiative, and execution. He advocates for strategic integration to drive progress and enhance influence: "External Loops vs. Internal Cycles."

• Silicon Valley Product Group: Marty Cagan reflects on the reception to his Product Management Theater article, emphasizing skill development over assigning blame, and highlights the critical role of product leaders in fostering strong teams and driving organizational change towards a product model. "Product Leadership Theater."

🛠 Concepts, Tools & Measuring

• Medium: Ant Murphy offers in-depth guidance on enhancing user interviews, focusing on structuring sessions for maximum impact and crafting insightful questions to elicit high-quality responses, aiming to aid professionals eager to refine their user interviewing skills: "Asking Better User Interview Questions."

• Medium: Yonatan Zunger introduces the POMKRA method as an effective planning tool for making OKRs truly beneficial, emphasizing problem identification, clear objectives, and practical steps for achieving goals to enhance productivity and strategic focus in organizations: "The POMKRA Method. Making OKRs Actually Useful."

• Josh Seiden addresses OKR numerical targets in ‘Who Does What By How Much,’ emphasizing the need for conversations, data analysis, and educated guesses to find feasible and valuable goals: "Where Do The Numbers Come From?"

🎶 Encore

• Peter Merel advocates for AI-Driven Development (AIDD), leveraging AI to write software efficiently while emphasizing the crucial role of Agile teams in ensuring AI’s alignment with business goals, highlighting the balance between automation and human oversight in development processes: "AI–Driven Development."

📯 Dysfunction Mapping — Michael Lloyd at the 58. Hands-on Agile Meetup

In this fascinating talk, Michael introduced the concept of dysfunction mapping, a tool developed over years of trial and error aimed at creating a repeatable way to find, theme, and ultimately solve organizational dysfunction.

Learn more: Dysfunction Mapping — Michael Lloyd at the 58. Hands-on Agile Meetup.

📅 Training Classes, Meetups & Events

Upcoming classes and events:

• 🖥 💯 🇬🇧 Mar 5 — Live Virtual Meetup: “Agile” Does Not Work for You? Tackling Fake Agility with Johanna Rothman (English)
• 🖥 💯 🇩🇪 Mar 5-6 — Live Virtual Class: Professional Scrum Product Owner Training (PSPO I; German)
• 🖥 🇬🇧 Mar 26-27 — Live Virtual Class: Advanced Professional Scrum Master Training (PSM II; English)
• 🖥 💯 🇬🇧 Apr 2-30 — Live Virtual Cohort: Product Backlog Management Cohort (English)
• 🖥 💯 🇬🇧 Apr 9 — Live Virtual Meetup: A Q&A on Dynamic Reteaming with Heidi Helfand (English)
• 🖥 🇩🇪 Apr 10-11 — Live Virtual Class: Professional Scrum Product Owner Training (PSPO I; German)
• 🖥 🇬🇧 Apr 23-24 — Live Virtual Class: Advanced Professional Scrum Master Training (PSM II; English)
• 🖥 🇬🇧 May 7 — Live Virtual Class: Professional Scrum Facilitation Skills Class (PSFS; English)

See all upcoming classes here.

📺 Youtube Channel

• Michael Lloyd: Dysfunction Mapping.

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