Food for Agile Thought #444: Change Agent to Overpriced Cheerleader, Instagram-ification of PM, Gut-Feeling to Scientific Research

Welcome to the 444th edition of the ‘Food for Agile Thought’ newsletter, shared with 42,579 peers.

This week, Sam Haynes critiques the dwindling effectiveness of Agile Coaches, shifting from vital change agents to mere overpriced cheerleaders. Maarten Dalmijn criticizes Scrum for providing a blame-shifting ‘Get Out of Jail Free’ card, impeding real improvement, while Christiaan Verwijs advocates for scientific research to restore Agile’s credibility and effectiveness. Also, Michael Küsters emphasizes strategic alignment by rephrasing the query “How do we make money?” to uncover different business insights, and Jason Evanish discusses how lone wolves struggle with leadership due to their independence before Fortune Buchholtz introduces Toyota Kata Coaching for Agile teams.

Then, John Cutler warns against the ‘Instagram-ification’ of product management, which he argues sets unrealistic expectations and drives professionals towards unsustainable practices. David Pereira’s interview with Itamar Gilad emphasizes the importance of discarding 90% of ideas, advocating for evidence-based innovation and adaptability to user needs. Ant Murphy offers a stakeholder management approach that uses proposed solutions to uncover real problems, thus enhancing problem understanding without confrontation. Moreover, Manuel da Costa discusses findings from McKinsey’s Product Operating Model Index, highlighting a significant gap in product management practices between top and bottom-performing companies.

Lastly, Shane Hastie interviewed Esther Derby and David Horowitz about the second edition of the Agile Retrospectives book, focusing on data-driven methods and increased engagement for successful retrospectives, and Christina discusses how effective prioritization is often compromised by multitasking myths and distractions. The Ikigai Retrospective exercise uses a Venn diagram to help teams find their collective purpose by aligning their passions and skills with market value and impact. Finally, Aakash Gupta advises strategically using tailored work products in the PM job market to showcase unique insights and fit with company culture, enhancing job prospects.

🎓 Launch on July 1, 2024: Learn How to Master the Most Important Artifact in the Advanced Product Backlog Management Course!

👉 Please note:

• The course includes membership in a new community of agile professionals.
• Become fully reimbursed if you also choose to join the Advanced Product Backlog Management Cohort of June 13 - July 11, 2024, at € 399.
• The course will only be available until July 8, 2024, for sign-up!

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🏆 Tip of the Week

Medium: Sam Haynes critiques the transformation of Agile Coaches from essential catalysts for Agile adoption to overpriced cheerleaders, questioning their current value in genuinely driving organizational change: "The Agile Coach Scam Exposed."

🍋 Lemon of the Week

We are Lemon-free this week.

➿ Agile & Scrum

• The Liberators: Christiaan Verwijs urges the Agile community to embrace scientific research over personal opinion to elevate the professionalism and effectiveness of Agile practices, combating the decline in Agile’s credibility and application: "Why Science Is Essential To Professionalize Our Community."

• Maarten Dalmijn argues that Scrum’s design, often seen as infallible, inherently deflects blame onto users, creating a ‘Get Out of Jail Free’ card that discourages genuine critique and improvement: "Scrum's Built-in 'Get Out of Jail Free Card' Against Criticism."

• Get Lighthouse: Jason Evanish mentions that the lone wolf’s independence and self-reliance hinder effective leadership; however, they can evolve into true leaders with appropriate support and transformation: "Why a Lone Wolf Personality Fails Leaders (+ how to fix it)."

• Michael Küsters explores how emphasizing different words in “How do we make money?” highlights diverse business aspects, guiding strategic alignment and revealing operational insights for improved revenue generation: "How do we make money?"

🎓 🖥 💯 🇬🇧 Advanced Product Backlog Management Cohort Class of June 13-July 11, 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.

Additional bonuses:

1. You will become a member of an exclusive community of product professionals comprising participants from all my classes since 2019.
2. You will have free access to the corresponding online course; revisit all topics of the cohort at your convenience.

Quote: “If you are looking to move beyond merely delivering features and want to start consistently delivering outcomes and valuable deliverables to your customers, this course is essential. Stefan provides the focus and tools necessary to embark on a journey toward excellent product management. With a curriculum that includes vision, strategy, roadmap, product discovery, continuous delivery, idea management, hypothesis management, and backlog management, this course promises less than it delivers—a truly transformative experience.” (Hector Feliciano.)

Enjoy the benefits of an immersive cohort class and its community with like-minded agile peers on Juni 13, June 27, and July 11, 2024, from 3-6 pm CEST. The class will be offered in English.

👉 Join now: 🖥 💯 🇬🇧 Product Backlog Management Class of Juni 13-July 11, 2024.

🎯 Product

• 🎙 In his talk with Jason Knight, John Cutler critiques the ‘Instagram-ification’ of product management, arguing it sets unrealistic standards and is detrimental to the field, driving professionals towards unsustainable practices: "John Cutler's Hot Take - The Instagram-ification of Product Management is Driving us Crazy."

• 📺 David Pereira interviewed Itamar Gilad, who stresses discarding 90% of ideas to focus on the impactful ones, utilizing evidence-based innovation, and continuously adapting to user needs for product success: "Trashing 90% of Your Ideas Is Fundamental to Success."

• Ant Murphy shares a stakeholder management strategy focused on embracing proposed solutions to uncover underlying problems, thereby enhancing problem understanding without confrontation: "Dealing with Stakeholders coming with Solutions, not Problems."

• Effective Experiments: Manuel da Costa highlights that McKinsey’s Product Operating Model Index identifies a significant gap in product management and collaboration between high and low-performing companies. Addressing this gap can notably boost shareholder returns, margins, customer engagement, and brand recognition: "The Product-Process Gap / Leadership Expectation vs Reality."

🛠 Concepts, Tools & Measuring

• 🎙 InfoQ: Shane Hastie spoke with Esther Derby and David Horowitz about the Agile Retrospectives book’s new edition, emphasizing data-driven approaches and engagement for effective team retrospectives: "Tips and Techniques for Improving Retrospectives."

• 📖 McKinsey & Company: The authors present a compelling correlation between product operating model maturity and superior business performance, emphasizing how mature product and platform management models significantly elevate profitability, innovation, and customer engagement: "The bottom-line benefit of the product operating model."

• Christina Wodtke highlights that effective prioritization is often hindered by myths of multitasking, the paradox of choice, and constant distractions, proposing focused, clear objectives and mindful practices as solutions: "Why We Struggle to Prioritize."

• Fun Retrospectives: The Ikigai activity, rooted in the Japanese concept of “a reason for being,” is a Retrospective exercise that uses a Venn diagram to align a team’s passions, skills, market value, and broad impact, effectively uncovering their collective purpose. "Ikigai."

🎶 Encore

• Aakash Gupta emphasizes the strategic use of tailored work products to stand out in the PM job market, highlighting their role in demonstrating unique insights and aligning with company culture to secure interviews and job offers: "How to build work products to get jobs."

📅 Training Classes, Meetups & Events

Upcoming classes and events:

• 🖥 💯 🇬🇧 May 28-29 — Live Virtual Class: Advanced Professional Scrum Master Training (PSM II; English)
• 🖥 💯 🇬🇧 June 6 — Live Virtual Meetup: Hands-on Agile 61: Backlog Manager to Product Manager with David Pereira (English)
• 🖥 💯 🇬🇧 Jun 13-Jul 11 — Live Virtual Cohort: Advanced Product Backlog Management Cohort (PBM; English)
• 🖥 💯 🇬🇧 June 25 — Live Virtual Class: Professional Scrum Facilitation Skills Training (PSFS; English)
• 🖥 💯 🇬🇧 July 3 — Live Virtual Meetup: Hands-on Agile 63: The Anti-Patterns Canvas — A Tool Session (1) (English)
• 🖥 💯 🇩🇪 Jul 9-10 — Live Virtual Class: Professional Scrum Product Owner Training (PSPO I; German)
• 🖥 🇩🇪 Aug 27-28 — Live Virtual Class: Professional Scrum Master Training (PSM I; German)

See all upcoming classes here.

📺 Youtube Channel

• Fortune Buchholtz: Toyota Kata Coaching for Agile Teams & Transformations.

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