Food for Agile Thought #410: Best Product Teams, Communication in Low Trust, Killing Features
Stefan Wolpers
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TL; DR: Best Product Teams?—?Food for Agile Thought?#410
Welcome to the 410th edition of the Food for Agile Thought newsletter, shared with 49,013 peers. This week, Shane Parrish discusses with Shreyas Doshi the nuances of best product teams and product development; Charity Majors touches upon communication dynamics in strained relationships, emphasizing the role of trust; Jason Cohen advocates for redefining the narrative around business setbacks, championing terms like “experiment” over “fail”; and Ryan Holiday dissects the art of leadership, reminding us that leadership roles manifest in diverse ways throughout life. Also, we shed a light on unspoken reasons to resist Agile transformations.
Then, Andrew Quan delves into the self-doubt that plagues many Product Leaders, shedding light on their challenges and offering guidance. Assaph Mehr sets an intriguing take on the potential value of altering favorite product features, elucidating its long-term benefits for the product and business. Meanwhile, Roman Pichler examines the intricate process of assembling product teams in organizations unfamiliar with the digital product’s true essence.
Finally, Jason Yip debunks common productivity myths, urging a deeper understanding of effectiveness. Jeff Gothelf emphasizes the value of consistent customer interactions to gain insights without hefty investments. Stephen Puiszis highlights the intricacies of evaluating product roadmaps, providing tools for those outside product management. Lastly, ?ukasz Korecki offers a candid reflection on the challenges of implementing OKRs within software engineering teams.
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?? The Tip of the Week: Best Product?Teams
?? Shreyas Doshi and Shane Parrish (via Farnam Street): Better Teams, Better?Products
Shane Parrish interviews Shreyas Doshi, a seasoned tech expert from Stripe, Twitter, Google, and Yahoo, and discusses building best product teams, product development, and conflict resolution.
Authors: Shreyas Doshi and Shane Parrish
?? Lemon of the?Week
(via PMO Global Institute): Agile PMO: Transforming Project Management
This week’s lemon claims that Spotify succeeded by implementing an “Agile PMO,” thus enabling cross-functional teams to work autonomously yet align with broader objectives.
? Agile &?Scrum
Charity Majors: How to Communicate When Trust Is Low (Without Digging Yourself Into A Deeper?Hole)
Charity Majors highlights the challenges of communicating in low-trust relationships and emphasizes the importance of small, positive interactions to rebuild trust, recommending, for example, overcommunication.
Author: Charity Majors
Jason Cohen (via Jason Cohen): Stop saying?‘fail’
Jason Cohen argues that the term “fail” is overly negative and doesn’t accurately describe the iterative process of exploration in business. Instead of “fail,” phrases like “experiment” or “test” better encapsulate the journey.
Source: Jason Cohen: Stop saying ‘fail’
Author: Jason Cohen
Ryan Holiday: 24 Leadership Principles From The Greatest Business, Military, Political and Sports?Leaders
Ryan Holiday emphasizes that leadership isn’t innate but an art to be studied, suggesting that everyone inherently leads in various life roles. Learn more about the essence and development of leadership skills.
Author: Ryan Holiday
?? ?? ?? ???? Professional Scrum Facilitation Skills Class w/ PSFS Certificate?—?October 4,?2023
The Professional Scrum Facilitation Skills (PSFS) training by Berlin Product People is a guaranteed one-day official Scrum.org class for advanced Scrum practitioners and agile coaches, including the industry-acknowledged PSFS certification. This PSFS training class is in English.
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?? Product
Andrew Quan (via Medium): The Daily Dichotomies of Product Leadership
Andrew Quan highlights the self-doubt many Product Leaders face due to on-the-job learning and high expectations. They often feel torn in multiple directions, hindering progress. Quan shares personal experiences and offers navigation tips.
Author: Andrew Quan
领英推荐
Assaph Mehr (via Mind The Product): When was the last time you pissed off your users?off?
Assaph Mehr highlights the counterintuitive value of occasionally upsetting users by modifying beloved product features, emphasizing its potential to enhance overall product health and business.
Author: Assaph Mehr
Roman Pichler: Building High-Performing Product?Teams
Roman Pichler underscores the complexities of forming product teams in organizations that may not fully grasp the essence of a digital product.
Author: Roman Pichler
?? Resistance to Agile Transformations: Reasons and How To Overcome?Them
Stakeholders often revert to resistance to agile transformations due to fears about job security, perceived loss of control, comfort with established practices, and misconceptions about Agile.
However, we can help: Agile practitioners can ease the change process by employing techniques such as empathetic listening, co-creating the change process, introducing incremental changes, offering targeted education, and showcasing internal success stories. Addressing resistance with understanding and respect is pivotal to a successful agile transformation.
?? Concepts, Tools & Measuring
Jason Yip (via Medium): 5 things that are typically confused for productivity
Jason Yip highlights the misconceptions about productivity, such as mistaking responsiveness for efficiency and equating busyness with genuine output. Learn more about the pitfalls of misguided productivity beliefs.
Author: Jason Yip
Jeff Gothelf: Case Study: How 3 startups built their customer discovery practice
Jeff Gothelf stresses that even with confidence, entrepreneurs can make mistakes in product development or target audience selection. Emphasizing regular customer interactions provides insights with minimal investment and promotes patience.
Author:Jeff Gothelf
?ukasz Korecki (via Better Programming): OKRs? More like, R U?OK?
?ukasz Korecki reflects on their experiences with OKRs in software engineering teams over the years, noting that while the concept sounds appealing, its application often results in team issues.
Source: Better Programming: OKRs?
Author: ?ukasz Korecki
?? Encore
Stephen Puiszis: How-to Evaluate a Product Roadmap, for Engineers
Stephen Puiszis addresses the challenge of evaluating product roadmaps, noting a resource gap for non-product managers, and offering insights on engaging with and assessing a product manager’s roadmap.
Author: Stephen Puiszis
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