Food For Thought #72: State of Tech, Product People 2016, Watered Down Scrum Masters, PM v. PO

Age of Product’s Food for Thought of December 18th, 2017?—?shared with 5,330 peers?—?looks back at this year’s movers & shakers of the product management industry and at the state of technology.

We also dive deep into how to create organizations based on agile teams, and what this has to do with creativity and keeping your competitive edge. We also ask: has today’s Scrum Master role become meaningless?

Marty Cagan no longer believes that the Product Owner is at the same time also the product manager, and Clay Christensen explains today’s recipe for innovation?—?conveniently delivered at the length of commute or a milkshake. Or both at the same time.

Enjoy a great holiday season?—?Food for Thought will be back on January 8th, 2017!

Agile & Scrum

Jimmy Janlén (via Crisp): Transforming the pyramid to an agile organization

Jimmy Janlén explores in this animation how an agile team based organization could look like, and how to get there.

Source: Crisp: Transforming the pyramid to an agile organization

Author: Jimmy Janlén

Jeff Veen (via Mind The Product): Crafting a Creative Culture by Jeff Veen

In this thought-provoking closing keynote from #mtpcon Jeff Veen, design partner at True Ventures, shared how important a creative culture is, how it allows you to build better products, and what organizations need to do to craft that creative culture.

Source: Mind The Product: Crafting a Creative Culture by Jeff Veen

Author: Jeff Veen

Ron Eringa (via Scrum.org): Evolution of the Development Team?—?A ‘successful team’ pattern

Ron Eringa shares the development pattern of successful engineering teams he has been observing.

Source: Scrum.org: Evolution of the Development Team?—?A ‘successful team’ pattern

Author: Ron Eringa

Tobias Mayer: The Liberated ScrumMaster

Tobias Mayer states that the originally controversial nature of the ScrumMaster has now all but disappeared, watered down to the point of meaninglessness.

Source: The Liberated ScrumMaster

Author: Tobias Mayer

Corinna Baldauf: Use Tuckman’s team stages to inform your retrospectives

Corinna Baldauf refers to Judith Andresen, who points out that the Tuckman stage of your team should inform and influence the retrospectives you design for them.

Source: Use Tuckman’s team stages to inform your retrospectives

Author: Corinna Baldauf

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Product & Lean

(via Alpha): Product Management 2016 in Review

Product Management in Review lists 40 thought leaders that helped to move the industry forward in 2016.

Source: Alpha: Product Management 2016 in Review

Marty Cagan (via svpg): Product Manager vs. Product Owner Revisited

Marty Cagan changes his belief from 2011 that the product manager is also the product owner, because using Scrum as development practice is not teaching the product owner how to lead the product.

Source: svpg: Product Manager vs. Product Owner Revisited

Author: Marty Cagan

Janna Bastow (via InVision): The product roadmap that boosts innovation

It is roadmap building time again, and Janna Bastow points out to a simple, yet innovative approach to product strategy: theme-based roadmaps.

Source: Invision: The product roadmap that boosts innovation

Author: Janna Bastow

Clayton Christensen (via Harvard Business Review): The “Jobs to be Done” Theory of Innovation

Clayton Christensen, professor at Harvard Business School, builds upon the theory of disruptive innovation and speaks about his new book examining how successful companies know how to grow.

Source: Harvard Business Review: The “Jobs to be Done” Theory of Innovation

Author: Clayton Christensen

Ellen Gottesdiener: Factors for Making Value-Based Product Decisions

Ellen Gottesdiener lists twelve common decision factors that a product owner must balance when considering product options.

Source: Factors for Making Value-Based Product Decisions

Author: Ellen Gottesdiener

The Essential Read

Ben Thompson (via The Stratechery): The State of Technology at the End of 2016

Ben Thompson summarizes the state of technology at the end of 2016.

Source: The Stratechery: The State of Technology at the End of 2016

Author: Ben Thompson

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