Agile and Project Management - DrunkenPM Radio Dave Prior, Agile Trainer, Consultant and Project Manager

I’m testing out the AI Generated Summary…

In this conversation, Dave Prior and Scott Sehlhorst discuss the importance of improving the product plan while executing it. They explore the common problem of companies jumping straight into execution without considering what they should build and why. Scott emphasizes the need to shift from a mindset of control to one of influence, where product managers focus on solving problems and creating value for customers and the business. They also discuss the concept of uncertainty and sensitivity and how to navigate it using impact mapping to identify needs and changes. In this conversation, Scott Sehlhorst discusses the importance of shifting into a business model and the need to create changes and hypotheses. He emphasizes the process of narrowing down the target population and quantifying the impact of changes. Scott also highlights the significance of determining sensitivity and making connections between cause and effect. He introduces the confidence rubric and explains how to prioritize experiments. The conversation concludes with the idea of constantly improving the plan and focusing on the next most important thing to learn.

Takeaways

Companies often jump straight into execution without considering what they should build and why.
Product managers should shift from a mindset of control to one of influence, focusing on solving problems and creating value for customers and the business.
Uncertainty and sensitivity are inherent in product development, and it is impossible to know everything before building a product.
Using impact mapping can help identify needs and changes, allowing for experimentation and learning in an uncertain environment. Shifting into a business model involves creating changes and hypotheses.
Narrowing down the target population is crucial for effective experimentation.
Quantifying the impact of changes helps determine the potential outcomes.
Using a confidence rubric can aid in decision-making and prioritization.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction and Background
03:00 The Fear of Being Late vs. the Fear of Being Wrong
05:58 Backlog Rationalization Workshop
10:00 Moving from Control to Influence
13:07 Building the Right Things
20:00 Navigating Uncertainty and Sensitivity
29:11 Using Impact Mapping to Identify Needs and Changes
31:56 Shifting into Business Model
33:05 Creating Changes and Hypotheses
34:32 Narrowing Down the Target Population
35:15 Quantifying the Impact
36:34 Determining Sensitivity
38:21 Making Connections and Causal Relationships
39:36 Confidence and Uncertainty
43:00 The Confidence Rubric
44:23 Prioritizing Experiments
49:29 What's the Next Most Important Thing to Learn
53:28 Improving the Plan

Links from the Podcast
The Empathy Map Podcast where Scott and I discuss Impact Mapping
https://on.soundcloud.com/szLXeqe5Q6t2Tf9b8

Scott’s blog post about using a Confidence Rubric
https://uxpressia.com/blog/make-decisions-about-business-experiments

Contacting Scott:
Contacting Scott
Scott’s Blog at Tyner Blain: tynerblain.com/blog/
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/sehlhorst/
Twitter: twitter.com/sehlhorst
Email: scott@tynerblain.com

Alan Dayley is back to help me continue the quest of figuring out why so many companies are struggling with PI Planning or quarterly planning. During the interview, we discuss some of the reasons organizations struggle with this type of planning. We address the topic from the perspective of senior leadership, why they want it, how they often approach it, and the challenges that creates. We also explore the way the request is often interpreted by the Development Teams, how they often respond, and how critical it is that they have the time needed to understand the request and the freedom to respond in a way that is responsible to the organization.

Alan is a SAFe Program Consultant, so during the conversation he also explains how PI planning is supposed to work if you are truly following SAFe.

… and, Developers are not batteries

Contacting Alan

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alandd/
Email: alandd@DayleyAgile.com

You’ve decided to take a Scrum certification class. Now the question is, which one? If you are looking for something like Certified Scrum Master or Certified Scrum Product Owner, there are so many options to choose from that it can be overwhelming. All of them should result in certification and price is certainly a concern. But there are a number of other factors to consider when trying to find the Scrum training that is right for you.

When you take a certification class, whether its focus is on Scrum, Lean, Kanban, Project Management, whatever… you are investing in yourself and your future. In this podcast, Vic Bonacci and I talk through some of the key things you should consider when selecting a certification course. You are spending your time and money to obtain knowledge and validation (through certification) that you have a certain degree of expertise. Choose wisely… it’s your future.

Contacting Vic
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vbonacci/
AgileCoffee Podcast: https://agilecoffee.com
Online Scrum Class: https://onlinescrumclass.com

Contacting Dave
Linktree: https://linktr.ee/mrsungo
Dave’s Classes listed on Scrum Alliance site: https://tinyurl.com/35pzsk5j

Keeping up with what is happening in AI is no small task. You probably know some folks who spend a lot of free time learning how to bend (insert AI flavor of the week) to their will, there are folks who are preaching to anyone who will listen about all the amazing things that are right around the corner, and then there are the folks who just periodically peek over their shoulder and say “Yeah, um… let me know when you’ve got this bit actually working.”

And then there are people like Snehal Talati. I met Snehal last year at the Scrum Gathering and we did a podcast about http://aiagile.org, the community he started to bring Agilists together to ensure that the intersection between the Agile space and AI happens in an intentional and thoughtful way.

It’s been 8 months since that podcast was posted and that’s like 20 years in the AI space. So Snehal is back to share what’s been happening in AI and Agile. and to talk about the free course he built for the Scrum Alliance to help folks get started. During our conversation, Snehal gives an update on some of the newer changes and challenges in AI and he also offers real-life examples of how AI is becoming a powerful part of his personal productivity.

If you’d like to check out the Scrum Alliance’s AI course, that is here:
• AI & Agility: A Comprehensive Introduction: https://resources.scrumalliance.org/Course/ai-agility-comprehensive-introduction

AI Links to get you started:
• AI Agile: https://www.aiagile.org/
• Agile GPT: https://www.agilegpt.com/
• ChatGPT: https://openai.com/blog/chatgpt

CONTACTING SNEHAL
• Web: https://www.boostaro.com
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/snehal-talati-124a38b6/

If you are on one of those teams that has made a habit of dragging unfinished work from one Sprint to the next... YOU NEED TO STOP!
 
When you get to the end of a Sprint and have work that isn't done, you can't show it to the stakeholders in the Sprint Review. If you don't show it to Stakeholders in the Sprint Review, you can't get feedback. And if you can't get feedback, you can't inspect and adapt, and you negate the entire point of working in a Sprint.

This podcast offers five things that you and your team can do
right now to stop carrying over unfinished work and start enabling Scrum to provide you with the results you and your organization were hoping for when you headed down the path to agility.

This podcast was originally recorded in video. You can find that version here: https://youtu.be/df8Ig_KYPUg

If you liked this podcast, please click subscribe and let me
know so I keep adding more.

If you are interested in attending one of my upcoming CSM or
CSPO classes, just follow this link: https://tinyurl.com/yc5k84z5

And if you'd like to contact me, you can find all my links
right here: https://linktr.ee/mrsungo

At the Modus Institute, Jim Benson and Mark Kilby have created a new offering called Successful Distributed Teams. This new course focuses on how to build strong remote teams, how to create a humane, healthy balance of productivity and accountability, and what tools you can use to make it all work. In this interview, Jim and Mark join me to discuss what happened when they combined the many years of experience they each have in shaping remote teams that work. We cover how the idea of remote work has changed over the past few years, what makes it so challenging, and things you can start doing to foster a thriving collaborative remote team. 

This podcast was originally recorded in video. You can find that version here: https://youtu.be/TnFzQr80tBg

To learn more about Successful Distributed Teams
https://modusinstitute.com/course/successful-remote-work-teams

To check out Mark Kilby and Johanna Rothman’s book From Chaos to Successful Distributed Agile Teams
https://tinyurl.com/5fbnynxe

Contacting Jim
Web: https://modusinstitute.com
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/jimbenson
Email: jim@moduscooperandi.com

Contacting Mark
Web: MarkKilby.com
Mastodon: https://hachyderm.io/@mkilby
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mkilby/
Email: mark@markkilby.com