Food for Agile Thought #434: Product Management Theater, Fighting Unemployment, From Conflict to Negotiation
Also: Outsmarting Yourself, Sprint Anti-Patterns, Conway’s Law, ProductOps Useless?
Hello everyone!
Welcome to the 434th edition of the Food for Agile Thought newsletter, shared with 42,302 peers.
This week, Marty Cagan, in discussion with Lenny Rachitsky, critiques “product management theater” and the pandemic-induced over-hiring of PMs, offering solutions in his book, “Transformed.” Johanna Rothman advises unemployed agilists on transitioning to impactful roles, while Kurt Bittner and Pierre Pureur advocate combining Agile and Lean in software architecture for sustainability. Also, Fred Wynyk suggests using the Reverse Conway Maneuver to align organizational structures with software architecture goals for innovation, and we delve into Sprint anti-patterns.
Then, Roman Pichler introduces the Strategy Stack, a framework designed to align and clarify business and product strategies for better strategic execution. Itamar Gilad challenges the stereotypes limiting product manager roles, promoting the concept of a ‘Full-Stack PM’ who leads with a blend of strategy and user-centric innovation. At the same time, David Pereira critiques the growing popularity of Product Ops, advocating for role simplification over expansion to tackle fundamental issues. Moreover, Roger Martin discusses how AI impacts strategic thinking, suggesting that while generative AI can streamline the progression from mystery to algorithm, it risks oversimplifying complex heuristics.
Lastly, Derek Jones delves into the intricacies of software effort estimation in 2024, highlighting the role of individual risk profiles. Tanmay Vora shares William Ury’s methods for turning workplace conflicts into constructive negotiations, and Barry Overeem presents ten Retrospective formats based on the Agile Team Effectiveness Model, designed to enhance team improvement processes with Liberating Structures. Finally, Morgan Housel discusses the drawbacks of high intelligence, such as overconfidence and resistance to simpler solutions, challenging the notion that more intelligence directly correlates with better outcomes.
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🏆 The Tip of the Week: Product Management Theater
Lenny Rachitsky and Marty Cagan: Product management theater
In this podcast with Lenny Rachitsky, Marty Cagan discusses “product management theater” and the need for PMs with fundamental value creation and business alignment skills. He critiques the over-hiring of ineffective PMs during the pandemic and advocates for empowered teams. His new book, “Transformed,” provides strategies for successful product organizations and emphasizes discerning product management advice and the right timing for hiring PMs in startups.
Source: Product management theater: Marty Cagan
Authors: Lenny Rachitsky and Marty Cagan
🍋 Lemon of the Week
Shane Drumm: Agile Project Management Guide (Skills & Methodologies)
This Agile Project Management guide whimsically simplifies Agile’s essence, presenting it as a magic potion for project woes. It lightly tiptoes around practices like Scrum and Kanban, painting an idealistic picture that might leave experts bemused. The narrative implies Agile is a universal solution, possibly simplifying the complexity of Agile practices in a manner that might have purists raising an eyebrow at its optimistic naivety.
Source: Agile Project Management Guide (Skills & Methodologies)
Author: Shane Drumm
➿ Agile & Scrum
Johanna Rothman: Unemployed Agilists: How to Move from a Staff Role to a Line Job, Part 2
Johanna Rothman discusses how unemployed agilists can pivot from perceived staff roles to valuable line jobs, emphasizing the importance of demonstrating tangible value and reevaluating technical skills to contribute directly to product development and revenue.
Source: Unemployed Agilists: How to Move from a Staff Role to a Line Job, Part 2
Author: Johanna Rothman
Kurt Bittner and Pierre Pureur (via InfoQ): Agile Architecture, Lean Architecture, or Both?
Kurt Bittner and Pierre Pureur discuss the distinct benefits of Agile and Lean practices in software architecture. They emphasize Agile’s empirical approach for MVPs and MVAs and Lean’s efficiency in well-defined environments, advocating for a balanced application of both to achieve effective and sustainable software development.
Source: InfoQ: Agile Architecture, Lean Architecture, or Both?
Authors: Kurt Bittner and Pierre Pureur
Fred Wynyk (via Medium): Conway’s Law in Team Topologies: Did you really get it?
Fred Wynyk explores Conway’s Law’s impact on software architecture, advocating the Reverse Conway Maneuver to align organizational structures with desired software designs for innovation and effective team collaboration.
Source: Medium: Conway’s Law in Team Topologies: Did you really get it?
Author: Fred Wynyk
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Learn more: 🖥 💯 🇬🇧 Advanced Professional Scrum Master Training w/ PSM II Certificate — April 23–24, 2024.
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🎯 Product
Roman Pichler: The Strategy Stack: Connecting Business, Product, and Technology Strategy
Roman Pichler introduces the Strategy Stack, a framework aligning business, portfolio, product, and technology strategies to enhance strategic decisions and clarify ownership, aiming to streamline strategic alignment and execution.
Source: The Strategy Stack: Connecting Business, Product, and Technology Strategy
Author: Roman Pichler
Itamar Gilad: 6 Product Manager Stereotypes To Avoid
Itamar Gilad warns against six stereotypes restricting product manager roles, advocating for the ‘Full-Stack PM’ who combines leadership, strategy, and user focus to maximize impact and innovation.
Source: 6 Product Manager Stereotypes To Avoid
Author: Itamar Gilad
David Pereira: Product Ops: Necessary or Not?
David Pereira argues against the rising trend of Product Ops, suggesting that simplifying existing roles might be more beneficial than adding new ones, as it addresses the root issues more effectively than band-aid solutions.
Source: Product Ops: Necessary or Not?
Author: David Pereira
Roger Martin (via Medium): Strategy & Artificial Intelligence
Roger Martin explores the intersection of strategy and AI, arguing that generative AI accelerates knowledge through the “Knowledge Funnel” from mystery to heuristic to algorithm, democratizing information but averaging out heuristics.
Source: Medium: Strategy & Artificial Intelligence
Author: Roger Martin
📯 Sprint Anti-Patterns
Welcome to Sprint anti-patterns! This article covers the three Scrum accountabilities (formerly roles) and addresses interferences of stakeholders and IT/line management with this crucial Scrum event. Moreover, I added some food for thought. For example, could a month-long Sprint be too short for accomplishing something meaningful? And if so, what are the consequences?
Read more: Sprint Anti-Patterns.
🛠 Concepts, Tools & Measuring
Derek Jones — The Shape of Code: What is known about software effort estimation in 2024
Derek Jones highlights the ongoing challenges and insights in software effort estimation as of 2024, noting the persistent use of round numbers, the tendency to underestimate or overestimate based on task length, and the stable accuracy of developer estimates despite experience. The findings underscore the complexity of estimation and the influence of individual risk profiles on accuracy.
Source: What is known about software effort estimation in 2024
Author: Derek Jones — The Shape of Code
Tanmay Vora: How to Turn Conflict Into a Constructive Negotiation
Tanmay Vora highlights William Ury’s strategies for transforming workplace conflicts into constructive negotiations, emphasizing the importance of calmness, perspective, understanding needs, and involving broader community support.
Source: How to Turn Conflict Into a Constructive Negotiation
Author: Tanmay Vora
Barry Overeem (via The Liberators): 10 Retrospective Formats Based On The Agile Team Effectiveness Model
Barry Overeem introduces ten Retrospective formats based on the Agile Team Effectiveness Model, using Liberating Structures to help teams identify improvements and familiarize themselves with scientific insights on team effectiveness.
Source: The Liberators: 10 Retrospective Formats Based On The Agile Team Effectiveness Model
Author: Barry Overeem
🎶 Encore
Morgan Housel (via Collaborative Fund): The Dumber Side of Smart People
Morgan Housel explores the paradox of high intelligence, illustrating how being too smart can lead to overconfidence, closed-mindedness, and difficulty adapting, often obscuring simpler, more effective solutions.
Source: Collaborative Fund: The Dumber Side of Smart People
Author: Morgan Housel
📅 Training Classes, Meetups & Events 2024
Upcoming classes and events:
🖥 💯 🇬🇧 April 2–30, 2024 — Live Virtual Cohort: Product Backlog Management Cohort Class of April 2–30, 2024 (English)
🖥 💯 🇬🇧 April 9 — Live Virtual Meetup: Hands-on Agile 60: A Q&A on Dynamic Reteaming with Heidi Helfand (English)
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🖥 🇬🇧 May 7 — Live Virtual Class: Professional Scrum Facilitation Skills Training (PSFS; English)
🖥 💯 🇬🇧 May 7 — Live Virtual Meetup: Hands-on Agile 61: Toyota Kata Coaching f. Agile Teams & Transformations — Fortune Buchholtz (English)
🖥 🇩🇪 May 14–15 — Live Virtual Class: Professional Scrum Product Owner Training (PSPO I; German)
🖥 🇬🇧 May 28–29 — Live Virtual Class: Advanced Professional Scrum Master Training (PSM II; English)
🖥 🇩🇪 June 25–16 — Live Virtual Class: Professional Scrum Product Owner Training (PSPO I; German)
👉 See all upcoming classes here
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Hands-on Agile 58: Dysfunction Mapping w/ Michael Lloyd
Hands-on Agile 57: Humble Planning w/ Maarten Dalmijn
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
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