Food for Agile Thought #420: Triple Track Development, Outcome Roadmaps, Building Trust, ProductOps Guide
Also: Saying No, Escaping the Feature Factory, Designing Experiments
Hello everyone!
Welcome to the 420th edition of the Food for Agile Thought newsletter, shared with 49,687 peers.
This week, Paulo Caroli introduces Triple Track Development, blending Business Strategy, Discovery, and Delivery for digital product evolution. Jacob Kaplan-Moss discusses trust-building in management, emphasizing the need for consistency and transparency. We delve into Wharton research by Peter Cappelli, revealing how excessive comfort impacts workplace performance, and Gergely Orosz examines the evolution of software backend development with insights from Joshua Burgin. Plus, we tackle the feature factory dilemma in large organizations, exploring its effects on Agile principles and strategies to overcome it.
Then, Itamar Gilad proposes a blended roadmap approach for adaptability in planning. Lenny Rachitsky interviews Melissa Perri and Denise Tilles, highlighting the significance of product operations. At the same time, Teresa Torres and Hope Gurion discuss balancing product discovery with delivery, while Marc Abraham emphasizes the importance of prioritization and saying “no” in decision-making.
Lastly, John Cutler explores systems thinking and business efficiency with Leah Tharin, and Jeff Gothelf presents a guide on designing lightweight experiments. Moreover, Christoph Roser examines the impact of overburden in manufacturing on employees and machinery. Finally, Dennis Hambeukers highlights the role of good design in fostering agility and collaboration.
Did you miss the previous Food for Agile Thought’s issue 419?
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🏆 The Tip of the Week: Triple Track Development
Paulo Caroli: Triple Track Development: Business Innovation Through Continuous Discovery and Continuous Delivery
Paulo Caroli introduces Triple Track Development, an innovative approach combining Business Strategy, Discovery, and Delivery, reshaping digital product development and business agility.
Source: Triple Track Development: Business Innovation Through Continuous Discovery and Continuous Delivery
Author: Paulo Caroli
🍋 Lemon of the Week
Rumesh Wijetunge: It is time to kill SCRUM
In a misguided take, the author challenges Scrum’s relevance in the modern, fast-paced world, overlooking its core principles and adaptability, and suggests questionable alternatives.
Source: It is time to kill SCRUM
Author: Rumesh Wijetunge
➿ Agile & Scrum
Jacob Kaplan-Moss: How to Build Trust
Jacob Kaplan-Moss delves into the complexities of building trust in management, emphasizing consistent, transparent actions and the importance of being good at management basics.
Source: How to Build Trust
Author: Jacob Kaplan-Moss
(via Knowledge @ Wharton): The Downside of Psychological Safety in the Workplace
The author suggests Wharton research by Peter Cappelli and his colleagues finds excessive workplace comfort can dampen performance, advocating for a balanced approach to psychological safety.
Source: Knowledge @ Wharton: The Downside of Psychological Safety in the Workplace
Gergely Orosz: The Roots of Today’s Modern Backend Engineering Practices
Gergely Orosz explores evolving software backend development practices from virtualization to cloud computing, featuring insights from industry veteran Joshua Burgin, ex-Amazon, and now at VMware.
Source: The Roots of Today’s Modern Backend Engineering Practices
Author: Gergely Orosz
🎓 🖥 💯 🇬🇧 Product Backlog Management Cohort Class of Jan 23 to Feb 20, 2024
Discover the Product Owner success principles in this 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.
The class will be offered in English.
Enjoy the benefits of an immersive cohort class with like-minded agile peers on the following dates:
Tuesday, January 23, 2024, from 4:00 pm — 6:00 pm o’clock CET.
Tuesday, February 6, 2024, from 4:00 pm — 6:00 pm o’clock CET.
Tuesday, February 20, 2024, from 4:00 pm — 6:00 pm o’clock CET.
👉 Black Friday Deal — get one of five tickets 50% off with the code “PBM2024”: 🖥 💯 🇬🇧 Product Backlog Management Cohort Class of Jan 23 to Feb 20, 2024.
🎯 Product
Itamar Gilad: Planning With Outcome Roadmaps
Itamar Gilad debates the efficacy of classic roadmaps versus outcome-based ones in yearly planning, proposing a hybrid approach that balances goals with adaptability.
Source: Planning With Outcome Roadmaps
Author: Itamar Gilad
🎙 Lenny Rachitsky and Melissa Perri: The Ultimate Guide to Product Operations
Lenny Rachitsky interviews Melissa Perri and Denise Tilles on the emerging role of product operations, discussing its benefits, key responsibilities, and integration with product management.
Source: 🎙 The Ultimate Guide to Product Operations
Authors: Lenny Rachitsky and Melissa Perri
📺 Teresa Torres and Hope Gurion: No Time for Discovery? Here’s How to Fix It.
Teresa Torres and Hope Gurion emphasize that product discovery doesn’t hinder delivery but should occur alongside it for optimal product development, addressing common objections to incorporating discovery into busy schedules.
Source: 📺 No Time for Discovery? Here’s How to Fix It.
Authors: Teresa Torres and Hope Gurion
Marc Abraham (via Medium): My product management toolkit (20): the art of saying ‘No’
Marc Abraham emphasizes the importance of saying “no” in product management, focusing on prioritization, constraints, and risk management as key factors in decision-making.
Source: Medium: My product management toolkit (20): the art of saying ‘No’
Author: Marc Abraham
📯 Escaping the Feature Factory
The feature factory fate is not inevitable; there is hope to avoid becoming a mere cog in the machinery. Learn how!
In many large organizations, Scrum teams fall into the ‘feature factory’ trap, focusing more on churning out features than creating real value. It’s too bad that this shift undermines Agile principles and hampers long-term success and innovation. Let’s discuss how and why this happens and what we can do to break the chains of the feature factory.
Learn more: Escaping the Feature Factory — Refocussing From Output to Outcome.
🛠 Concepts, Tools & Measuring
📺 Leah Tharin and John Cutler: Everything wrong with everything in a business
In this pod with Leah Tharin, John Cutler delves into systems thinking, exploring the complexities of business efficiency, decision-making biases, and the balance between individual and team habits.
Source: Everything wrong with everything in a business
Authors: Leah Tharin and John Cutler
📺 Jeff Gothelf: How to Design Lightweight Experiments
Jeff Gothelf shares a video guide on designing lightweight experiments, detailing the journey from identifying a business problem to formulating and testing hypotheses in various time frames.
Source: 📺 How to Design Lightweight Experiments
Author: Jeff Gothelf
Christoph Roser: What Exactly Is Overburden (Muri)?
Christoph Roser examines the overburden concept (muri) in manufacturing, exploring its impact on employees and machinery, and emphasizes the importance of respect and resource management.
Source: What Exactly Is Overburden (Muri)?
Author: Christoph Roser
🎶 Encore
Dennis Hambeukers (via Medium): How good design enhances agility (Agile principle #9)
Dennis Hambeukers illustrates how good design, far beyond aesthetics, is crucial for agility, fostering collaboration, rapid prototyping, and a user-centric approach.
Source: Medium: How good design enhances agility (Agile principle #9)
Author: Dennis Hambeukers
📅 Training Classes, Meetups & Events 2023
Upcoming classes and events:
🖥 💯 🇬🇧 November 28 — Live Virtual Class: Professional Scrum Facilitation Skills Training (PSFS; English)
🖥 💯 🇬🇧 December 6 — Live Virtual Meetup: Hands-on Agile 57: Humble Planning: How To Make Your Plans Suck Less w/ Maarten Dalmijn (English)
🖥 🇩🇪 December 11–12 — Live Virtual Class: Professional Scrum Master Training (PSM I; German)
🖥 💯 🇩🇪 December 13–14 — Live Virtual Class: Professional Scrum Product Owner Training (PSPO I; German)
🖥 💯 🇬🇧 December 18–19 — Live Virtual Class: Advanced Professional Scrum Master Training (PSM II; English)
🖥 💯 🇬🇧 Jan 23–Feb 20, 2024 — Live Virtual Cohort: Product Backlog Management Cohort Class of Jan 23 to Feb 20, 2024 (English)
👉 See all upcoming classes here
🗞️ Last Week’s Food for Agile Thought Edition
Read more: Food for Agile Thought 419: Waterfall vs. Agile, Brian Chesky on Product, Musk vs. Bureaucracy, AI-Washing.
📺 Join 5,000-plus Agile Peers on Youtube
Now available on the Age-of-Product Youtube channel:
Hands-on Agile 54: Overcoming Common Product Backlog Management Traps w/ David Pereira
Hands-on Agile 53: An Agile Coaches Guide to Storytelling w/ Bob Galen
Hands-on Agile Extra: How Elon Musk Would Run YOUR Business mit Joe Justice
Hands-on Agile 43: Outcome-Based Product Planning with Jeff Gothelf
Hands-on Agile 42: Lean Roadmapping and OKRs with Janna Bastow
Hands-on Agile 38: The Product Owner with Roman Pichler
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