Food for Agile Thought #422: Human Misjudgment, Evaluating Product Managers, Fake Agile, Scaling Simplified
Also: Strategy & Discovery, Indecisiveness, Tuckman, Just Hiring Talented People?
TL; DR: Human Misjudgment — Food for Agile Thought #422
Hello everyone!
Welcome to the 422nd edition of the Food for Agile Thought newsletter, shared with 49,901 peers.
This week, Farnam Street highlights the revised edition of Charlie Munger’s “The Psychology of Human Misjudgment,” Nigel Thurlow critiques “Fake Agile,” while John Cutler analyzes Brian Chesky’s leadership insights. Also, Marco Nink identifies key traits of agile companies, and we examine how to miss Sprint Goals consistently.
Then, Jeff Patton offers a framework for assessing Product Managers across seven vital areas. Moreover, Roman Pichler discusses the role of a validated product strategy and the Opportunity Solution Tree in product discovery, and Richard Mironov critiques annual planning, advocating for continuous, inclusive corporate and product strategy.
Lastly, Troy Lightfoot and Andy Cleff discuss with Prateek Singh and Dan Vacanti their book “Scaling Simplified,” focusing on Agile scaling through flow. Mark Ridley investigates Bruce Tuckman’s “Stages of Group Development,” its evolution, and its current relevance. Additionally, Casey Rosengren addresses startup decision-making, underscoring the impact of fear and uncertainty, and Dr. Stuart Woolley critiques the gap between management practices and their effectiveness in software engineering.
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🏆 The Tip of the Week: Human Misjudgment
(via Farnam Street): Psychology of Human Misjudgment (Transcript) by Charlie Munger
Farnam Street shares Charlie Munger’s opus magnum, “The Psychology of Human Misjudgment,” highlighting its extensive revision incorporating new insights into behavioral finance and human behavior patterns or why we behave the way we do.
Source: Farnam Street: Psychology of Human Misjudgment (Transcript) by Charlie Munger
🍋 Lemon of the Week
(via Denovo): Agile and Waterfall: The most complete comparison
This week’s Lemon takes a naive stab at Agile and Waterfall, turning project management into a ‘choose your own adventure’ book while blissfully skating over the nuanced depths of Scrum and Agility.
Source: Denovo: Agile and Waterfall: The most complete comparison
➿ Agile & Scrum
Nigel Thurlow (via YouTube): Leadership Is Failing: ‘Bullshit Jobs’ and ‘Fake Agile’ at the World Agility Forum 2023
Nigel Thurlow explores “Fake Agile” through David Graeber’s concept of “Bullshit Jobs,” discussing the “Transformation Myth,” leadership incentives, and the pitfalls causing Agile initiatives to fail.
Source: YouTube: Leadership Is Failing: ‘Bullshit Jobs’ and ‘Fake Agile’ at the World Agility Forum 2023
Author: Nigel Thurlow
John Cutler: ‘Just Hire Talented People and Empower Them’
John Cutler reflects on Brian Chesky’s insights from Lenny Rachitsky’s Podcast, challenging the Silicon Valley mantra of ‘just hire and empower’, and examining leadership’s evolving role in various organizational scales and contexts.
Source: ‘Just Hire Talented People and Empower Them’
Author: John Cutler
(via Gallup): 8 Cultural Attributes of a Truly Agile Company
Marco Nink delves into the ‘Agile8,’ identifying eight essential attributes that define a truly agile company, and discusses their transformative effects on employee engagement, competitive edge, and organizational success.
Source: Gallup: 8 Cultural Attributes of a Truly Agile Company
🎓 🖥 💯 🇬🇧 Product Backlog Management Cohort Class of Jan 23 to Feb 20, 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.
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.
Learn more: 🖥 💯 🇬🇧 Product Backlog Management Cohort Class of Jan 23 to Feb 20, 2024.
👉 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
Jeff Patton: Evaluating Product Managers
Jeff Patton provides a comprehensive framework for evaluating Product Managers, focusing on seven key areas essential for fostering a product-centric culture and individual improvement.
Source: Evaluating Product Managers
Author: Jeff Patton
Roman Pichler: Product Strategy and Product Discovery
Roman Pichler underscores the necessity of a well-validated product strategy for successful product discovery, enhanced by the Opportunity Solution Tree technique to define outcomes and opportunities better.
Source: Product Strategy and Product Discovery
Author: Roman Pichler
Rich Mironov: Revenue Goals are Not Company Strategies
Richard Mironov stresses the inefficiency of annual planning focused solely on financial targets, advocating for ongoing, holistic corporate and product strategies that involve all departments.
Source: Revenue Goals are Not Company Strategies
Author: Rich Mironov
📯 Why Succeed When You Can Fail? A Guide to Missing Sprint Goals
Do you excel in the art of setting unattainable, imposed, or plain non-existing Sprint Goals? In other words, are you good at missing Sprint Goals with regularity? If not, don’t worry; help is on the way!
In this article, we’ll explore how to consistently miss the mark. For example, enjoy the thrill of cherry-picking unrelated backlog items and defining success by sheer output, not outcome. Countless Scrum Teams have thoroughly tested all suggestions. They are ideally suited for teams who love the challenge of aimlessly wandering through Sprints!
Learn more: Why Succeed When You Can Fail? A Guide to Missing Sprint Goals.
🛠 Concepts, Tools & Measuring
🎙 Daniel S Vacanti and Prateek Singh (via Agile Uprising): Scaling Simplified with Prateek Singh and Dan Vacanti
Troy Lightfoot and Andy Cleff interview Prateek Singh and Dan Vacanti about their new book “Scaling Simplified,” which rethinks common notions about scaling Agile by emphasizing flow.
Source: Agile Uprising: 🎙 Scaling Simplified with Prateek Singh and Dan Vacanti
Authors: Daniel S Vacanti and Prateek Singh
Mark Ridley (via Medium): Forming. Storming. Norming. And the other one… the lesser known history of Tuckman’s team model
Mark Ridley delves into the origins and implications of Bruce Tuckman’s renowned ‘Stages of Group Development’ model, exploring its history and application in modern team dynamics.
Author: Mark Ridley
Casey Rosengren (via Every): Why People Fail to Make Important Choices
Casey Rosengren explores the decision-making challenges in startups, highlighting the paralysis and avoidance that can stem from fear of loss, wrong choices, and uncertainty about true desires.
Source: Every: Why People Fail to Make Important Choices
Author: Casey Rosengren
🎶 Encore
Dr Stuart Woolley (via CodeX): The Manager-In-The-Middle Attack
Dr Stuart Woolley critically examines the inefficacies of certain management practices in software engineering, highlighting the disconnect between managerial roles and actual contribution to the field.
Source: CodeX: The Manager-In-The-Middle Attack
Author: Dr Stuart Woolley
📅 Training Classes, Meetups & Events 2023
Upcoming classes and events:
🖥 💯 🇩🇪 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)
🖥 🇩🇪 Jan 30-Feb 2 — Live Virtual Class: Professional Scrum Product Owner Training (PSPO I; German)
🖥 🇬🇧 February 6–9 — Live Virtual Class: Advanced Professional Scrum Master Training (PSM II; English)
🖥 🇬🇧 February 15 — Live Virtual Class: Professional Scrum Facilitation Skills Training (PSFS; English)
🖥 🇩🇪 March 5–6 — Live Virtual Class: Professional Scrum Product Owner Training (PSPO I; German)
🖥 🇩🇪 March 12–15 — Live Virtual Class: Professional Scrum Master Training (PSM I; German)
👉 See all upcoming classes here
🗞️ Last Week’s Food for Agile Thought Edition
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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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