Age of Product’s Food for Thought of November 27th, 2016 — shared with 4,912 peers — pays tribute to an all-time favorite: scaling agile. Jeff Sutherland shares a recent presentation on the Shu Ha Ri principle, and we learn that you can build 22 teams at once. LeSS can be indeed Huge.

We then dive deep into best practices for agile retrospective s— cardinal sins to avoid, dealing with strange behavior — , and once again we refer to our velocity-is-not-a-suitable-agile-metric mantra.

Speaking of metrics: Laura Klein shares a chapter of her new book, addressing suitable product metrics, we embrace the ideas of ruthless prioritization and continuous product discovery, and learn again that diversity is good for product & profits. (By the way, can anyone explain to me why this seems to be so hard to understand?)

Last but not least, innovation and personal growth don’t seem to flourish in comfort zones. Maybe, seeking discomfort intentionally could help? Well then, read what Lyft’s director of product design has to say…

Enjoy a great Sunday!

Agile & Scrum

Alexey Krivitsky: scaled lego4scrum — done with 155 people!

Alexey Krivitsky looks back at creating 22 teams and kicking off LeSS Huge with 155 people simultaneously.

Source: scaled lego4scrum — done with 155 people!

Author: Alexey Krivitsky

Jeff Sutherland (via Scrum Inc): The Shu Ha Ri of Scrum @ Scale

Jeff Sutherland provides the download link to his presentation on scaling Scrum from a recent “Give Thanks for Scrum” event based on the Shu Ha Ri principle.

Source: Scrum Inc: The Shu Ha Ri of Scrum @ Scale

Author: Jeff Sutherland

Eb: Velocity is NOT about Productivity

Eb wraps up his take on velocity, its place within the agile software development process, and why velocity hasn’t got anything to do with productivity.

Source: Velocity is NOT about Productivity

Author: Eb

Szymon Skórczyński (via Medium): 7 cardinal sins of retrospectives

Szymon Skórczyński describes seven popular retrospective mistakes and suggests some ideas how to get rid of them.

Source: Medium: 7 cardinal sins of retrospectives

Author: Szymon Skórczyński

Corinna Baldauf: What can you do if retrospectives repeatedly go sideways?

Corinna Baldauf shares her tips & tricks how to deal with strange behavior or team dynamics in a retrospective.

Source: What can you do if retrospectives repeatedly go sideways?

Author: Corinna Baldauf

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Product & Lean

Laura Klein (via UXmatters): Build Better Products

Laura Klein shares a sample chapter from her new book “Build Better Products” on metrics and how to measure whether a team’s work has made a product indeed better for users.

Source: UXmatters: Build Better Products

Author: Laura Klein

David Pasztor (via Mind The Product): How to turn a story point factory into a customer-centric team?

David Pasztor explains why continuous product discovery, e.g. based on Marty Cagan’s dual-track Scrum approach, is essential for building the right product.

Source: Mind The Product: How to turn a story point factory into a customer-centric team?

Author: David Pasztor

John Vars: The Manifesto of Ruthless Prioritization

John Vars states that every company needs to be smart when setting their priorities. But startups need to be ruthless, and avoid being seduced by all the small, easy problems.

Source: The Manifesto of Ruthless Prioritization

Author: John Vars

(via Stanford ECorner): Ignoring Diversity Hurts Tech Products and Ventures

Mike Peña of the Stanford Technology Ventures Program shares data on diversity — or the lack thereof — for top-ranked Silicon Valley technology firms, and explains why this is bad for product and business.

Source: Stanford ECorner: Ignoring Diversity Hurts Tech Products and Ventures

John Cutler (via Medium): Success Theater…

John Cutler provides us with another great listicle of thoughts and experiences. This time, why ‘success theater’ undermines the long-term potential of your team and organization.

Source: Medium: Success Theater…

Author: John Cutler

The Essential Read

Frank Yoo (via Medium): Deliberate Discomfort

Frank Yoo, Director of Product Design @Lyft, describes the benefits of moving out of your comfort zone.

Source: Medium: Deliberate Discomfort

Author: Frank Yoo

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