TL;DR: Good ideas sometimes come in the form of epics. Here’s a “Five Ws & an H” “approach to getting them initially prioritized right. User Story As a product manager, I need a way to initially prioritize new epics. Description An idea walks into a JIRA backlog. The product owner says, “Hey, we have an…
Month: September 2015
A Cure for Sprint Demo Sleepy Heads
TL;DR: The better the sprint planning, the better the demo that follows. User Story As a product manager, it would be awesome if people didn’t fall asleep during sprint demos. Description When was the last time you spotted someone in your organization energetically skipping and hopping their way through the office singing “Whoo Hoo, it’s time…
You might be a HyperScrumDamentalist if …
tl;dr: A little hump day humor at the expense of cargo-cult agileistas everywhere. User Story As a product manager, I want to avoid prescriptive approaches to Agile. Description This past April at the TriAgile conference in Raleigh, I had the pleasure of listening to David Hussman give warning to the perils that await those who…
If complexity is the enemy, then ‘No’ is your best friend.
TL;DR: Avoiding worthless hodgepodges of complexity is why product managers need the ability & courage to reply with an ROI-driven ‘No.’ User Story: As a software product manager, I need to be able to say no to complexity. Description I love the above Scott Adams offering in the banner image from February 25, 2013 where…