Food for Agile Thought #451: Product Manager Replacement, Agile Backlash: Try XP, Sales-Driven to Product-Led, Defending Vanity Metrics
Also: Sprint Goal Template, No More Heroes, Coalition Building, Playing Defense
Hello everyone!
Welcome to the 451st edition of the Food for Agile Thought newsletter, shared with 42,601 peers. This week, Mike Taylor shows how close AI is as a product manager replacement, often outperforming humans in complex PM tasks, while Dave Rooney addresses Agile backlash and advocates for Extreme Programming (XP). Woody Zuill highlights the benefits of Mob Programming, and Maarten Dalmijn introduces a Sprint Goal template to avoid anti-patterns. Also, Todd Lankford emphasizes reducing dependency on experts to reclaim team flow, and we ask: Why don’t we regard teams as investors?
Next, Jason Knight explores the challenges of transforming sales-driven companies into product-led ones. Moreover, Johanna Rothman shares five critical ideas for effective product development, including understanding customers and solving one problem at a time. Richard Mironov highlights building executive coalitions by understanding C-level priorities, and Roman Pichler emphasizes involving key stakeholders in co-creating product strategies and roadmaps for successful execution.
Lastly, Jeff Gothelf argues that vanity metrics, while not ultimate success measures, provide early insights into activities and idea resonance. Wes Kao emphasizes the importance of effectively defending your work to build leadership credibility. At the same time, Pim de Morree critiques downsizing, advocating for employee engagement and innovation instead. Aatir Abdul Rauf shares how the SPACER framework aligns Product Managers and Marketers on feature value. Finally, Gergely Orosz discusses recent changes in the tech industry and their impact on software engineering in a post-pandemic world.
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🏆 The Tip of the Week: Product Manager Replacement
Mike Taylor: How close is AI to replacing product managers?
Mike Taylor reveals how close AI is to replacing product managers, demonstrating AI’s ability to handle complex PM tasks through real-world tests and expert prompting, showing AI often outperforms humans.
Source: How close is AI to replacing product managers?
Author: Mike Taylor
🍋 Lemon of the Week
We are Lemon-free this week.
➿ Agile & Scrum
Dave Rooney: Agile (is dead|sucks|is (🐂|)💩|is irresponsible|is a bad idea)
Dave Rooney addresses the backlash against Agile, noting that poorly implemented Scrum often fuels criticism. He advocates revisiting Extreme Programming (XP) for its practical, adaptable practices in achieving true agility.
Source: Agile (is dead|sucks|is (🐂|)💩|is irresponsible|is a bad idea)
Author: Dave Rooney
(via Crisp): Interview with Woody Zuill — Software Teaming (Mob Programming) — addressing complexity with genuine collaboration.
Woody Zuill highlights the power of genuine collaboration through ‘Software Teaming’ or Mob Programming. He shares how teamwork eliminates delays and waste, leading to smoother workflows and faster problem-solving.
Author: Woody Zuill
Maarten Dalmijn: Maarten’s Sprint Goal Template
Maarten Dalmijn introduces his Sprint Goal template, designed to address critical weaknesses in existing templates. It focuses on the importance of collaboration and context and avoids common Sprint Goal anti-patterns.
Source: Maarten’s Sprint Goal Template
Author: Maarten Dalmijn
Todd Lankford (via Medium): How to Reclaim Team Flow Fast by Relieving Your Dependency on Experts
Todd Lankford outlines how to reclaim team flow by reducing dependency on experts, emphasizing that spreading knowledge and decentralizing decision-making leads to a more self-reliant, productive team.
Source: Medium: How to Reclaim Team Flow Fast by Relieving Your Dependency on Experts
Author: Todd Lankford
🎓 🖥 💯 🇬🇧 Advanced Professional Scrum Master Training w/ PSM II Certificate — August 20–21, 2024
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🎯 Product
Jason Knight: Can Every Sales-Driven Company be Transformed to Being Product-Led?
Jason Knight explores whether sales-driven companies can transform into product-led ones, highlighting the complexities of defining key terms and aligning company values and goals.
Source: Can Every Sales-Driven Company be Transformed to Being Product-Led?
Author: Jason Knight
Johanna Rothman: Five Big Ideas to Effectively Manage Your Product Development
Johanna Rothman shares five key ideas for effective product development: understand your customer, solve one problem at a time, deliver solutions quickly, act as a bridge between stakeholders, and facilitate the team’s environment for success.
Source: Five Big Ideas to Effectively Manage Your Product Development
Author: Johanna Rothman
Rich Mironov: Coalition-Building and Corporate Anthropology
Richard Mironov emphasizes the importance of building executive coalitions by understanding C-level priorities instead of focusing on technical details to advocate for product management decisions effectively.
Source: Coalition-Building and Corporate Anthropology
Author: Rich Mironov
Roman Pichler: Maximising Stakeholder Buy-in to Product Strategy and Product Roadmap
Roman Pichler emphasizes the importance of involving key stakeholders in co-creating product strategies and roadmaps, ensuring their support to achieve alignment and successful execution.
Source: Maximising Stakeholder Buy-in to Product Strategy and Product Roadmap
Author: Roman Pichler
📯 Agile Teams as Investors: A Deeper Dive into Maximizing Organizational Value
Stakeholders often regard Scrum and other agile teams as cost centers, primarily focused on executing projects within budgetary confines. This conventional view, however, undervalues their strategic potential. If we reconsider agile teams as investors — carefully allocating their resources to optimize returns — they can significantly impact an organization’s strategic objectives and long-term profitability.
This perspective not only redefines their role but also enhances the effectiveness of their contributions to the business by solving the customers’ problems.
Learn more: Agile Teams as Investors: A Deeper Dive into Maximizing Organizational Value.
🛠 Concepts, Tools & Measuring
Jeff Gothelf: In defense of vanity metrics
Jeff Gothelf argues that vanity metrics, while not ultimate success measures, provide early insight into whether activities are taking place and if ideas are resonating, guiding initial steps toward meaningful impact.
Source: In defense of vanity metrics
Author: Jeff Gothelf
Wes Kao: Playing defense: How to control the narrative if your work is being questioned
Wes Kao discusses the importance of effectively defending your work when questioned, emphasizing that how you respond can either build or diminish your credibility as a leader.
Source: Playing defense: How to control the narrative if your work is being questioned
Author: Wes Kao
Pim de Morree (via Corporate Rebels): Managers Believe Downsizing Is Effective. Research Says: Nope.
Pim de Morree argues that downsizing fails to improve financial performance and harms productivity and morale. He advocates focusing on employee engagement and innovative transformations rather than cost-cutting measures.
Source: Corporate Rebels: Managers Believe Downsizing Is Effective. Research Says: Nope.
Author: Pim de Morree
Aatir Abdul Rauf: How the SPACER framework can align PMs & PMMs on the value of a feature
Aatir Abdul Rauf shares how the SPACER framework helps Product Managers and Product Marketers align on feature value, preventing rework and ensuring a shared understanding of pricing, user stories, abilities, and roadmap.
Source: How the SPACER framework can align PMs & PMMs on the value of a feature
Author: Aatir Abdul Rauf
🎶 Encore
📺 Gergely Orosz: What is Old is New Again
Gergely Orosz discusses the recent changes reshaping the tech industry, exploring their impacts on businesses and development teams, and predicting future pragmatic software engineering approaches in a post-pandemic world.
Source: 📺 What is Old is New Again
Author: Gergely Orosz
📅 Training Classes, Meetups & Events 2024
Upcoming classes and events:
🖥 🇬🇧 August 20–21 — Live Virtual Class: Professional Scrum Master Advanced Training (PSM II; English)
🖥 🇩🇪 August 27–28 — Live Virtual Class: Professional Scrum Master Training (PSM I; German)
🖥 🇬🇧 August 29–September 26 — Live Virtual Cohort: Advanced Product Backlog Cohort Training (English)
🖥 🇩🇪 September 3–6 — Live Virtual Class: Professional Scrum Product Owner Training (PSPO I; German)
🖥 💯 🇬🇧 September 4 — Live Virtual Meetup: HoA #64: Mastering Work Intake w/ Jeremy Willets and Tom Cagley (English)
🖥 💯 🇬🇧 October 9 — Live Virtual Meetup: HoA #65: The Lean Tech Manifesto w/ Fabrice Bernhard (English)
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🗞️ Last Week’s Food for Agile Thought Edition
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Hands-on Agile 62: From Backlog Manager to Product Manager w/ David Pereira
Hands-on Agile 61: Toyota Kata Coaching for Agile Teams & Transformations with Fortune Buchholtz
Hands-on Agile 59: Tackling Fake Agility w/ Johanna Rothman
Hands-on Agile 57: Humble Planning w/ Maarten Dalmijn
Hands-on Agile 53: An Agile Coaches Guide to Storytelling w/ Bob Galen
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