tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7533727264507128560.post5050821812086614257..comments2024-03-29T04:24:01.240-07:00Comments on Lessons Learned: Combining agile development with customer developmentErichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12249063135381216090noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7533727264507128560.post-57351139343628333312009-09-22T15:40:29.320-07:002009-09-22T15:40:29.320-07:00@William: I actually posted an article about the r...@William: I actually posted an article about the <a href="http://www.pmhut.com/scrum-product-manager-product-owner-roles-and-responsibilities" rel="nofollow">role of the Product Manager</a> in Scrum. It might be debatable for some, hope you can comment when you get the chance.PM Huthttp://www.pmhut.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7533727264507128560.post-63809850077362383442009-03-31T12:48:00.000-07:002009-03-31T12:48:00.000-07:00Sorry its taken me so long to circle back on this....Sorry its taken me so long to circle back on this... <BR/><BR/>@William - thanks for clarifying the role of product management. And I'm thankful that Scrum/Agile doesn't address everything too. :)<BR/><BR/>I think in my original article I mentioned how there is a wide (tho narrowing) gap between the world of product managers and the agile world. I have certifications in product management, scrum master and product owner roles and have to say that there remains huge gaping holes in our understanding of how these roles come together cohesively. <BR/><BR/>In the startups I've been a part of the biggest challenges turned out to be what we should be building. By comparison the "how we should build it" was simpler. I've always had the good fortune to work with committed, smart people people with skillz. <BR/><BR/>@Eric Keep the Customer Development evolution going!Jim Murphyhttp://wattf.com/wp/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7533727264507128560.post-87212681766902729222009-03-26T09:31:00.000-07:002009-03-26T09:31:00.000-07:00Brilliant insights, advice and information on your...Brilliant insights, advice and information on your blog. Thanks.<BR/><BR/>I would like to learn more about your practice and services.<BR/><BR/>Kindly ping me: @AAinslieAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06238212469755448572noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7533727264507128560.post-5215766581332793332009-03-21T15:56:00.000-07:002009-03-21T15:56:00.000-07:00This is great stuff Eric, this the practical exten...This is great stuff Eric, this the practical extension of Steve Blank that I've been looking for.<BR/><BR/>Keep it coming :)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7533727264507128560.post-36896596902952836112009-03-19T07:47:00.000-07:002009-03-19T07:47:00.000-07:00Thanks Eric, another compelling post. I might sugg...Thanks Eric, another compelling post. <BR/><BR/>I might suggest you consider employing the Desired Outcome methodology as outlined in "What Customers Want," by Anthony Ulwick to help shape what priorities get on to the product backlog list. This is a fairly simple approach to creating a weighting system using an Opportunity Algorithm.<BR/><BR/>The algorithm is Importance + max(Importance - Satisfaction, 0) = Opportunity. I won't do the explanation justice so I suggest you grab the book. Simply put it helps product development focus their efforts on addressing Desired Outcomes (the jobs the customer needs done) that create real market opportunities for the product developer.<BR/><BR/>We are starting to employ it at my new startup (as well as many of the great Lean Startup ideas), and I think it fits nicely into the Agile/Scrum/Lean/4 Steps approach.<BR/><BR/>Just a thought...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7533727264507128560.post-28050986319344212452009-03-17T09:39:00.000-07:002009-03-17T09:39:00.000-07:00@William - that's a great clarification, thanks fo...@William - that's a great clarification, thanks for posting it. Reading it again, I don't like the use of the word punt to describe the agile approach. It's tricky to get the tone of a post like this right.<BR/><BR/>I do think this it is an important for people who want to build an agile startup to understand that customer development is a strong complement to agile. <BR/><BR/>In my own practice working with startups, I often come across folks who think they are done managing their startup process if they just follow the XP practices. I used to be one of them. Following XP puts you in a good place to start doing continuous improvement. Unfortunately, many startups still use it as an excuse to maintain the artificial separation between the marketing/business team and the engineering team.<BR/><BR/>That's why I prefer to think of them as two co-equals: the problem team and the solution team. I hope nobody will misinterpret what I'm saying as a criticism of the agile pioneers who made all this possible. In particular, I would not have found myself on this journey without the writing of folks like Kent Beck.Erichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12249063135381216090noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7533727264507128560.post-31546637723200055212009-03-17T09:21:00.000-07:002009-03-17T09:21:00.000-07:00I agree totally with this post, but one minor clar...I agree totally with this post, but one minor clarification on the history of Agile methods.<BR/><BR/>It's true that at the beginning they did mostly punt on how to determine what to build, but it's not true that they just suggested you get a user in the room to ask. Both Scrum and XP had a role which you could happily call by the modern title "Product Manager". The notion was that however you got them, you needed a person in the room who could make product decisions as needed.<BR/><BR/>I think Jim Murphy's confusion comes where many people's did, with the XP term "Customer", which was XP's name for the product management role. I'm pretty sure that this term has its origin in Total Quality Management jargon, where each person was encouraged to think in terms of "customers" (who consumed your work product) and "suppliers" (whose work product you consumed). Chrysler was a big TQM shop at one point, so I'm sure this made sense in context, but XP's "Customer" term has caused a decade of confusion.<BR/><BR/>That naming issue aside, I think it's probably good that Scrum and XP didn't really say much about how to manage products. If they had come up with more system than they did, it would have been something suited to 90s corporate IT projects, not modern startups. As it was, if you followed the XP practices, which included frequent releases, most people in the product management hot seats quickly realized that the users and (real) customers were the often-unwitting source for a lot of information key to product success.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7533727264507128560.post-60687972475952436802009-03-16T23:18:00.000-07:002009-03-16T23:18:00.000-07:00I'm pretty excited you've written this post, Eric....I'm pretty excited you've written this post, Eric. I've had at least three conversations this week about the relationship between agile methodologies and customer development. Now, thankfully, I can just send people here.Sarah Milsteinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07425968618416606256noreply@blogger.com