Food for Agile Thought #286: Rethinking Bad Decisions, Scrumban Is Not a Mere Hybrid, Product Discovery Excuses, Metrics Maturity

TL; DR: Rethinking Bad Decisions, Metrics Maturity—Food for Agile Thought #286

Welcome to the 286th edition of the Food for Agile Thought newsletter, shared with 30,802 peers. This week, we figure out how rethinking bad decisions may work; we learn why postponing the decision on who will work on something is beneficial for Scrum teams, and we suggest starting Scrumban with either Kanban or Scrum and then add some flavor from the other practice.

We then learn more about common anti-patterns with product discovery, from ‘there is no demand’ to ‘we don’t have time,’ and we delve into the learnings from the book ‘Working Backwards’ on Amazon’s way of creating products. Also, we suggest a way to figure out whether our team is genuinely evidence-driven.

Lastly, we cherish a board design that elicits questions, for example, to guide qualitative research.

Did you miss the previous Food for Agile Thought’s issue #285 ?

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🏆 The Tip of the Week: Rethinking Bad Decisions

Adam Grant: How to Rethink a Bad Decision

In this podcast, Adam Grant delves into a psychological trap called ‘escalation of commitment,’ a sort of stubbornness we all know well, and how rethinking bad decisions may work.

Source: How to Rethink a Bad Decision

Author: Adam Grant

➿ Agile & Scrum

Mike Cohn: Should a Team Assign Work During Sprint Planning?

Mike Cohn explains why he believes that postponing the decision on who will work on something is beneficial.

Source: Should a Team Assign Work During Sprint Planning?

Author: Mike Cohn

(via Agile Alliance): Scrumban Should NOT Just Be a Hybrid of Scrum and Kanban

Donald Haynes suggests starting with either Kanban or Scrum, stick to their principles, and then add some flavor from the other practice.

Source: Agile Alliance: Scrumban Should NOT Just Be a Hybrid of Scrum and Kanban

John Cutler: Asking Better Questions (Part 2)

John Cutler shares a board design he uses to elicit questions, for example, to guide qualitative research.

Source: Asking Better Questions (Part 2)

Author: John Cutler

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Learn more: 📅 🖥 🇬🇧 Professional Scrum Product Owner Training w/ PSPO Certificate — Online: April 20-23, 2021 .

🎯 Product

Marty Cagan: Discovery – Excuses

Marty Cagan continues his series on common anti-patterns with product discovery, from ‘there is no demand’ to ‘we don’t have time.’

Source: Discovery – Excuses

Author: Marty Cagan

Cedric Chin (via Commonplace – The Commoncog Blog): Product Development as Iterated Taste

Cedric Chin shares his learning from reading Bryar’s and Carr’s book ‘Working Backwards’ on Amazon’s creation of products.

Source: Commonplace – The Commoncog Blog: Product Development as Iterated Taste

Author: Cedric Chin

Linda Z: Stop being the hero

Linda Zhang suggests quitting the idea of becoming the lone hero of your product team.

Source: Stop being the hero

Author: Linda Z

📯 Product Backlog Defense – Common Patterns of Stakeholder Interference

Make no mistake: Your Product Backlog is the last line of defense preventing your Scrum Team from becoming a feature factory; hence Product Backlog defense is vital: Figure out a process that creates value for your customers. Moreover, have the courage — and the discipline — to defend it at all costs.

👉 Learn more: Product Backlog Defense – Common Patterns of Stakeholder Interference .

🛠 Tools & Measuring

(via Kanbanize Blog): The Tortoise or the Hare: Focus on Predictability in Agile

Phil Ledgerwood wants you to skip optimizing for speed. Instead, go for predictability if you’re going to support an agile transformation.

Source: Kanbanize Blog: The Tortoise or the Hare: Focus on Predictability in Agile

Emily Tate (via Mind The Product): The importance of metrics maturity for evidence-driven teams

Emily Tate suggests a way to figure out whether your team is genuinely evidence-driven.

Source: Mind The Product: The importance of metrics maturity for evidence-driven teams

Author: Emily Tate

📅 Scrum Training Classes, Workshops, and Events

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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 .
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🗞️ Last Week’s Food for Agile Thought Edition

Read more: Food for Agile Thought #285: Taleb’s ‘Antifragile,’ Agile Meets Beyond Budgeting, Product Management Design Partnership, Managing Ideas at Scale .

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