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Medium

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Food for Agile Thought #493: SVPG Product Change Approach, Cheaters Gonna Cheat, Why Startups Fail…

SVPG product change approach focuses on framing executive challenges as leadership strengths and emphasizes mastering timing, framing, and credibility.
Authentic demand, as highlighted by Cedric Chin, predicts startup success more effectively than just value propositions.
Barry O'Reilly advises leaders to view AI as leverage rather than a universal solution, and research by Oliver Schilke and Martin Reimann reveals the paradox of disclosing AI use.
AI amplifies dysfunction if cultural and strategic aspects are overlooked, according to David Pereira, and Zvi Mowshowitz discusses AI-enabled student cheating and its reflection of education system flaws.

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Medium

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3 Things You Should Do Before Hiring High-Performance Developers

In software development, team dynamics are more critical for success than technical skills, according to a project manager with overseas experience.
Google discovered that team interaction, work structure, and individual contributions matter more than the specific skills of team members for high performance.
The experience highlighted the importance of understanding team dynamics before hiring high-performance developers.
Prioritizing team collaboration and synergy may lead to more successful software projects.

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Dev

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How We Reduced Technical Debt by 37%

Ptolemay reduced technical debt by 37% by building their own workflow after unsuccessful attempts with Agile templates like Scrum and Kanban.
Key changes included a 37% drop in technical debt, 2× faster onboarding for new developers, improved QA catching edge cases, and enhanced understanding and ownership.
Their task lifecycle includes stages like Open, Clarify Details, In Progress, Code Review, QA, Ready to Release, Release, Verified, Reopened, and Completed.
Tools used by Ptolemay include YouTrack, GitHub, TestRail, Figma, and Slack, all integrated to ensure efficient workflow and reduced technical debt.

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Scrum-Master-Toolbox

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Simina Fodor: Why the ‘Why’ Matters—Product Owner Communication Lessons

An exemplary Product Owner showcased the importance of transparency and customer focus in product management, influencing Simina to consider transitioning into that role.
A negative example was highlighted with a Product Owner who adopted a command-and-control approach, neglecting communication and causing team morale to suffer.
A self-reflection question was posed on bridging the gap between command-and-control Product Owners and teams seeking more transparency and collaboration.
Simina Fodor, known for fearless career transitions, emphasizes the significance of 'why' in Product Owner communication lessons.

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Medium

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The Prodigal Return: How Product Management Reclaimed Agile’s Lost Soul

The Agile Manifesto, created over two decades ago, emphasized individuals, collaboration, working software, and adaptability as core values.
Despite the initial principles, the tech industry lost focus along the way, with many viewing Product Management as a necessary evolution to address Agile's limitations.
However, Product Management is not just a successor to Agile but a spiritual homecoming, bringing back values like empathy and purpose that Agile originally stood for.
Drawing parallels to the biblical parable of the prodigal son, the return to a more human-centric approach in Product Management symbolizes a redemption from the pursuit of speed and certainty over wisdom.

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Scrum

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A Practical Guide to Take a Product to Market

Bringing a new product to market can be uncertain but can be approached as opportunities for structured experimentation.
Product teams should start by understanding actual customer experiences to test hypotheses effectively.
Effective go-to-market strategies should acknowledge that most ideas are hypotheses and involve customer observations.
Instead of one-off launches, successful product launches involve a series of events for learning and refinement.
Using Sprint thinking in planning allows teams to focus on specific experiments for continuous refinement.
The use of hypothesis and learning cards like Strategyzer's Test Card helps teams frame ideas as testable hypotheses.
Marketing teams should focus on meaningful metrics like retention, referrals, and revenue per customer rather than vanity metrics.
Measuring what matters leads to a more honest reflection of product traction and value delivery.
By embracing uncertainty as a learning opportunity and using structured experimentation, teams can make smarter decisions in product launches.
Tools like Strategyzer's Test and Learning Cards help teams move beyond gut instinct and generate useful knowledge about customers and markets.

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Scrum

391

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Scrum Only Defines What’s Really Required. Aren’t You Adding Too Much?

Scrum only defines the parts required to implement its theory, emphasizing necessary elements for clear values and principles.
It focuses on Scrum values, self-managing teams, timeboxed events, and minimal artifacts with clear commitments as essential components.
Anything beyond the essential components is left out purposely, allowing teams to adapt the framework to their specific context.
The key to successful Scrum implementation lies in effectively utilizing the required parts rather than adding unnecessary practices.

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Scrum-Master-Toolbox

Simina Fodor: The Courage to Question—Signs of a Healthy Agile Team

Scrum Master success extends beyond facilitation skills to creating a self-sustaining team with healthy practices.
Indicators of a successful team include feeling safe to raise concerns, pushing back on the Product Owner, and proactively seeking reasons behind requests.
Simina Fodor recommends the Start/Stop/Continue retrospective format for simplicity and effective team focus.
Join the Global Agile Summit 2025 in Tallinn, Estonia from May 18th-20th to connect with Agile leaders and learn practical strategies.

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Testim.io

UI Testing: A Complete Beginner’s Guide With Examples

The article serves as a beginner's guide to UI testing, emphasizing its importance and providing examples and tips for effective testing.
UI testing involves checking how applications handle user actions and ensuring visual elements are displayed correctly and work as intended.
Manual testing is suited for subjective tasks, while automated testing is essential for shorter release cycles and maintaining quality.
UI testing ensures that apps have functional and user-friendly interfaces, empowering users to use the app efficiently.
Key benefits of UI testing include ensuring user tasks can be performed, preventing user abandonment due to a confusing interface, and maintaining app reputation.
Challenges in UI testing include UI volatility, slow test speeds, and the cost of writing and maintaining test scripts.
Overcoming challenges involves implementing a well-thought-out testing strategy, using appropriate tools, and balancing manual and automated testing.
UI testing comprises checking elements like consistency, spelling, typography, interactive behaviors, functional validation, and adaptability across different devices and browsers.
Cross-browser testing is crucial in UI testing to ensure consistent behavior across various browsers, and integrating UI tests into CI/CD pipelines is recommended for continuous testing.
UI testing is a vital part of the overall testing strategy, essential for customer satisfaction, and ensuring a positive user experience.
The article concludes by highlighting the importance of UI testing for customer satisfaction and the author's expertise in software development practices.

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Scrum

218

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Scaling Delivery Speed and Predictability with Scrum and Kanban Integration

Integrating Scrum and Kanban resulted in cultural transformation and delivery speed improvements for a misaligned development team.
Challenges the team faced included lack of accountability, mechanical Scrum practices, absence of quality standards, and a blame culture.
Transition initiated after adopting Professional Scrum with Kanban principles, focusing on visualizing work and making incremental improvements.
Solution involved defining flow, limiting Work in Progress, rebuilding Scrum practices through a flow lens, and evolving estimation techniques.
Results after nine months included reduced cycle time, increased Sprint goal achievement, improved release frequency, and enhanced forecast accuracy.
The team rediscovered its rhythm and confidence by transforming into a solution-oriented community with a reliable delivery system.
The integration of Kanban into Scrum improved structure, transparency, and flow control, resulting in faster releases and higher team morale.
The transformation enabled the team to work in small batches, deliver customer value frequently, and focus on improving customer outcomes.
Key advice from the article: when facing dysfunction in a Scrum environment, evolve the practices instead of abandoning them.

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Dev

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Top Free Retrospective Tools for Agile Teams 💡

Retrospectives are crucial for agile teams, offering structured time for reflection and improvement.
Modern digital retrospective tools provide advanced features like AI assistance and real-time collaboration.
Key elements of effective retrospective tools include core functionality, engagement enhancers, and analytics capabilities.
Top free retrospective tools include Kollabe, Neatro, Reetro, Parabol, and EasyRetro.
Kollabe stands out with AI template creation, engagement features, and comprehensive analytics in its free tier.
Neatro offers simplicity, Reetro supports multiple teams, Parabol is process-oriented, and EasyRetro is user-friendly.
Consider scalability, engagement level, workflow integration, and budget when choosing a retrospective tool.
Future retrospective trends include AI integration, enhanced engagement, and advanced analytics.
Kollabe leads with AI capabilities and engaging interfaces, making it a top choice for agile teams.
The landscape of retrospective tools is evolving, offering teams various options for continuous improvement.

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Dev

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Scrum vs. Kanban vs. SAFe: Choosing the Right Agile Framework for Your Team

Agile frameworks like Scrum, Kanban, and SAFe cater to different team needs and project demands.
Scrum is ideal for teams with clear user stories, Kanban suits continuous flow of work, and SAFe is for large organizations with multiple teams.
Real-world insights show how each framework can benefit specific contexts: Scrum for accelerated MVP development, Kanban for predictability and improved throughput, and SAFe for aligning cross-functional teams at scale.
Choosing the right Agile framework depends on factors like team size, cadence, structure, and specific needs, emphasizing the importance of selecting a model that aligns with your organization's context, constraints, and culture.

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Dev

332

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Agile vs. Scrum vs. Waterfall: Decoding Project Management Frameworks 💯

The article discusses the challenges faced in project management and the importance of choosing the right framework such as Waterfall, Agile, or Scrum.
Waterfall is linear and sequential, suitable for projects with stable requirements, while Agile focuses on adaptability and continuous improvement.
Scrum, a framework within Agile, provides structure with defined roles, events, and artifacts. It emphasizes team collaboration and incremental delivery.
Each framework has its pros and cons, and the choice depends on factors like project type, team size, and risk tolerance.

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Scrum-Master-Toolbox

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Simina Fodor: Building Bridges—How Cross-Department Champions Drive Agile Adoption

Simina Fodor led an enterprise Agile transformation by starting small and gradually building internal support over years, creating a strong foundation of champions across departments.
She established a community of practice ready to support the transition to Agile and Scrum when business needs demanded faster releases and better responsiveness to change.
Simina began with a single pilot team implementing daily standups, which later expanded into a full Agile program, leading to her transition from Project Manager to Scrum Master.
Building informal networks and starting with small changes can create a more sustainable foundation for organizational transformation compared to top-down mandates.

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Scrum

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Professional Mentoring: Consent (Scrum Master as a Mentor Blog Series #2)

Consent in mentoring is a continuously negotiated space that determines whether mentoring is appropriate and ethical.
The Scrum Master needs to understand that consent is relational, not just a one-time transaction.
Professional mentors invite mentoring instead of assuming it, showing humility and respect for boundaries.
Accepting when consent is withdrawn is important for preserving the integrity of the mentoring relationship.
Knowing when mentoring is not suitable to provide demonstrates maturity and respect for boundaries.
Recognizing changes in mentee engagement and adjusting mentoring approaches accordingly is crucial.
Consent is foundational for ethical mentoring, reminding mentors to be respectfully available rather than ever-present.
Practicing restraint, invitation, and involvement without assumption is key to professionalizing consent in mentoring.
Understanding that mentoring is a privilege and handling access to someone's thinking with care is essential.
Ensuring a safe environment is crucial for effective learning, even when consent in mentoring is established.

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