Food for Agile Thought #282: Self-Organization Does Not Work, Tools Don’t Matter, Projects to Products (Ebook), 3 Ways to Agile Product Creation

TL; DR: Self-Organization Does Not Work, Tools Don’t Matter — Food for Agile Thought #282

Welcome to the 282nd edition of the Food for Agile Thought newsletter, shared with 30,507 peers. This week, we learn why self-organization does not work when your goal is creating a high-performance organization. We receive a free ebook on how to shift an organization’s focus from projects to products, and we ask: How much lean is in today’s “Agile?”

We then figure out how to breathe life into your Product (Development) Backlog by removing all ideas from it; we get advice on dealing with the executor, the manager, and the visionary among founders, and we address product managers’ obsession with tools.

Lastly, we discuss pragmatic, proven, and sometimes counter-intuitive approaches to develop faster.

Did you miss the previous Food for Agile Thought’s issue #281?

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🏆 The Tip of the Week

Michael Sahota: Autonomous, Self-Organizing Teams Don’t Work

Michael Sahota believes that autonomous self-organizing teams are damaging for creating a high-performance organization.

Source: Autonomous, Self-Organizing Teams Don’t Work

Author: Michael Sahota

➿ Agile & Scrum

Gene Kim: Project to Product Transformation

IT Revolution provides a free ebook on how to shift an organization’s focus from projects to products. The ebook requires creating a free account.

Source: Project to Product Transformation

Author: Gene Kim

Michael Mahlberg and Johanna Rothman (via Agile Alliance): How Much Lean is in Today’s “Agile”? — Part I | Agile Alliance

Johanna Rothman and Michael Mahlberg noticed very little lean thinking in many supposedly agile endeavors. What is behind this discovery?

Source: Agile Alliance: How Much Lean is in Today’s “Agile”?

Authors: Michael Mahlberg and Johanna Rothman

📺 (via InfoQ): Momentum > Urgency and Other Counter-intuitive Principles for Increasing Velocity

Elisabeth Hendrickson discusses pragmatic, proven, and sometimes counter-intuitive approaches to develop faster.

Source: InfoQ: Momentum > Urgency and Other Counter-intuitive Principles for Increasing Velocity

🎓 🖥 🇬🇧 Professional Agile Leadership Essentials Training w/ PAL-E Certificate — March 30–31, 2021

This Professional Agile Leadership ™ Essentials class is a 2-day official Scrum.org training, including up to two attempts to accomplish the industry-acknowledged PAL-E certification. The training is designed as a live virtual class from 9:00 am to 5:45 pm CET and will be offered in English.

Learn more: 📅 🖥 🇬🇧 Professional Agile Leadership Essentials Training w/ PAL-E Certificate — March 30–31, 2021.

🎯 Product

Liz Love (via ProdPad): 3 Ways to Introduce an Agile Product Development Process

Liz Love details how to breathe life into your Product (Development) Backlog by removing all ideas from it — your Product Backlog is about delivering, not discovery or ideation.

Source: ProdPad: 3 Ways to Introduce an Agile Product Development Process

Author: Liz Love

Shaw Li: Practical Advice for Product Managers Working With Early Stage Startup Founders.

Shaw Li shares hands-on advice on dealing with the executor, the manager, and the visionary among founders. (The know-it-all is missing, though.)

Source: Practical Advice for Product Managers Working With Early Stage Startup Founders.

Author: Shaw Li

Mario Moreira: Requirements Tree: Focusing your efforts on the highest value work

Mario Moreira suggests visualizing various requirements with a tree-shape structure to create a shared understanding among team members.

Source: Requirements Tree: Focusing your efforts on the highest value work

Author: Mario Moreira

🛠 Tools & Measuring

Ken Norton: The Tools Don’t Matter

Ken Norton addresses product managers’ obsession with tools, noting that tools are overrated compared to other success factors.

Source: The Tools Don’t Matter

Author: Ken Norton

📖 🔈 Download the Audiobook of the Scrum Guide 2020 for Free

👉 Learn more: 📖 🔈 Download the Audiobook of the Scrum Guide 2020 for Free.

🗞️ Last Week’s Food for Agile Thought Edition

Read more: Food for Agile Thought #281: Product-Led Companies, #NoProjects, 80/20 Rule for Product Managers, Root Cause Analysis.

📺 Join 2,700-plus Agile Peers on Youtube

Now available on the Age-of-Product Youtube channel:

• 🆕 Scrum Guide 2020: Eight Remarkable Changes — Hands-on Agile #28.
• Remote Agile (1) Replay: Practices and Tools for Scrum Masters, Agile Coaches, and Product Owners.
• Scrum Sprint Retrospective Anti-Patterns.

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Food for Agile Thought #282: Self-Organization Does Not Work, Tools Don’t Matter, Projects to Products (Ebook), 3 Ways to Agile Product Creation was first published on Age-of-Product.com.