Food for Agile Thought #416: Feature Team Fallacy, Measuring Product Discovery, Forget the Spotify “Model”
Stefan Wolpers
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TL; DR: Feature Team Fallacy — Food for Agile Thought #416
Welcome to the 416th edition of the Food for Agile Thought newsletter, shared with 49,471 peers. This week, we dive into compelling critiques and analyses: Bryan Finster assesses the LeSS approach to team structures, pointing at the Feature Team Fallacy, while Mark Levison sheds light on misconceptions about the “Spotify Model.” Johanna Rothman highlights the pitfalls of dehumanizing metaphors in software development. Additionally, a collaborative piece delves deep into the implications and nuances of the Agile Mindset in decision-making and its role in organizational behavior. Moreover, we address how to Say No without burning bridges.
Then, Jeff Gothelf discusses the actual indicators of product discovery’s effectiveness, cautioning against vanity metrics. Charles Lambdin parallels Gandalf’s adventures and Agile’s inherent adaptability, questioning traditional roadmaps. Dan Collins underscores the pivotal role of churn prevention in SaaS, emphasizing customer-centric strategies. Lastly, Laura Morgan provides a personal account, highlighting three transformative moments in her professional journey.
Finally, Paulo Caroli introduces a Press Release template inspired by Amazon’s customer-centric approach. Also, Jim Morris tackles the challenges of sharing group dynamics techniques to combat dominant voices and foster inclusivity. Marcus Castenfors laments the absence of robust product visions in companies and champions the Design Sprint process for alignment. Lastly, Tim Harford at #mtpcon London 2023 enlightens on common tech innovation missteps, emphasizing the transformative power of simple solutions and AI’s impending influence on employment.
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🏆 The Tip of the Week
Bryan Finster (via Medium): The Feature Team Fallacy
Bryan Finster critiques the LeSS approach to team structure, specifically the debate between organizing teams around features or product capabilities. While acknowledging LeSS’s advocacy for feature teams, he leverages his decades-long developer experience to challenge their stance, dissecting various claims and emphasizing that team structure should align with business needs and delivery goals rather than rigid methodologies.
Source: Medium: The Feature Team Fallacy
Author: Bryan Finster
🍋 Lemon of the Week
Matteo Bianchi (via Medium): Scrum sucks.. Breaking news: Scrum is bad.
In another tragic moment of following the herd instinctively, this Week’s Lemon attempts to prove that Scrum is inadequate, ignoring that his experience may be influenced by people selling snake oil.
Author: Matteo Bianchi
➿ Agile & Scrum
Mark Levison: The Spotify Model of Scaling — Spotify Doesn’t Use It, Neither Should You
Mark Levison discusses the misconceptions surrounding the “Spotify Model.” This structure, showcasing Squads, Tribes, and Guilds, is frequently misapplied in organizations, resulting in mere label changes without the necessary cultural shift. The original intent of fostering collaboration and minimizing dependencies often gets lost in the process.
Author: Mark Levison
Johanna Rothman: Retire These Metaphors & Reframe the Discussion to be More Effective
Johanna Rothman critiques traditional metaphors in software development, emphasizing their dehumanizing effects. She advocates for recognizing the uniqueness of individuals, avoiding construction metaphors, and retiring outdated comparisons, especially those perpetuating sexism.
Author: Johanna Rothman
Karen Eilers et al: Back to the Essential: A Literature-Based Review on Agile Mindset
Karen Eilers, Necmettin Ozkan, Mehmet Sahin Gök examine Agile Mindset’s significance in decision-making and behavior. The study reviews its understanding, success factors, and challenges in implementation through comprehensive research.
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🎯 Product
📺 Laura Morgan (via Agile On The Beach): My three favourite product discovery mistakes
Laura Morgan shares three critical moments in her professional life that helped her become more experienc
Author: Laura Morgan
Jeff Gothelf: How do you measure product discovery?
Jeff Gothelf claims that product discovery’s effectiveness is measured by evaluating its implementation, its impact on work processes, and the quality of products/services produced. Vanity metrics can mislead, so focus on insights generated, sustained discovery practices, and clear customer behavior changes.
Recommended by LinkedIn
Author: Jeff Gothelf
Charles Lambdin: Roadmaps and Twyman’s Law
Charles Lambdin argues that while many blindly follow traditional roadmaps, true Agile emphasizes adaptability and learning, suggesting that a more exploratory approach, akin to Gandalf’s adventures, is needed over rigid planning.
Source: Roadmaps and Twyman’s Law
Author: Charles Lambdin
(via ProdPad): Churn Prevention: A Product Manager’s Guide
Dan Collins emphasizes the importance of churn prevention in SaaS, highlighting the need to understand and address customer dissatisfaction while continuously adapting to their evolving needs and preferences to ensure business longevity.
📯 Saying No as a Product Owner or Product Manager
Are you navigating the delicate art of saying No as a Product Owner or product manager? Actually, it’s more of a strategic ‘yes’ to higher priorities, turning down lower-level requests without shutting down communication.
This article will dive into various approaches, from reframing conversations and fostering stakeholder collaboration to being transparent to data-informed rationale and empathetic engagement. Discover how to maintain a harmonious balance between driving Product Goals and nurturing professional relationships with your stakeholders.
Learn more: Saying No as a Product Owner or Product Manager.
🛠 Concepts, Tools & Measuring
Paulo Caroli: Working Backwards — Press Release Template
Paulo Caroli shares his Press Release template, modeled after Amazon’s ‘Working Backwards’ approach, streamlining product development by emphasizing the end-user experience.
Author: Paulo Caroli
Jim Morris: Facilitation Skills: Avoid Groupthink and One-Sided Discussions
Jim Morris discusses facilitating group sessions, emphasizing the pitfalls of dominant voices stifling conversation. He offers techniques to counter groupthink, encouraging full participation and diverse input in team discussions.
Author: Jim Morris
Marcus Castenfors (via Crisp): How to facilitate a Product Vision Sprint
Marcus Castenfors highlights most companies lack a compelling, tangible product vision, leading to misalignment. To overcome this, he advocates collaboratively using the Design Sprint process to craft an inspiring, aligning product vision.
Author: Marcus Castenfors
🎶 Encore
📺 Tim Harford (via Mind The Product): What we get wrong about technology
Tim Harford underscores two tech innovation errors: overvaluing complexity and underestimating simple, affordable solutions. Moreover, he emphasizes societal change and AI’s potential impact on jobs at #mtpcon London 2023.
Author: Tim Harford
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Senior Scrum Master & Agile Coach
1yWhat an information-packed edition of the Food for Agile Thought newsletter! With critiques from Bryan Finster on team structures and insights into the Spotify Model from Mark Levison, it seems like there's a lot to ponder for Agile enthusiasts. Johanna Rothman's take on metaphors in software development particularly caught my attention. Which article resonated the most with you or offered a new perspective?
Agilist
1yReally love Johanna Rothman's article on dehumanizing metaphors! We need to talk about this more.
another great newsletter episode. happy to be part of it!