The Agile Product Creative Growth© method
The Co Op Team wanted to memorialize and make repeatable the cool way we build digital products… read about it here or buy the more edited version from Amazon.
ATTN: Company Leaders & Engineering, Product, Marketing, Brand, Program, Product, Design, Development, Customer Success
It's easy to blow this “Agile Transformation” thing and ruin your company. Not worth it.
STOP doing what you’re doing on REPEAT without reading this important update that impacts the following roles: Engineering, Product, Marketing, Brand, Program, Product, Design, Development, Customer Success.
As new products continue to find space in our landscape creating a different looking horizon, so has the look of our company structures. Companies are not working the same way, especially companies that are innovating digital products.
Looking at case studies like Google, Amazon, Paypal and others, we can see a significant change from traditional Engineering and Product Management to more unique twists on old methodologies.
The common thread that has tied these approaches together has been the Agile Manifesto. This document was originally written to help software engineers build software better. However, referencing back to the changing horizon, the players have evolved to higher levels of maturity and this makes sense. So how is it working today? The answer lies in your unique company’s needs, including if they need innovation. Assuming they do need innovation to remain relevant and viable, many of us in the space can align on a common playbook that can successfully deliver innovation timely. A lot of ambiguity has existed in this field for a couple reasons in my opinion, because success has been elusive even until now and Big Certification Companies are selling hard. This playbook will demystify Agility to help companies get back to delivering amazing products customers love, while nourishing the spirit of our development process, supported by use cases. At the end of this book, you will see a list of the test questions and answers needed to pass the certification associated with this method. This is a free but challenging certification that will empower companies and us to continue to innovate cool digital stuff without friction.
Table of Contents
Problem to Solve
The Agile Product Creative Growth© model
Go-to-Market Approach
Hackathons
Idea Boards
Product Roadmaps
Teams Running with Work
Tactical Steps
Literature Review
Jobs to be Done Theory
Working Backwards
Outcomes Over Output
The Agile Manifesto
The Power of Habit
The Toyota Way
Failing Forward
Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us
Mindset: The New Psychology of Success
The Servant as Leader
Kaizen
Scrum
Kanban
Scaled Agile with Nexus
Scaled Agile with SAFe
The Build Trap
Thinking about it all together - the roles of individuals
Example Formations based on Case Studies
Comparing Organizational Structures
A Typical Day in a large, layered organization
A Typical Two Week Sprint with smaller organization
Product Manager
Product Owners
Agile Coaches
Scrum Master
Brand Management
C-Suite Leadership
Data Teams
Designers
People Managers
Engineering Teams
Marketing Teams
Agile Project Managers
Program Managers
Strategy Teams
QA Testing Teams
References
Problem to Solve
If your company is showing any of these symptoms, following the approach in this book can get you back on track.
Your company has not delivered for over 6 months
Your Development Teams do not have enough work
Your Product Management does not have a Roadmap
Your Product Roadmap is greater than 3 quarters
Your Product Roadmap does not have milestones
Your Security Team is not using AI to forecast possible situations and get on the Kanban board with the teams
Your product doesn’t have a scheduled release plan
Your company has less than 95% uptime
Your Product or Engineering Teams are dominant, aggressive or rude
Your Product isn’t growing
Your Company needs too many people to get a product delivered
Your Company has a niche so complex that the product can’t be delivered without great friction
You have a monolith but need to re-architect to microservices based to enable scalability.
You have a Marketing team but they don’t know when to work on what.
You have a person in charge of Strategy now, but work doesn’t get broken down by that person - too technical.
You have a person in charge of Engineering now, but they are mostly focused on keeping difficult to manage infrastructure working at the needed scale safely not as much on the growth of digital products
You have a Project Management Team, how do they fit in? Do they?
You have a Program Management Team, how do they fit in? Do they?
You have design changes late into development.
You have a missing Product Owner role.
Your scrum master goes on autopilot, something called a scrumbot
You are focused on metrics in units of output, not in the output. of features that relate to an item on the Roadmap.
As more organizations move from traditional waterfall approaches, into self-labeled “Agile Transformations”, many are seeing a reduction in productivity due to unfocussed development teams resulting from disorganized strategy.
Innovation is slipping away in product development. It is slipping into the cracks of directionless chaos. We need to make swift changes now to stop the erosion!
When Covid shut down the world stage, we saw an increase in digitalization, opening the door wider to traditional marketing to lead the path forward. This has added momentum to the Product first movement made famous by Amazon and continued through tons of new schools and certifications. Unfortunately, we’re now seeing a deeper chasm forming between Engineering, Product, Marketing, Brand, Design, Sales, and the C-Suite.
For those not following these methods, the light shining the path forward will continue to dimmer into darkness!
Many times these types of structures create lack of work for the Development Teams. This happens when the right work can not be decided by leadership and everything comes to a halt. This can happen in even the most Agile of organizations but what teams do with this “down” time can be very impactful to positively impact the organizational systems to demoralize the teams toward less efficiency.
The Agile Product Creative Growth (APCG) method addresses various challenges in the creative and organizational landscape, offering solutions that promote collaboration, adaptability, and customer-centric innovation. Here are 10 problems that APCG is solving and how:
1. Silos and Lack of Collaboration:
- Solution: APCG encourages cross-disciplinary collaboration, breaking down silos between departments. By fostering teamwork among diverse roles like marketing, engineering, design, and more, it ensures a holistic and collaborative approach to problem-solving.
2. Ineffective Product Development:
- Solution: APCG's iterative development approach allows teams to respond quickly to changing requirements and customer feedback. This ensures that products are developed incrementally, reducing the risk of investing resources in ineffective or misaligned solutions.
3. Customer Disconnection:
- Solution: APCG's customer-centric approach ensures that creative efforts are aligned with customer needs and expectations. By working backward from customer requirements, organizations can establish stronger connections with their target audience.
4. Lack of Adaptability to Change:
- Solution: APCG values adaptability and resilience. Teams using APCG are better equipped to adapt to changing market conditions, emerging trends, and unexpected challenges, fostering a culture of flexibility and continuous improvement.
5. Stagnation and Resistance to Innovation:
- Solution: APCG promotes a growth mindset, encouraging teams to embrace challenges and view setbacks as opportunities for learning and innovation. This mindset shift fosters a culture of continuous improvement and a willingness to experiment with new ideas.
6. Output Overload without Meaningful Outcomes:
- Solution: APCG prioritizes outcomes over output, ensuring that creative efforts are focused on delivering value and meaningful results. This prevents organizations from getting caught in the trap of producing excessive work that lacks customer impact.
7. Lack of External Stakeholder Involvement:
- Solution: APCG recognizes the value of external contributors, such as customers, social media influencers, and collaborators. By involving external stakeholders in the creative process, organizations gain diverse perspectives, enriching the quality of solutions.
8. Leadership Challenges:
- Solution: APCG aligns with principles of servant leadership, emphasizing leaders' roles in supporting and enabling their teams. This leadership approach creates a positive work environment, empowering teams to reach their creative potential.
9. Unproductive Habits and Workflows:
- Solution: APCG, drawing insights from "The Power of Habit," encourages the cultivation of positive habits within teams. This focus on creating a conducive work environment contributes to increased productivity, collaboration, and creativity.
10. Resistance to Learning from Setbacks:
- Solution: APCG embraces setbacks as opportunities for learning and improvement. By fostering a culture that views failures positively, organizations using APCG encourage continuous learning and adaptation in the face of challenges.
In summary, the Agile Product Creative Growth method addresses a range of challenges by promoting collaboration, adaptability, customer-centricity, and a growth mindset. It provides solutions that enable organizations to navigate the complexities of the creative process while fostering a culture of continuous improvement and innovation.
The Agile Product Creative Growth© model
Product, Project, and Program Professionals
Engineering (Coders, Full Stack, Front End, Back End, Data Science, Machine Learning, Data, Security, DevOps, Scaling, Web Services)
Design (Graphic Artists, Painters)
Advertising, Marketing, Brand
Entertainment & Educators (Movies, Documentaries, Podcasts, Music, Dance) (Classes, Training, Books, White Papers, Articles)
Social Media Influencers (People with interesting hobbies, engaging talents, fun personalities)
The Agile Product Creative Growth (APCG) method is a holistic and collaborative approach to creative innovation and organizational growth. It emphasizes cross-disciplinary collaboration, iterative development, and a customer-centric mindset to drive continuous improvement. APCG draws inspiration from agile methodologies, lean principles, and growth mindset philosophies, fostering a culture that values adaptability, resilience, and learning from setbacks. Key components include:
1. Cross-Disciplinary Collaboration:
- APCG encourages collaboration among diverse disciplines, including marketing, engineering, design, and more, fostering a creative synergy that combines various talents and perspectives.
2. Iterative Development:
- The method promotes iterative and incremental development, allowing teams to adapt and evolve their creative processes in response to changing requirements, customer feedback, and market dynamics.
3. Customer-Centric Approach:
- APCG places a strong emphasis on understanding and meeting customer needs. It works backward from customer expectations, ensuring that creative endeavors are aligned with delivering value and positive experiences.
4. Continuous Improvement:
- The method prioritizes continuous improvement, drawing from lean principles and agile methodologies. Teams are encouraged to reflect on their processes, learn from experiences, and optimize workflows to enhance creative outcomes.
5. Adaptability and Resilience:
- APCG values adaptability and resilience, acknowledging that the creative landscape is dynamic. Teams are empowered to navigate challenges, embrace setbacks as opportunities for growth, and pivot when necessary.
6. Growth Mindset:
- APCG embraces a growth mindset, fostering a belief that skills and capabilities can be developed through dedication and effort. This mindset encourages a positive approach to learning, experimentation, and overcoming obstacles.
7. Outcome-Oriented Focus:
- APCG prioritizes outcomes over mere output, ensuring that creative efforts are aligned with meaningful results and customer impact rather than simply delivering a high volume of work.
8. Leadership as Servant:
- The method incorporates principles of servant leadership, emphasizing leaders' roles in supporting and enabling their teams. Effective leadership is seen as serving the collective creative potential of the organization.
9. Collaboration with External Stakeholders:
- APCG recognizes the value of external contributors, such as customers, social media influencers, and other collaborators. This inclusive approach enriches the creative process with diverse perspectives.
10. Cultivation of Positive Habits:
- Drawing insights from "The Power of Habit," APCG encourages the cultivation of positive habits within teams, promoting a work environment conducive to creativity, collaboration, and continuous improvement.
Overall, the Agile Product Creative Growth method provides a framework that empowers organizations to navigate the complexities of creative endeavors, fostering a culture of collaboration, adaptability, and innovation with a relentless focus on delivering value to customers.
Go-to-Market Approach
We use this synergy to turn our dreams for a better planet into real life outcomes by following a continuous flow starting with the ideas from many, working together to problem solve toward the outcomes we want, doing our due diligence on the work we will complete, completing the work, and managing toward our success.
This is how we take action toward our purpose.
Mind Mapping
To kick things off, our President and Growth Creative Leader sends out an international invitation to all Global Leaders to join us at our Board table to brainstorm on this year’s highest level missions using creative Mind Mapping techniques to start inspiring us to Run! This is our purpose starting to take form.
Hackathons
Once we have this year’s missions, we invite the most creative and innovate engineers, product leaders, designers, marketing and brand professionals, trainers, educators, social media influencers, artists, movie producers, documentary filmmakers, podcasters, and others interested in making the planet better to join our Hackathon to problem solve toward innovation.
This is our purpose in action, starting with problem solving.
Idea Boards
Once ideas are on the Idea Board, we are organized using something we call the Agile Product Creative Growth© model, an internal performance creative function model. To us, this means we have lots of little Agile Product teams that include all the people needed to bring our ideas to life.
Product Roadmaps
We are constantly focussed on our outcomes. We work together toward our shared success from a growth mindset as servant leaders.
We measure to demonstrate our success along the way
We work in pure Agility, a self course correcting approach in the project management discipline
Our Board Members enjoy Outcome based Roadmaps
Teams Running with Work
Sprint Planning
Standups
Backlog Refinement
Sprint Review
Retrospective
Tactical Steps
PLAYS
Sr. Leadership Task: Understand the players
Sr. Leadership Task: Agree upon the game
Leadership Task: Introduce the players into teams
Team Players: Stay on point
PLAY 1 / BEFORE DAY 1
WHO: Sr. Leadership
TASK: Understand the players
Summary: Seems easy enough but I have seen this be the number one deal killer in the Agile Transformation game. I can help.
Start with where you are
Pull out your current Roles and Responsibilities/Org chart. Clearly each person has work the company needs done. Now think about the last products you delivered to customers and think about who on the org chart is part of that process. In my experience, it will include the following roles: Engineering, Product, Marketing, Brand, Program, Product, Design, Development, Customer Success
Consider all of them part of your Agile Product Creative Growth© team
Each player will be expected to work together to deliver
Read the suggested books to better understand the theories behind the approach to best support questions from the teams.
PLAY 2/ BEFORE DAY 1
WHO: Sr. Leadership
TASK: Agree upon the game
Summary: Again, apologies, seems easy enough but I have seen this tie with the number one deal killer in the Agile Transformation game. I can help.
Details
Start with where you are specifically related to how you keep score. Do you have timelines and budgets in a chart? Keep that and figure out how to add in the new team's score.
Communicate this down to the teams, how you are keeping score and how they are required to track it.
Doing this helps reduce the change management friction for everyone along the line down.
Assign a Senior Leader to Spearhead this leadership who is responsible for the shared success.
PLAY 3/ BEFORE DAY 1
WHO: Any Leadership
TASK: Introduce the Players into Teams
Summary: In order for teams to start producing output, it is necessary to define the primary team members. These should include all the roles necessary to get the product to market. They typically include input from: System Architect, System Developer, System Quality Assurance Tester, Design, Product, Marketing, Brand, though not all are needed every day for each step in the process.
Details
Start with each product. Assign the minimum number of people to develop the product (all prior to launch activities)
Review how score is being tracked by leadership and ensure score methods are in place
Create Team Agreements and document type of agile method the team will try first
Start with one of the examples in this book or one that works for your company and try different ones whenever you agree to, the goal is the flow with the least friction, work should feel like swimming in peace with the outcome being amazing!
PLAY 4/ DAY 1
WHO: Team
TASK: Stay on Point
Summary: In order for teams to start producing output, it is necessary to define the primary team members. These should include all the roles necessary to get the product to market. They typically include input from: System Architect, System Developer, System Quality Assurance Tester, Design, Product, Marketing, Brand, though not all are needed every day for each step in the process.
Details
Start with each product.
Stay engaged in its life lifecycle, current status and when expected on the Roadmap
Ensure how score is being captured is accurate
Use methods from this book or ones that work for your company to reduce friction within the team and work continuously to deliver outcomes feeling happy and innovating beautiful features for customers with as little friction as possible. Alter processes based team feelings and opportunities to deliver better, faster, chearper. Note any process changes in the Team Agreements Document.
That’s It
Let’s Run!!
Literature Review
The Agile Manifesto
The Scrum Guide
Kanban
Scaled Agile using SAFe
Scale Agile using Nexus
Working Backwards
Jobs to be Done Theory
Outcomes Over Output
The Power of Habit
The Toyota Way
The Servant as Leader
The Build Trap
Failing forward
Drive the Surprising Truth about what motivates us
Mindset: The New Psychology of Success
Let's explore how each of the mentioned books supports the Agile Product Creative Growth (APCG) method:
1. The Agile Manifesto:
- Support for APCG: The Agile Manifesto lays out key principles for agile software development, emphasizing customer collaboration, responding to change, and iterative progress. These principles align with APCG's focus on customer-centric approaches, adaptability, and continuous improvement.
2. The Scrum Guide:
- Support for APCG: Scrum provides a framework for iterative and incremental development, emphasizing collaboration and adaptability. APCG, with its cross-disciplinary collaboration and emphasis on continuous learning, can leverage Scrum's principles to enhance creative processes.
3. Kanban:
- Support for APCG: Kanban focuses on visualizing work, limiting work in progress, and optimizing flow. APCG can benefit from Kanban's emphasis on workflow management, allowing teams to streamline creative processes, minimize waste, and enhance overall efficiency.
4. Scaled Agile using SAFe:
- Support for APCG: SAFe is a framework for scaling agile principles to large organizations. APCG, with its emphasis on collaboration across disciplines, can benefit from SAFe's principles by ensuring alignment across multiple teams, enhancing communication, and fostering a cohesive approach to creative growth.
5. Scaled Agile using Nexus:
- Support for APCG: Nexus provides a framework for scaling Scrum. APCG, with its cross-disciplinary collaboration, can leverage Nexus to coordinate multiple Scrum teams working on a single product, ensuring alignment and continuous integration of creative efforts.
6. Working Backwards:
- Support for APCG: Working Backwards, from Amazon's leadership principles, emphasizes starting with the customer and working backward. APCG, with its customer-centric focus, can align with this approach to ensure that creative efforts are rooted in understanding and meeting customer needs.
7. Jobs to be Done Theory:
- Support for APCG: Jobs to be Done Theory focuses on understanding the functional and emotional needs that drive customers. APCG, with its customer-centric approach, can use this theory to inform creative decisions and ensure that products and solutions align with customers' jobs to be done.
8. Outcomes Over Output:
- Support for APCG: This book emphasizes the importance of focusing on outcomes (impact on customers) rather than mere output (quantity of work). APCG aligns with this perspective by prioritizing the quality and impact of creative solutions over the sheer volume of work produced.
9. The Power of Habit:
- Support for APCG: The Power of Habit explores the science of habit formation. APCG can benefit by understanding how habits influence creative processes and how teams can cultivate positive habits that contribute to continuous improvement and innovation.
10. The Toyota Way:
- Support for APCG: The Toyota Way introduces principles of lean thinking and continuous improvement. APCG can draw inspiration from these principles to streamline creative processes, eliminate waste, and foster a culture of continuous improvement.
11. The Servant as Leader:
- Support for APCG: This essay emphasizes the concept of servant leadership. APCG, with its collaborative and cross-disciplinary approach, aligns with the idea that effective leaders serve their teams, enabling them to achieve their creative potential.
12. The Build Trap:
- Support for APCG: The Build Trap warns against the overemphasis on output at the expense of delivering value. APCG aligns with this perspective by prioritizing meaningful outcomes and customer value in creative endeavors.
13. Failing Forward:
- Support for APCG: Failing Forward encourages a positive perspective on failure as a pathway to success. APCG embraces a similar mindset, viewing setbacks as opportunities for learning and improvement in the creative process.
14. Drive: The Surprising Truth about What Motivates Us:
- Support for APCG: Drive explores intrinsic motivation. APCG can leverage these insights to foster a work environment that promotes autonomy, mastery, and purpose, enhancing creative motivation within teams.
15. Mindset: The New Psychology of Success:
- Support for APCG: Mindset introduces the concept of a growth mindset, emphasizing the belief in the ability to develop skills through effort. APCG aligns with this mindset by promoting continuous learning, adaptability, and improvement in creative processes.
In summary, these books align with and support the Agile Product Creative Growth method, fostering a culture of collaboration, continuous improvement, and customer-centric innovation.
Jobs to be Done Theory
The Jobs-to-be-Done (JTBD) theory can support the Agile Product Creative Growth Method in several ways by providing a customer-centric framework that aligns with the principles of agility, collaboration, and continuous improvement. Here's how the JTBD theory can complement and enhance the Agile Product Creative Growth Method:
1. Customer-Centric Focus:
The JTBD theory emphasizes understanding the underlying motivations and needs of customers. Integrating JTBD into the Agile Product Creative Growth Method ensures that development efforts are driven by a deep understanding of the jobs customers are trying to accomplish. This customer-centric focus aligns with Agile's principle of delivering value to the customer.
2. User Stories and Features Based on Jobs:
In Agile development, user stories are used to define requirements from the end user's perspective. By framing user stories around the jobs customers are trying to get done, teams can prioritize features and functionalities that directly contribute to solving customer problems or fulfilling their needs.
3. Continuous Learning and Iteration:
JTBD encourages a mindset of continuous learning about customer needs and preferences. When integrated with Agile, this leads to an iterative development process. Teams can release minimum viable products (MVPs), gather feedback, and make improvements based on real-world usage, aligning with Agile's principles of iterative development and frequent releases.
4. Cross-Functional Collaboration:
The Agile Product Creative Growth Method involves collaboration among various roles and departments. JTBD provides a common language and framework that can be understood and utilized by marketers, designers, engineers, product owners, and others. This shared understanding fosters effective cross-functional collaboration and ensures that everyone is working towards solving the same customer problems.
5. Prioritization Based on Customer Impact:
The Jobs-to-be-Done theory helps teams prioritize features and initiatives based on their impact on solving important customer jobs. This aligns with Agile's focus on delivering high-value features early and often, allowing teams to maximize customer value and respond to changing priorities.
6. Adapting to Changing Customer Needs:
One of the strengths of both JTBD and Agile is their adaptability. By continually reassessing customer jobs and needs, teams using the Agile Product Creative Growth Method can adapt their strategies and development efforts to stay aligned with evolving customer expectations and market conditions.
7. Holistic View of the Customer Journey:
JTBD encourages a holistic understanding of the customer journey. Integrating this perspective with the Agile Product Creative Growth Method ensures that development efforts consider the entire customer experience, from initial awareness and consideration to product usage and beyond. This helps in crafting a comprehensive go-to-market strategy.
8. Measuring Success in Customer Terms:
JTBD provides a framework for defining success in terms of the customer's goals and outcomes. Agile teams can use these customer-centric metrics to evaluate the success of their products and initiatives, ensuring that success is measured in delivering value to the customer.
In summary, integrating the Jobs-to-be-Done theory with the Agile Product Creative Growth Method enhances customer focus, supports iterative development, promotes cross-functional collaboration, and ensures that development efforts are aligned with solving real customer problems. It provides a valuable lens through which teams can understand and prioritize the jobs customers hire their products or services to accomplish.
Working Backwards
The concept of working backward can be valuable for several reasons:
1. Customer-Centric Focus:
Starting with the customer's needs and working backward ensures that the development process is driven by a deep understanding of what customers want and value. This customer-centric approach aligns with the core principles of Agile methodologies.
2. Clarity of Purpose:
Working backward helps clarify the ultimate goal and purpose of the project. By understanding the desired outcome or customer benefit, teams can prioritize tasks and features that directly contribute to meeting those objectives.
3. Reduced Risk of Misalignment:
When teams work backward from the desired outcome, there is a reduced risk of misalignment between different departments or roles. This alignment is crucial for successful cross-functional collaboration, as everyone is working towards the same goal.
4. Iterative Development:
The Agile Product Creative Growth Method likely involves iterative development and continuous feedback. By working backward, teams can identify key milestones, iterate on solutions, and adapt their approach based on real-time feedback, fostering a culture of continuous improvement.
5. Adaptability and Flexibility:
Agile methodologies emphasize adaptability to change. Working backward allows teams to be more flexible in their approach, adjusting priorities and features based on changing market conditions or customer feedback.
6. Integration of Roles and Departments:
The Agile Product Creative Growth Method involves multiple roles and departments collaborating towards a common goal. Working backward facilitates better integration by providing a shared vision that aligns marketing, brand, project, program, design, engineering, QA, product, product owners, and managers.
7. Holistic Approach to Strategy:
By considering the entire go-to-market strategy and incorporating elements like events, mind mapping, and road mapping, the method ensures a holistic approach to strategy formulation. This helps in creating a comprehensive plan that addresses various aspects of product development and launch.
In summary, the concept of "working backward" can enhance the effectiveness of the Agile Product Creative Growth Method by fostering a customer-centric approach, improving alignment among teams, enabling iterative development, and promoting adaptability in a rapidly changing business environment (Bryar & Car, 2021).
Outcomes Over Output
"Outcomes Over Output" by Joshua Seiden is a book that aligns with Agile principles and focuses on achieving meaningful outcomes for customers rather than just delivering outputs. When applied to the Agile Product Creative Growth Method, the book provides valuable insights and practices that support the methodology:
1. Customer-Centric Outcomes:
"Outcomes Over Output" emphasizes the importance of defining success in terms of customer outcomes. In the context of the Agile Product Creative Growth Method, this aligns with the Jobs-to-be-Done theory and encourages teams to understand and prioritize the outcomes that matter to customers when developing and launching products.
2. Measuring Impact:
The book advocates for measuring success by the impact on customers rather than merely tracking outputs. In the Agile Product Creative Growth Method, this means focusing on key performance indicators (KPIs) and metrics that reflect the achievement of desired customer outcomes. It encourages a shift from vanity metrics to those that truly indicate customer value.
3. Continuous Learning and Adaptation:
Seiden promotes a mindset of continuous learning and adaptation. This aligns with Agile's principles of inspecting and adapting. Teams using the Agile Product Creative Growth Method can benefit from the book's guidance on embracing uncertainty, learning from customer feedback, and iterating based on real-world outcomes.
4. Iterative Experimentation:
The Agile Product Creative Growth Method likely involves experimentation and testing to validate assumptions. "Outcomes Over Output" supports this by providing insights into how teams can structure experiments, gather meaningful data, and iterate based on the results. This aligns with Agile's emphasis on iterative development and continuous improvement.
5. Collaborative Decision-Making:
The book encourages collaborative decision-making and cross-functional collaboration. In the context of the Agile Product Creative Growth Method, this aligns with the involvement of various roles and departments working together toward common goals, ensuring that decisions are made collaboratively and based on achieving desired outcomes.
6. Focus on Value Delivery:
Seiden's book underscores the importance of delivering value to customers. This resonates with Agile principles that prioritize delivering working solutions that provide real value. Teams using the Agile Product Creative Growth Method can benefit from the book's insights on aligning development efforts with customer needs and delivering outcomes that matter.
7. Alignment with Jobs-to-be-Done:
The focus on outcomes aligns well with the Jobs-to-be-Done theory, as both emphasize understanding and delivering what customers truly value. Integrating "Outcomes Over Output" with the Agile Product Creative Growth Method ensures that the development process remains customer-centric and that efforts are directed towards solving real customer problems.
In summary, "Outcomes Over Output" provides a mindset shift towards customer value and outcomes, which complements the Agile Product Creative Growth Method. The book's emphasis on continuous learning, customer-centricity, and iterative experimentation aligns with Agile principles, making it a valuable resource for teams seeking to enhance their approach to product development and growth (Seiden, 2019).
The Agile Manifesto
The Agile Manifesto provides a set of guiding values and principles that underpin the Agile approach to software development. While the Agile Product Creative Growth Method isn't a specific framework like Scrum or Kanban, it aligns with the Agile values and principles in several key ways. Here's an exploration of how the Agile Manifesto supports the Agile Product Creative Growth Method:
1. Individuals and Interactions over Processes and Tools:
The Agile Manifesto emphasizes the importance of individuals and interactions. The Agile Product Creative Growth Method similarly recognizes the value of collaboration between diverse roles such as marketing, design, engineering, and others, prioritizing human interactions and collaboration over rigid processes and tools.
2. Working Solutions over Comprehensive Documentation:
Both the Agile Manifesto and the Agile Product Creative Growth Method advocate for a focus on delivering working solutions. While documentation is important, the emphasis is on tangible outcomes and products that bring value to customers.
3. Customer Collaboration over Contract Negotiation:
The Agile Manifesto places high value on customer collaboration throughout the development process. The Agile Product Creative Growth Method aligns with this principle by incorporating Jobs-to-be-Done theory and customer feedback loops, emphasizing continuous collaboration with customers to meet their evolving needs.
4. Responding to Change over Following a Plan:
Both the Agile Manifesto and the Agile Product Creative Growth Method embrace change and prioritize flexibility. The Agile Product Creative Growth Method, with its iterative and adaptable approach, encourages teams to respond to market changes and customer feedback effectively.
5. Embracing Change:
The Agile Manifesto values responding to change and adapting to evolving requirements. The Agile Product Creative Growth Method supports this by emphasizing the importance of continuous learning, experimentation, and adaptation in the pursuit of creative growth.
6. Collaboration and Communication:
Collaboration and communication are central themes in both the Agile Manifesto and the Agile Product Creative Growth Method. Both emphasize the importance of close collaboration between cross-functional teams and stakeholders to ensure a shared understanding and successful outcomes.
7. Delivering Value:
The Agile Manifesto prioritizes delivering valuable software to customers. The Agile Product Creative Growth Method extends this concept to broader business goals, emphasizing the delivery of value not only in terms of products but also in achieving growth and creative objectives.
8. Iteration and Feedback:
The Agile Manifesto encourages iterative development with regular feedback loops. The Agile Product Creative Growth Method aligns with this by emphasizing continuous improvement, learning from outcomes, and iterating on strategies and products to achieve growth goals.
While the Agile Manifesto was initially formulated with a focus on software development, its values and principles have been embraced across various industries and contexts. The Agile Product Creative Growth Method draws on these principles to foster a creative, adaptive, and growth-oriented approach in product development and beyond (Beck & Beedle, 2013 pg 1).
The Power of Habit
"The Power of Habit" by Charles Duhigg explores the science behind habits and how they can be transformed. While the book primarily focuses on personal habits, the principles discussed can be applied to organizational habits, team dynamics, and the Agile Product Creative Growth Method in various ways:
1. Behavioral Change:
"The Power of Habit" delves into the mechanics of habit formation and how habits can be changed. In the context of the Agile Product Creative Growth Method, this understanding can be applied to drive positive behavioral changes within teams. It supports the Agile principle of continuous improvement by encouraging teams to identify and modify habits that may hinder their effectiveness.
2. Keystone Habits:
Duhigg introduces the concept of keystone habits—small changes that can lead to widespread positive effects. In the Agile Product Creative Growth Method, identifying and cultivating keystone habits within teams can contribute to a more collaborative and adaptive work environment, fostering continuous growth.
3. Cue-Routine-Reward Loop:
The book describes the habit loop of cue-routine-reward. Teams in the Agile Product Creative Growth Method can analyze their own habit loops, identifying cues (triggers), routines (actions or processes), and rewards (outcomes). This awareness can lead to intentional changes in team behavior and processes to enhance efficiency and collaboration.
4. Continuous Improvement Culture:
Agile methodologies, including the Agile Product Creative Growth Method, promote a culture of continuous improvement. "The Power of Habit" provides insights into how habits influence organizational culture and how deliberate changes can create a positive feedback loop. This aligns with the Agile principle of inspecting and adapting to foster ongoing improvement.
5. Iterative Learning and Adaptation:
The book emphasizes the importance of iterative learning and adaptation in changing habits. This aligns with the Agile principle of iterative development and continuous learning. Teams following the Agile Product Creative Growth Method can leverage these principles to adjust their strategies based on feedback and outcomes, facilitating habit formation around adaptive practices.
6. Team Dynamics and Collaboration:
Understanding the habits that shape team dynamics is crucial for successful collaboration. "The Power of Habit" provides insights into how habits influence group behavior. Teams following the Agile Product Creative Growth Method can use this knowledge to foster positive collaboration habits, ensuring that team members work effectively together toward common goals.
7. Habitual Customer-Centric Focus:
The Agile Product Creative Growth Method, with its emphasis on customer-centricity, can benefit from the insights in the book. Teams can develop habits that prioritize customer needs and continuously gather feedback, aligning with Agile's focus on delivering value to customers.
8. Productivity and Efficiency:
The book discusses how habits contribute to productivity and efficiency. In the context of the Agile Product Creative Growth Method, teams can analyze and optimize their work habits to enhance productivity, ensuring that they are delivering value efficiently and effectively.
In summary, "The Power of Habit" provides a framework for understanding and changing habits, which can be applied to team dynamics, organizational culture, and the continuous improvement aspects of the Agile Product Creative Growth Method. By fostering positive habits, teams can enhance collaboration, adaptability, and overall effectiveness in achieving growth goals (Duhigg, 2012).
The Toyota Way
"The Toyota Way" by Jeffrey Liker outlines the principles and practices that drive the success of Toyota's production system. While the book primarily focuses on manufacturing and lean principles, many of its concepts can be adapted and applied to various domains, including software development and Agile methodologies. Here's how "The Toyota Way" can support the Agile Product Creative Growth Method:
1. Continuous Improvement (Kaizen):
"The Toyota Way" places a strong emphasis on continuous improvement. This aligns with the Agile Product Creative Growth Method's commitment to iterative development and ongoing refinement. Both approaches encourage teams to regularly assess their processes, identify opportunities for improvement, and make adjustments to enhance efficiency and effectiveness.
2. Respect for People:
A core principle in "The Toyota Way" is respect for people. This involves valuing the contributions of every team member and creating an environment that fosters collaboration and innovation. The Agile Product Creative Growth Method benefits from this principle by promoting cross-functional collaboration and recognizing the value that each role brings to the overall process.
3. Elimination of Waste (Muda):
"The Toyota Way" advocates for the elimination of waste in processes. In the context of the Agile Product Creative Growth Method, this aligns with Agile principles that emphasize delivering value to the customer and minimizing activities that do not contribute to that value. Both approaches prioritize efficiency by reducing unnecessary work and optimizing workflows.
4. Pull System:
Toyota's production system is known for its use of pull systems, where work is pulled based on actual demand. In Agile development, particularly with methodologies like Kanban, a pull system is often employed to ensure that teams only take on work when they have the capacity. This aligns with the Agile Product Creative Growth Method's focus on adaptive planning and responding to real-time needs.
5. Just-in-Time (JIT) Production:
JIT production, a concept from "The Toyota Way," involves producing only what is needed, when it is needed. Similarly, the Agile Product Creative Growth Method emphasizes delivering features or improvements just in time to meet market demands. This minimizes unnecessary work and allows teams to respond quickly to changing customer requirements.
6. Standardized Work and Processes:
"The Toyota Way" highlights the importance of standardized work to ensure consistency and quality. In the context of the Agile Product Creative Growth Method, standardization can be applied to certain processes, such as development workflows, while still allowing flexibility for adaptation. This helps maintain a balance between consistency and agility.
7. Gemba (Go and See):
The concept of Gemba involves going to the source to understand the actual work. This aligns with Agile principles that emphasize direct communication and collaboration. The Agile Product Creative Growth Method benefits from a "Gemba" mindset, encouraging teams to be close to the market, customers, and the real work to better understand and respond to needs.
8. Cross-Functional Teams:
"The Toyota Way" promotes the use of cross-functional teams to enhance collaboration and problem-solving. Similarly, the Agile Product Creative Growth Method involves a variety of roles working together, including marketing, brand, design, engineering, and more. This cross-functional collaboration ensures a holistic approach to product development and growth.
In summary, "The Toyota Way" supports the Agile Product Creative Growth Method by providing principles and practices that emphasize continuous improvement, respect for people, efficiency, and adaptability. By integrating lean and Agile principles, teams can create a culture of innovation and customer-centricity while achieving operational excellence (Liker, 2004).
Failing Forward
"Failing Forward" by John C. Maxwell is a book that explores the concept of turning failures into stepping stones for success. While the book does not specifically focus on Agile methodologies, the principles discussed in "Failing Forward" can be relevant and supportive of the Agile Product Creative Growth Method in several ways:
1. Embracing a Culture of Learning:
"Failing Forward" encourages individuals and teams to embrace failures as opportunities for learning and growth. In the Agile Product Creative Growth Method, fostering a culture of continuous learning is essential. Teams are encouraged to experiment, iterate, and learn from both successes and failures to improve their processes and outcomes.
2. Iterative Development and Adaptability:
Agile methodologies, including the Agile Product Creative Growth Method, are built on the principles of iterative development and adaptability. "Failing Forward" aligns with this by emphasizing the importance of not only learning from failures but also using those lessons to make informed adjustments and improvements in subsequent iterations.
3. Risk-Taking and Innovation:
Maxwell's book encourages taking risks and embracing failure as a natural part of the innovation process. The Agile Product Creative Growth Method values innovation and encourages teams to take calculated risks in developing and launching products. The ability to fail forward aligns with the spirit of experimentation and innovation in Agile.
4. Resilience and Persistence:
The book emphasizes the importance of resilience and persistence in the face of failures. In the Agile Product Creative Growth Method, teams may encounter challenges and setbacks, but a resilient mindset, as advocated in "Failing Forward," helps teams bounce back, adapt, and continue working towards their goals.
5. Individual and Team Development:
"Failing Forward" discusses how failures can contribute to personal and professional development. Similarly, in the Agile Product Creative Growth Method, individual and team development is a key focus. Learning from failures contributes to the growth of team members and the overall improvement of the team's performance.
6. Feedback and Continuous Improvement:
Agile methodologies place a strong emphasis on feedback loops and continuous improvement. "Failing Forward" complements this by encouraging individuals and teams to seek feedback from failures and use it as a catalyst for improvement. The cycle of feedback and improvement aligns with Agile's commitment to delivering better outcomes over time.
7. Cultivating a Growth Mindset:
Maxwell promotes the idea of cultivating a growth mindset, which is the belief that abilities and intelligence can be developed through dedication and hard work. This mindset resonates with the Agile Product Creative Growth Method, where teams are encouraged to embrace challenges, learn from failures, and continuously grow and improve (Maxwell, 2000).
8. Encouraging Open Communication:
The book underscores the importance of open communication about failures. In the Agile Product Creative Growth Method, transparent communication within teams and with stakeholders is crucial. Openly discussing failures promotes a culture of trust and collaboration, enabling teams to learn from one another and collectively move forward.
In summary, "Failing Forward" supports the Agile Product Creative Growth Method by promoting a positive attitude toward failures, fostering a culture of learning, encouraging resilience, and emphasizing the importance of feedback and continuous improvement. Integrating the principles from the book can contribute to the mindset and practices necessary for the successful implementation of Agile methodologies in a creative and growth-oriented context.
Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us
“Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us" by Daniel H. Pink can support the Agile Product Creative Growth Method in several ways, particularly by aligning with Agile principles and emphasizing factors that contribute to a motivated and creative work environment. Here are some key points from "Drive" that align with the Agile Product Creative Growth Method:
1. Intrinsic Motivation:
Pink emphasizes the importance of intrinsic motivation—motivation that comes from within oneself—as a key driver of high performance. In the Agile Product Creative Growth Method, fostering intrinsic motivation is crucial. Teams are encouraged to be self-motivated and find purpose and satisfaction in their work, aligning with Agile principles that value motivated individuals.
2. Autonomy:
Autonomy is a core element in Pink's framework. The Agile Product Creative Growth Method promotes self-organizing teams that have the autonomy to make decisions and manage their work. This autonomy allows teams to respond more dynamically to challenges, innovate, and take ownership of their projects.
3. Mastery:
Pink argues that the desire for mastery—the urge to get better at something—is a significant motivator. The Agile Product Creative Growth Method aligns with this by encouraging continuous learning and improvement. Teams have opportunities to master their craft, explore new skills, and adapt to emerging challenges, fostering a culture of growth.
4. Purpose:
Pink discusses the importance of purpose as a motivator. Agile methodologies, including the Agile Product Creative Growth Method, emphasize delivering value to customers and fulfilling a larger purpose. Teams working with a sense of purpose tend to be more engaged and committed to achieving meaningful outcomes.
5. Creativity and Innovation:
Pink's framework suggests that intrinsic motivation leads to higher levels of creativity. The Agile Product Creative Growth Method, which involves iterative development, experimentation, and a focus on innovation, benefits from a workforce that is intrinsically motivated to contribute creatively to the development process.
6. Adaptability:
Both "Drive" and the Agile Product Creative Growth Method recognize the importance of adaptability. Intrinsic motivation and autonomy contribute to a more adaptable and resilient team that can respond effectively to change and challenges, a core tenet of Agile methodologies.
7. Results-Oriented Focus:
Pink's emphasis on results aligns with the Agile Product Creative Growth Method's focus on delivering tangible outcomes. By encouraging intrinsic motivation and autonomy, teams are more likely to be results-oriented, concentrating on achieving goals and providing value to both the organization and its customers.
In summary, "Drive" supports the Agile Product Creative Growth Method by reinforcing the importance of intrinsic motivation, autonomy, mastery, and purpose in fostering a motivated, innovative, and results-oriented team. The principles outlined in "Drive" can be applied to create a work environment conducive to Agile methodologies and the pursuit of creative growth (Pink, 2009).
Mindset: The New Psychology of Success
Carol Dweck's book, "Mindset: The New Psychology of Success," supports the Agile Product Creative Growth (APCG) method in several ways by providing insights into fostering a growth mindset, promoting continuous learning, and encouraging resilience. Here's how Dweck's work aligns with the principles of APCG:
1. Fostering a Growth Mindset:
- Dweck's Contribution: Dweck introduces the concept of a growth mindset, where individuals believe that their abilities and intelligence can be developed through dedication and hard work.
- APCG Alignment: A growth mindset is essential in the APCG method, as it encourages individuals and teams to embrace challenges, learn from failures, and continually improve their creative and problem-solving skills.
2. Embracing Challenges:
- Dweck's Contribution: A growth mindset encourages individuals to see challenges as opportunities for growth and learning.
- APCG Alignment: APCG promotes a culture where creative challenges are viewed as chances for innovation and improvement. Teams are encouraged to tackle difficulties collaboratively and find creative solutions.
3. Learning from Setbacks:
- Dweck's Contribution: Individuals with a growth mindset see setbacks as part of the learning process and an opportunity to refine their strategies.
- APCG Alignment: APCG values the lessons learned from setbacks in creative endeavors. Teams are encouraged to reflect on failures, iterate on solutions, and continuously improve their processes.
4. Adaptability and Resilience:
- Dweck's Contribution: A growth mindset fosters adaptability and resilience in the face of challenges.
- APCG Alignment: APCG values adaptability, encouraging teams to adapt to changing market conditions, customer feedback, and evolving creative requirements. Resilience is crucial in navigating uncertainties in creative and business endeavors.
5. Promoting a Love for Learning:
- Dweck's Contribution: Individuals with a growth mindset have a passion for learning and improving.
- APCG Alignment: APCG encourages a love for learning and continuous skill development. Teams are empowered to seek out new knowledge, experiment with creative approaches, and stay abreast of industry advancements.
6. Encouraging Collaboration and Feedback:
- Dweck's Contribution: A growth mindset promotes collaboration and seeks feedback as a means of improvement.
- APCG Alignment: APCG places a high value on cross-functional collaboration, where teams work together to share ideas and receive constructive feedback. This collaborative environment supports the growth of individuals and the collective creativity of the team.
7. Focus on Effort and Process:
- Dweck's Contribution: A growth mindset emphasizes the importance of effort and the learning process.
- APCG Alignment: APCG values the creative process and the effort invested in developing innovative solutions. It acknowledges that creativity often involves iterations, experimentation, and a commitment to continuous improvement.
8. Leadership Development:
- Dweck's Contribution: Dweck's work has implications for leadership development, as leaders with a growth mindset are more likely to foster a positive, innovative culture.
- APCG Alignment: APCG benefits from leaders who embrace a growth mindset, as they are more likely to support and inspire teams in their creative pursuits, creating an environment where individuals feel empowered to contribute their best ideas.
By embracing the principles of a growth mindset as outlined by Carol Dweck, the Agile Product Creative Growth method cultivates an environment that values learning, collaboration, adaptability, and resilience—all essential elements for fostering continuous improvement and creative growth (Dweck, 2006).
The Servant as Leader
Robert K. Greenleaf's essay "The Servant as Leader" introduces the concept of servant leadership, emphasizing the leader's role in serving the needs of their team members. While this concept was not originally designed for Agile methodologies, the principles of servant leadership align well with the values and practices of the Agile Product Creative Growth Method. Here's how "The Servant as Leader" supports the Agile Product Creative Growth Method:
1. Servant Leadership and Agile Values:
Greenleaf's concept of servant leadership emphasizes values such as empathy, listening, and a commitment to the growth and well-being of team members. These values align with the Agile principles of individuals and interactions, customer collaboration, and responding to change over following a plan.
2. Collaborative Decision-Making:
Servant leadership encourages collaborative decision-making. In the Agile Product Creative Growth Method, where cross-functional teams collaborate on various aspects of product development and growth, a servant leader's approach facilitates open communication, shared decision-making, and collective ownership of goals.
3. Focus on People:
The servant leadership philosophy places a strong emphasis on valuing and developing individuals. In the Agile Product Creative Growth Method, recognizing and nurturing the potential of each team member is crucial for fostering a collaborative and innovative environment. It aligns with Agile's principle of motivated individuals and creating an environment where they can excel.
4. Removal of Obstacles:
Servant leaders are tasked with removing obstacles and providing the support necessary for their team's success. In the Agile Product Creative Growth Method, leaders who adopt a servant mindset help eliminate impediments that hinder the team's progress. This is essential for maintaining a smooth and efficient development and growth process.
5. Facilitation of Collaboration:
Servant leaders act as facilitators for collaboration, encouraging communication and cooperation among team members. This aligns with Agile methodologies that promote face-to-face communication, regular collaboration, and the use of cross-functional teams to achieve shared goals.
6. Adaptability and Learning:
Greenleaf's concept of servant leadership emphasizes learning and adaptation. In the Agile Product Creative Growth Method, a servant leader supports a culture of continuous improvement and learning from experiences. This aligns with Agile's principles of inspecting and adapting, ensuring that teams can evolve and respond to changing circumstances.
7. Trust and Empowerment:
Servant leadership fosters trust and empowerment by providing individuals with the autonomy to make decisions. In the Agile Product Creative Growth Method, trusting teams to self-organize and empowering them to make decisions enhances creativity and agility in responding to market needs.
8. Customer-Centric Approach:
A servant leader, in the context of the Agile Product Creative Growth Method, extends their service-oriented mindset to customers as well. By focusing on the needs of customers and aligning the team's efforts with delivering value to them, servant leaders contribute to a customer-centric approach in product development and growth.
In summary, "The Servant as Leader" supports the Agile Product Creative Growth Method by promoting values such as collaboration, empathy, adaptability, and a focus on individuals and their growth. The servant leadership philosophy complements the Agile principles and contributes to creating a positive, collaborative, and innovative work environment conducive to the successful implementation of the Agile Product Creative Growth Method (Greenleaf, 2008).
Kaizen
While there isn't a single "most popular" Kaizen book, several books are widely recognized and considered influential in the field of Kaizen, which is the Japanese philosophy of continuous improvement. One notable and widely acclaimed book on Kaizen is:
"Kaizen: The Key to Japan's Competitive Success" by Masaaki Imai:
- Masaaki Imai is a renowned authority on Kaizen, and this book provides a comprehensive overview of the principles and practices of Kaizen. It explores how Kaizen contributes to Japan's competitive success and offers practical insights for implementing continuous improvement in various organizational settings.
Other notable books on Kaizen include:
1. "Gemba Kaizen: A Commonsense Approach to a Continuous Improvement Strategy" by Masaaki Imai:
- This book delves into the concept of Gemba, which refers to the actual place where work is done. It emphasizes the importance of continuous improvement at the workplace and offers practical strategies for implementing Kaizen.
2. "The Toyota Way: 14 Management Principles from the World's Greatest Manufacturer" by Jeffrey K. Liker:
- While not solely focused on Kaizen, this book explores the management principles of Toyota, which include a strong emphasis on continuous improvement. It provides insights into how Toyota incorporates Kaizen into its organizational culture.
3. "Kaizen in Logistics and Supply Chains" by Euclides Coimbra:
- This book specifically focuses on applying Kaizen principles to logistics and supply chain management. It offers practical guidance on improving efficiency and reducing waste in these areas.
4. "One Small Step Can Change Your Life: The Kaizen Way" by Robert Maurer:
- While not a traditional Kaizen book, this work by Robert Maurer introduces Kaizen principles in the context of personal development and habit formation. It provides insights into making small, incremental changes for lasting improvements.
Kaizen, the Japanese philosophy of continuous improvement, shares several principles and practices that align with the Agile Product Creative Growth (APCG) method. Here are ways in which Kaizen can support and complement the APCG approach:
1. Continuous Improvement:
- Kaizen: Emphasizes the continuous pursuit of improvement in all aspects of work.
- APCG: Prioritizes continuous improvement in creative processes, product development, and overall organizational performance.
2. Iterative and Incremental Progress:
- Kaizen: Encourages small, incremental changes over time.
- APCG: Aligns with iterative and incremental development, allowing for continuous enhancement of creative outputs and products.
3. Customer-Centric Focus:
- Kaizen: Promotes a focus on customer needs and satisfaction.
- APCG: Prioritizes customer-centric approaches in creative and product development to meet user requirements and expectations.
4. Empowerment of Teams:
- Kaizen: Involves and empowers all employees to contribute to improvement efforts.
- APCG: Encourages cross-functional collaboration and empowers teams to drive creative and innovative solutions.
5. Waste Reduction:
- Kaizen: Aims to eliminate waste and inefficiencies in processes.
- APCG: Aligns with the Lean concept of reducing waste in creative workflows and development processes.
6. Problem-Solving Culture:
- Kaizen: Encourages a culture where problems are opportunities for improvement.
- APCG: Fosters a problem-solving culture where challenges in creative processes are seen as opportunities for growth and innovation.
7. Employee Engagement:
- Kaizen: Involves employees at all levels in identifying and implementing improvements.
- APCG: Encourages active participation and engagement from all team members in creative processes.
8. Adaptability and Flexibility:
- Kaizen: Embraces adaptability to change and continuous learning.
- APCG: Values adaptability and flexibility in responding to market changes, customer feedback, and evolving creative requirements.
9. Data-Driven Decision Making:
- Kaizen: Emphasizes the use of data and metrics for informed decision-making.
- APCG: Utilizes data-driven insights to guide creative strategies, measure outcomes, and inform decision-making.
10. Collaboration Across Departments:
- Kaizen: Encourages collaboration across different departments.
- APCG: Promotes collaboration among diverse roles such as marketing, design, engineering, and product management to achieve creative growth.
11. Leadership Support:
- Kaizen: Requires leadership support and commitment to fostering a culture of improvement.
- APCG: Thrives in an environment where leadership supports and champions creative initiatives and continuous growth.
12. Learning and Development:
- Kaizen: Involves ongoing training and development to enhance skills.
- APCG: Values continuous learning and development to enhance creative skills and keep pace with industry advancements.
By incorporating Kaizen principles into the Agile Product Creative Growth method, organizations can create a culture of continuous improvement, foster collaboration, and adapt to changing market conditions while promoting creativity and innovation in their processes and outcomes.
Scrum
"Scrum: The Art of Doing Twice the Work in Half the Time" by Jeff Sutherland provides valuable insights into the Scrum framework and its principles, which can be aligned with the Agile Product Creative Growth (APCG) method. Here's how the book supports the APCG method:
1. Emphasis on Creativity and Innovation:
- Connection to APCG: The Agile Product Creative Growth method emphasizes creativity and innovation. Jeff Sutherland's book highlights the power of Scrum in fostering creativity by providing a framework that allows teams to respond to change, experiment, and continuously improve.
2. Focus on Value Delivery:
- Connection to APCG: Both Scrum and the APCG method prioritize the delivery of value to customers. Sutherland's book emphasizes the importance of delivering increments of value at the end of each sprint, aligning with the APCG's customer-centric approach.
3. Iterative and Incremental Development:
- Connection to APCG: Scrum's iterative and incremental development aligns with the APCG method's focus on continuous improvement and learning. The book underscores the value of small, iterative cycles that allow for adaptability and quick responses to changing requirements.
4. Empowerment of Self-Organizing Teams:
- Connection to APCG: The APCG method encourages self-organizing teams. Sutherland's book advocates for the empowerment of teams to make decisions and manage their work, fostering a culture of autonomy and accountability—values integral to the APCG approach.
5. Cross-Functional Collaboration:
- Connection to APCG: Scrum promotes cross-functional collaboration among team members, breaking down silos and encouraging open communication. This aligns with the APCG method's emphasis on collaboration across various roles, such as marketing, design, and engineering.
6. Continuous Improvement and Kaizen:
- Connection to APCG: Both Scrum and the APCG method embrace the principles of continuous improvement and Kaizen. Sutherland's book emphasizes the importance of retrospectives for reflecting on the team's performance and finding ways to enhance efficiency and effectiveness.
7. Customer Feedback and Adaptability:
- Connection to APCG: The APCG method values customer feedback and adaptability. Scrum, as detailed in Sutherland's book, encourages regular customer feedback through sprint reviews, allowing teams to adapt and refine their work based on real-time information.
8. Focus on Quality:
- Connection to APCG: Quality is a shared value between Scrum and the APCG method. Sutherland's book underscores the importance of maintaining high standards of quality in product development, aligning with the APCG's commitment to delivering quality outcomes.
9. Lean and Agile Principles:
- Connection to APCG: Sutherland's book draws on lean and agile principles to optimize productivity. The APCG method, influenced by agile principles, resonates with the lean and agile mindset of doing more with less and maximizing value.
10. Time-Boxed Iterations and Fixed Sprints:
- Connection to APCG: Scrum's time-boxed iterations and fixed sprints align with the APCG method's structured approach to managing work. The book provides insights into the benefits of time-boxing and how it contributes to disciplined and focused efforts.
11. Alignment with Agile Values:
- Connection to APCG: The Agile Product Creative Growth method aligns with the core values of the Agile Manifesto. Sutherland's book reinforces these values, emphasizing individuals and interactions, working solutions, and responding to change—values that support the APCG approach.
In summary, "Scrum" by Jeff Sutherland provides a foundational understanding of Scrum principles that can be integrated into the Agile Product Creative Growth method. The book's emphasis on creativity, adaptability, continuous improvement, and customer value aligns well with the APCG method's objectives and values.
Kanban
One of the most popular and influential books on Kanban is "Kanban: Successful Evolutionary Change for Your Technology Business" by David J. Anderson. This book, first published in 2010, provides a comprehensive guide to implementing and applying Kanban principles in technology and knowledge work environments.
In "Kanban," David J. Anderson introduces the Kanban Method as an evolutionary approach to change management. The book covers the core principles of Kanban, such as visualizing work, limiting work in progress, and enhancing flow. It also explores how Kanban can be applied in various organizational contexts to improve efficiency, flexibility, and collaboration.
The popularity of "Kanban: Successful Evolutionary Change for Your Technology Business" is attributed to its practical insights, case studies, and clear explanations of Kanban principles. It has been widely recognized as a valuable resource for both beginners and experienced practitioners looking to implement Kanban in their organizations.
It's worth noting that the field of Kanban has evolved, and there may be other notable books and resources published since then. If you are interested in exploring more recent works, consider looking for books by thought leaders in the Kanban community or publications that specifically address Kanban in the context of your industry or domain.
Scaled Agile with Nexus
The Nexus framework is a scaling framework for Scrum, designed to help organizations scale Agile and Scrum principles to deliver larger and more complex software solutions. While the Nexus framework is specific to scaling Scrum, it can be integrated with the Agile Product Creative Growth method, especially in environments where Agile practices are prevalent. Here's how the Nexus framework can support the Agile Product Creative Growth method:
1. Scalability of Scrum:
Nexus is built on top of the Scrum framework, providing additional guidance for scaling Scrum to large product development efforts. As the Agile Product Creative Growth method embraces Agile principles, the Nexus framework's scalability can be beneficial for handling larger initiatives and ensuring that Agile practices are consistent across multiple teams.
2. Cross-Team Collaboration:
Nexus emphasizes cross-team collaboration, with the integration team ensuring that work from multiple Scrum teams comes together successfully. This aligns with the collaborative nature of the Agile Product Creative Growth method, which involves various roles (marketing, design, engineering, etc.) working together to achieve creative and growth goals.
3. Integrated Increment Delivery:
Nexus focuses on delivering an integrated increment regularly, combining work from multiple teams. This aligns with the iterative and adaptive nature of the Agile Product Creative Growth method, where continuous delivery and integration contribute to the overall creative and growth objectives.
4. Sprint Planning and Review:
Nexus includes Nexus Sprint Planning and Nexus Sprint Review events to facilitate coordination among multiple teams. This supports the Agile Product Creative Growth method by ensuring that planning and review processes are synchronized across teams, enhancing collaboration and alignment toward common goals.
5. Scrum of Scrums:
Nexus incorporates the concept of a "Scrum of Scrums," a meeting where representatives from each Scrum team discuss dependencies and integration issues. This aligns with the cross-functional collaboration encouraged by the Agile Product Creative Growth method, facilitating communication among different functional areas.
6. Dependency Management:
Nexus provides tools for managing dependencies among teams, helping to identify and address potential bottlenecks. In the context of the Agile Product Creative Growth method, effective dependency management is crucial when various roles, such as marketing, design, and engineering, need to collaborate seamlessly.
7. Inspect and Adapt:
Nexus follows the Scrum framework's inspect-and-adapt cycle. This aligns with the Agile Product Creative Growth method's emphasis on continuous learning and improvement. Regular retrospectives and adjustments based on feedback contribute to the overall effectiveness of both approaches.
While Nexus primarily addresses scaling challenges within the Scrum framework, its principles can complement the Agile Product Creative Growth method by providing a scalable structure for Agile practices. The integration of Nexus with the broader Agile Product Creative Growth approach helps organizations scale their Agile initiatives while maintaining a focus on creativity and growth across various functional areas.
Scaled Agile with SAFe
The Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe) and the Agile Product Creative Growth Method share common principles such as agility, collaboration, and a focus on delivering value to customers. While SAFe is specifically designed for scaling Agile practices in large organizations, the Agile Product Creative Growth Method is a broader approach that integrates Agile with creative and growth-oriented strategies. Here's how SAFe can support the Agile Product Creative Growth Method:
1. Scaling Agile Principles:
SAFe provides a structured framework for scaling Agile principles across large organizations. It offers guidance on organizing Agile teams, defining roles, and coordinating work. This scalability aligns with the Agile Product Creative Growth Method, allowing organizations to implement Agile practices at both the team and enterprise levels.
2. Cross-Functional Collaboration:
SAFe promotes cross-functional collaboration, ensuring that teams with diverse skills work together seamlessly. This collaboration aligns with the Agile Product Creative Growth Method, which involves various roles such as marketing, design, engineering, and more collaborating to achieve creative and growth objectives.
3. Product and Program Increment Planning:
SAFe introduces concepts like Program Increment (PI) Planning, which aligns teams and stakeholders around a common set of objectives. This planning approach facilitates the alignment of creative and growth strategies across different functions, supporting the Agile Product Creative Growth Method's holistic approach.
4. Value Stream Mapping:
SAFe emphasizes the importance of understanding and optimizing value streams. This aligns with the Agile Product Creative Growth Method's focus on delivering value to customers and achieving growth. By mapping and optimizing value streams, organizations can identify areas for improvement and innovation.
5. Continuous Delivery and Integration:
SAFe encourages continuous delivery and integration, ensuring that valuable features are delivered to customers frequently. This aligns with the Agile Product Creative Growth Method's iterative and adaptive approach, allowing organizations to respond quickly to changing market conditions.
6. Customer-Centric Focus:
Both SAFe and the Agile Product Creative Growth Method have a strong customer-centric focus. SAFe incorporates customer feedback through regular inspect-and-adapt cycles, and the Agile Product Creative Growth Method integrates Jobs-to-be-Done theory and customer feedback loops to drive product development.
7. Lean-Agile Mindset:
SAFe promotes a Lean-Agile mindset, emphasizing principles from Lean thinking. The Agile Product Creative Growth Method, with its focus on creativity and growth, can benefit from the Lean principles embedded in SAFe, such as minimizing waste, optimizing flow, and fostering a culture of continuous improvement.
8. Adaptability and Innovation:
SAFe's principles of Lean and Agile thinking support adaptability and innovation. By embracing these principles, organizations can create an environment that aligns with the Agile Product Creative Growth Method, allowing teams to experiment, learn, and adapt in pursuit of creative and growth goals.
It's important to note that while SAFe provides a structured framework for scaling Agile practices, the Agile Product Creative Growth Method is a broader approach that extends beyond software development to incorporate creative and growth strategies. Organizations can benefit by combining the principles and practices from both approaches to create a holistic and adaptive framework that aligns with their specific goals and context.
The Build Trap
"Escaping the Build Trap: How Effective Product Management Creates Real Value" by Melissa Perri offers insights that can support the principles of the Agile Product Creative Growth Method. Its themes align with key principles of Agile methodologies and creative growth. Here's how the concepts from "Escaping the Build Trap" supports the Agile Product Creative Growth Method:
1. Customer-Centric Focus:
The Agile Product Creative Growth Method emphasizes a customer-centric approach, and "Escaping the Build Trap" aligns with this by stressing the importance of understanding and delivering real value to customers. Both approaches recognize the need to prioritize customer needs and preferences in product development.
2. Continuous Learning and Adaptation:
Both the book and the Agile Product Creative Growth Method promote a culture of continuous learning. "Escaping the Build Trap" encourages organizations to learn from customer feedback, data, and outcomes, aligning with Agile's principles of inspection and adaptation.
3. Balancing Innovation and Execution:
The Agile Product Creative Growth Method involves balancing innovation with execution, and "Escaping the Build Trap" echoes this sentiment. The book emphasizes the importance of strategic thinking, ensuring that product development efforts align with broader business goals and growth objectives.
4. Cross-Functional Collaboration:
Collaboration across cross-functional teams is crucial in both the Agile Product Creative Growth Method and "Escaping the Build Trap." The book underscores the need for effective collaboration between product management, design, engineering, and other stakeholders to ensure successful product development.
5. Metrics-Driven Approach:
"Escaping the Build Trap" advocates for a metrics-driven approach to product management, aligning with the Agile Product Creative Growth Method's emphasis on data-driven decision-making. Both approaches encourage organizations to define and track key metrics that measure success and inform future strategies.
6. Avoiding Feature-Centric Approaches:
The Agile Product Creative Growth Method seeks to avoid the pitfall of focusing solely on building features without a clear understanding of their value. "Escaping the Build Trap" directly addresses this issue by encouraging organizations to shift from a feature-centric mindset to a value-centric approach.
7. Flexibility and Adaptability:
Both the book and the Agile Product Creative Growth Method value flexibility and adaptability. The Agile Product Creative Growth Method's iterative and adaptive approach aligns with the principles in "Escaping the Build Trap" by emphasizing the importance of being responsive to changing market conditions and customer needs.
8. Focus on Real Business Outcomes:
"Escaping the Build Trap" stresses the importance of achieving real business outcomes, and the Agile Product Creative Growth Method is centered on achieving growth goals. Both approaches move beyond simply building products to ensuring that those products contribute meaningfully to the overall success of the organization.
In summary, while "Escaping the Build Trap" may not explicitly reference the Agile Product Creative Growth Method, its principles and recommendations align with the broader Agile values and support a creative and growth-oriented approach to product development. The emphasis on customer value, continuous learning, collaboration, and strategic thinking resonates with the principles of the Agile Product Creative Growth Method.
Thinking about it all together - the roles of individuals
People complete tasks at companies and the outcome of these tasks in most cases must still need to be done. However, the way we do it has the opportunity to change. Knowing that we need the following minimum 2 layers of President and Development Team, even the President can be on the Development Team.
So if you realize that only two layers are required to develop software, really all other roles can be included as needed by your unique organization:
Agile Coaches
Scrum Master
Product Owner
Product Manager
Brand Management
C-Suite Leaders
Data Teams
Designers
Employee Managers
Engineering Teams
Finance Teams
Marketing Teams
Legal Teams
Project Manager
Program Manager
Strategy Teams
QA Testing Teams
What I’ve seen helps companies do this with the least friction and continued production, starting with a few folks that know the roles and bring your organization into the fold like baking bread.
When training on the foundational readings, the company will see what works for them and they can sustainably want to include and what things they want to try next. Once you find your rhythm, you will have your secret sauce for that time, but be ready to keep evaluating what is working because time changes the flow of work and real people take vacations, and companies reorganize and have ramp up times.
So many variables warrant us to start this change from where we are and continuously improve it; knowing at our core, we don’t believe in the Perfect Principle, in fact, we know of the opposite being the key ingredient to inspiring innovation.
Example Formations based on Case Studies
Case Study with 5 layers (typical)
President
C-Suite
Product, Strategy, Software & Hardware Engineering
Development Team Leadership
Development Team
This organizational structure can support the Agile Product Creative Growth (APCG) method in several ways:
1. Clear Leadership and Accountability:
- The President and C-Suite provide clear leadership and set the overall vision and strategic direction. This clarity ensures that there is accountability for organizational goals, aligning with APCG's emphasis on leadership and strategic alignment.
2. Cross-Functional Collaboration:
- The inclusion of Product, Strategy, Software & Hardware Engineering reflects a cross-functional approach. APCG encourages collaboration across disciplines, ensuring that these key functions work together seamlessly to achieve common objectives.
3. Strategic Alignment:
- The Product and Strategy roles in the structure indicate a focus on aligning creative efforts with broader business strategies. APCG emphasizes the importance of understanding and aligning creative processes with strategic goals, ensuring that creativity is purposeful.
4. Holistic Development Approach:
- Software & Hardware Engineering roles suggest a holistic approach to product development. APCG promotes collaboration between engineering and other functions, ensuring that development is not siloed and is aligned with overall creative objectives.
5. Leadership Support for Growth Mindset:
- Development Team Leadership plays a crucial role in fostering a growth mindset within the teams. APCG aligns with this by emphasizing continuous learning and viewing setbacks as opportunities for improvement.
6. Empowerment of Development Teams:
- Placing the Development Team at the core of the structure highlights their importance. APCG values empowered and self-managing teams, encouraging them to take ownership of their creative processes and contribute meaningfully to the organization's goals.
7. Customer-Centric Focus:
- APCG's emphasis on customer-centricity is supported by the inclusion of Product and Strategy roles. This ensures that creative efforts are guided by an understanding of customer needs, aligning with the customer-focused principles of APCG.
8. Agile and Iterative Development:
- The structure supports APCG's agile and iterative development approach. The inclusion of Development Team Leadership implies a focus on facilitating agile processes, adapting to change, and promoting continuous improvement within the development teams.
9. Servant Leadership Principles:
- The organizational structure allows for the implementation of servant leadership principles. Leaders at different levels, including the President and Development Team Leadership, can adopt a servant leadership mindset, supporting the growth and success of their teams.
10. Continuous Improvement Culture:
- APCG encourages a culture of continuous improvement. The structure supports this by providing clear lines of communication and accountability, allowing for feedback loops, and fostering an environment where teams can reflect on their processes and make iterative enhancements.
In summary, the outlined organizational structure aligns well with the principles of the Agile Product Creative Growth method. It promotes collaboration, strategic alignment, customer-centricity, and a culture of continuous improvement, all of which are key elements of the APCG approach.
Case Study with 5 layers (bigger)
President
C-Suite
Product, Project, Strategy, Program & Engineering
Development Team Leadership
Development Team
The organizational structure you've outlined, with a President at the top followed by the C-Suite, including roles such as Product, Project, Strategy, Program & Engineering, along with Development Team Leadership and Development Team, can support the Agile Product Creative Growth (APCG) method in several ways:
1. Clear Leadership and Strategic Alignment:
- The President and C-Suite provide clear leadership and set the strategic direction for the organization. APCG emphasizes strategic alignment, and this structure ensures that creative efforts are guided by overarching business goals.
2. Cross-Functional Collaboration:
- The inclusion of roles like Product, Project, Strategy, Program & Engineering signifies a cross-functional approach. APCG values collaboration across disciplines, fostering an environment where different functions work seamlessly together to achieve shared objectives.
3. Holistic Development Approach:
- The presence of roles related to Product, Project, and Engineering suggests a holistic approach to product development. APCG encourages collaboration between different facets of development, ensuring that creative processes are integrated and aligned.
4. Leadership Support for Growth Mindset:
- Development Team Leadership plays a crucial role in fostering a growth mindset within the teams. APCG aligns with this by emphasizing continuous learning and viewing setbacks as opportunities for improvement.
5. Empowerment of Development Teams:
- Placing the Development Team at the core of the structure highlights their importance. APCG values empowered and self-managing teams, encouraging them to take ownership of their creative processes and contribute meaningfully to the organization's goals.
6. Customer-Centric Focus:
- The inclusion of Product and Strategy roles indicates a focus on understanding and meeting customer needs. APCG places a strong emphasis on customer-centricity, ensuring that creative efforts are aligned with delivering value to customers.
7. Agile and Iterative Development:
- The structure supports APCG's agile and iterative development approach. Development Team Leadership is well-positioned to facilitate agile processes, adapt to change, and promote continuous improvement within the development teams.
8. Program Management for Coordination:
- The presence of Program Management in the C-Suite implies a focus on coordination and alignment of various programs. APCG, with its emphasis on collaboration and holistic development, benefits from effective program management to ensure synchronized efforts.
9. Servant Leadership Principles:
- The organizational structure allows for the implementation of servant leadership principles. Leaders at different levels, including the President and Development Team Leadership, can adopt a servant leadership mindset, supporting the growth and success of their teams.
10. Continuous Improvement Culture:
- APCG encourages a culture of continuous improvement. The structure supports this by providing clear lines of communication and accountability, allowing for feedback loops, and fostering an environment where teams can reflect on their processes and make iterative enhancements.
In summary, the outlined organizational structure aligns well with the principles of the Agile Product Creative Growth method. It promotes collaboration, strategic alignment, customer-centricity, and a culture of continuous improvement, all of which are key elements of the APCG approach.
Case Study with 5 layers (leaner)
President
C-Suite
Product, Project, Strategy, Program & Engineering
Development Team Leadership
Development Team
The organizational structure you've outlined, with a President at the top followed by the C-Suite, including roles such as Product, Project, Strategy, Program & Engineering, along with Development Team Leadership and Development Team, can effectively support the Agile Product Creative Growth (APCG) method in the following ways:
1. Clear Leadership and Strategic Alignment:
- The President and C-Suite provide clear leadership, setting the strategic direction for the organization. APCG emphasizes strategic alignment, ensuring that creative efforts are guided by overarching business goals and priorities set by leadership.
2. Cross-Functional Collaboration:
- The inclusion of roles like Product, Project, Strategy, Program & Engineering promotes cross-functional collaboration. APCG values collaboration across disciplines, fostering an environment where different functions work seamlessly together to achieve shared objectives.
3. Holistic Development Approach:
- The presence of roles related to Product, Project, and Engineering suggests a holistic approach to product development. APCG encourages collaboration between different facets of development, ensuring that creative processes are integrated and aligned.
4. Leadership Support for Growth Mindset:
- Development Team Leadership plays a crucial role in fostering a growth mindset within the teams. APCG aligns with this by emphasizing continuous learning and viewing setbacks as opportunities for improvement.
5. Empowerment of Development Teams:
- Placing the Development Team at the core of the structure highlights their importance. APCG values empowered and self-managing teams, encouraging them to take ownership of their creative processes and contribute meaningfully to the organization's goals.
6. Customer-Centric Focus:
- The inclusion of Product and Strategy roles indicates a focus on understanding and meeting customer needs. APCG places a strong emphasis on customer-centricity, ensuring that creative efforts are aligned with delivering value to customers.
7. Agile and Iterative Development:
- The structure supports APCG's agile and iterative development approach. Development Team Leadership is well-positioned to facilitate agile processes, adapt to change, and promote continuous improvement within the development teams.
8. Program Management for Coordination:
- The presence of Program Management in the C-Suite implies a focus on coordination and alignment of various programs. APCG, with its emphasis on collaboration and holistic development, benefits from effective program management to ensure synchronized efforts.
9. Servant Leadership Principles:
- The organizational structure allows for the implementation of servant leadership principles. Leaders at different levels, including the President and Development Team Leadership, can adopt a servant leadership mindset, supporting the growth and success of their teams.
10. Continuous Improvement Culture:
- APCG encourages a culture of continuous improvement. The structure supports this by providing clear lines of communication and accountability, allowing for feedback loops, and fostering an environment where teams can reflect on their processes and make iterative enhancements.
In summary, the outlined organizational structure aligns well with the principles of the Agile Product Creative Growth method. It promotes collaboration, strategic alignment, customer-centricity, and a culture of continuous improvement, all of which are key elements of the APCG approach.
Case Study with 4 layers (best)
President & C-Suite
Product, Strategy, Engineering
Development Team Leadership
Development Team
This organizational structure can effectively support the Agile Product Creative Growth (APCG) method in the following ways:
1. Clear Leadership and Strategic Alignment:
- The President & C-Suite provide clear leadership and set the strategic direction for the organization. APCG emphasizes strategic alignment, ensuring that creative efforts are guided by overarching business goals and priorities set by leadership.
2. Cross-Functional Collaboration:
- The inclusion of roles like Product, Strategy, and Engineering promotes cross-functional collaboration. APCG values collaboration across disciplines, fostering an environment where different functions work seamlessly together to achieve shared objectives.
3. Holistic Development Approach:
- The presence of roles related to Product, Strategy, and Engineering suggests a holistic approach to product development. APCG encourages collaboration between different facets of development, ensuring that creative processes are integrated and aligned.
4. Leadership Support for Growth Mindset:
- Development Team Leadership plays a crucial role in fostering a growth mindset within the teams. APCG aligns with this by emphasizing continuous learning and viewing setbacks as opportunities for improvement.
5. Empowerment of Development Teams:
- Placing the Development Team at the core of the structure highlights their importance. APCG values empowered and self-managing teams, encouraging them to take ownership of their creative processes and contribute meaningfully to the organization's goals.
6. Customer-Centric Focus:
- The inclusion of Product and Strategy roles indicates a focus on understanding and meeting customer needs. APCG places a strong emphasis on customer-centricity, ensuring that creative efforts are aligned with delivering value to customers.
7. Agile and Iterative Development:
- The structure supports APCG's agile and iterative development approach. Development Team Leadership is well-positioned to facilitate agile processes, adapt to change, and promote continuous improvement within the development teams.
8. Servant Leadership Principles:
- The organizational structure allows for the implementation of servant leadership principles. Leaders at different levels, including the President & C-Suite and Development Team Leadership, can adopt a servant leadership mindset, supporting the growth and success of their teams.
9. Continuous Improvement Culture:
- APCG encourages a culture of continuous improvement. The structure supports this by providing clear lines of communication and accountability, allowing for feedback loops, and fostering an environment where teams can reflect on their processes and make iterative enhancements.
In summary, the outlined organizational structure aligns well with the principles of the Agile Product Creative Growth method. It promotes collaboration, strategic alignment, customer-centricity, and a culture of continuous improvement, all of which are key elements of the APCG approach.
Comparing Organizational Structures
Let's compare the four organizational structures you've outlined and discuss why the smallest structure may be considered the most effective:
1. President, C-Suite, Product, Project, Strategy, Program & Engineering, Development Team Leadership, Development Team:
- This structure is comprehensive, including various roles from leadership to development. It supports a cross-functional approach and collaboration across different functions. However, it may lead to increased complexity and potential challenges in communication and decision-making due to the number of layers.
2. President, C-Suite, Product, Project, Strategy, Program & Engineering, Development Team Leadership, Development Team:
- This structure is similar to the first but omits the Engineering role from the C-Suite, potentially leading to a more focused C-Suite with a reduced number of functions. It might enhance strategic decision-making efficiency but may still face challenges related to complexity.
3. President & C-Suite, Product, Strategy, Engineering, Development Team Leadership, Development Team:
- This structure simplifies the C-Suite to include only the President and essential roles, which could lead to more streamlined decision-making. It retains key functions like Product, Strategy, and Engineering, maintaining a cross-functional approach while reducing the number of leadership layers.
4. President & C-Suite, Product, Strategy, Engineering, Development Team Leadership, Development Team:
- This is the most streamlined structure with a focus on key leadership roles, excluding specific functions like Project and Program. It simplifies the organizational hierarchy, potentially leading to faster decision-making and improved communication.
Why the Smallest Structure May Be Considered the Most Effective:
1. Simplicity and Decision-Making Speed:
- The smallest structure reduces layers of hierarchy, which can streamline decision-making and communication. With fewer levels, information and decisions can flow more quickly and efficiently throughout the organization.
2. Clarity of Roles:
- A smaller structure may lead to clearer delineation of roles and responsibilities. Team members are likely to have a better understanding of their contributions to the organization's goals, reducing confusion and promoting accountability.
3. Flexibility and Adaptability:
- Smaller structures tend to be more agile and adaptable to change. In rapidly evolving environments, simplicity can be an asset, allowing the organization to respond quickly to market shifts, customer needs, and emerging opportunities.
4. Empowerment of Teams:
- Smaller structures often empower teams at various levels. Development teams, for instance, may have a more direct line of communication with leadership, fostering a culture of autonomy and innovation.
5. Resource Efficiency:
- A smaller structure can lead to resource efficiency by minimizing administrative overhead. With fewer layers, the organization can allocate resources more directly to strategic initiatives and creative endeavors.
6. Alignment with Agile Principles:
- The Agile Product Creative Growth method often aligns with agile principles, emphasizing adaptability, collaboration, and customer-centricity. A smaller structure is conducive to implementing these principles effectively.
It's important to note that the "best" structure depends on the specific context, goals, and culture of the organization. While a smaller structure may offer advantages in terms of agility and efficiency, larger structures with more layers may be appropriate for organizations with diverse and complex operations. Ultimately, the optimal structure is one that aligns with the organization's strategic objectives and supports the effective implementation of the Agile Product Creative Growth method.
A Typical Day in a large, layered organization
In a company that follows the Agile Product Creative Growth Method and involves various roles across Agile, creative, and growth functions, a typical day involves dynamic collaboration, iterative processes, and a focus on both creative innovation and strategic growth. Here's a snapshot of a day in the life of such a company:
Morning:
1. Agile Coaches and Agile Scrum Masters:
- Begin the day with stand-up meetings to discuss progress, blockers, and plans for the day with various Agile teams.
- Provide coaching and guidance on Agile methodologies to teams, ensuring they adhere to Agile principles and continuously improve their processes.
2. Agile Product Owners and Agile Product Managers:
- Collaborate with cross-functional teams to refine and prioritize the product backlog based on customer feedback, market trends, and business goals.
- Engage in sprint planning and coordination to ensure alignment between product development and strategic objectives.
3. Brand Management:
- Align marketing and communication strategies with the overall brand vision.
- Collaborate with designers and marketing teams to ensure consistent brand messaging and visual identity across various channels.
4. C-Suite Leaders and Strategy Teams:
- Review key performance indicators and metrics to assess progress toward strategic goals.
- Participate in strategy sessions to align business objectives with ongoing and upcoming initiatives.
Afternoon:
5. Data Teams:
- Analyze data and generate insights to inform product and business decisions.
- Collaborate with other teams to implement data-driven strategies and monitor key performance indicators.
6. Designers:
- Engage in design thinking sessions to ideate and iterate on user experiences.
- Collaborate with product teams to create user-centric designs that align with the overall product vision.
7. Engineering Teams:
- Work in Agile sprints to develop and deliver features, focusing on continuous integration and delivery.
- Collaborate with QA testing teams to ensure the quality of software products.
8. Finance Teams:
- Align financial strategies with business goals and provide support for budgeting and resource allocation.
- Collaborate with C-Suite leaders and Agile Product Managers to ensure financial alignment with strategic initiatives.
Evening:
9. Marketing Teams:
- Execute marketing campaigns aligned with the product roadmap and growth objectives.
- Review performance metrics and adjust marketing strategies based on real-time data.
10. Legal Teams:
- Provide legal guidance on contracts, agreements, and compliance matters.
- Collaborate with Agile Product Owners to ensure legal considerations are addressed in product development.
11. Product Managers, Project Managers, and Program Managers:
- Coordinate and communicate across various projects and programs.
- Engage in planning sessions, ensuring that timelines and milestones align with business goals.
12. QA Testing Teams:
- Conduct testing activities to identify and resolve issues in product features.
- Collaborate with Agile development teams to ensure the delivery of high-quality software.
Throughout the Day:
13. Employee Managers:
- Support and guide team members in their professional development.
- Foster a culture of collaboration, creativity, and continuous improvement.
This dynamic and collaborative environment fosters agility, creativity, and a growth mindset, with teams working iteratively and adapting to changing market conditions and customer needs. Regular communication, cross-functional collaboration, and a focus on delivering value contribute to the overall success of the company following the Agile Product Creative Growth Method. You may have fewer roles than the above model, however the same work tasks will still be needed.
A Typical Two Week Sprint with smaller organization
Work trickles in from Strategy down into the Development Teams
Monday
Daily Standup
Epic Grooming
Tuesday
Daily Standup
Wednesday
Daily Standup
Thursday
Daily Standup
Friday
Daily Standup
Monday
Daily Standup
Tuesday
Daily Standup
Sprint Review
Wednesday
Daily Standup
Backlog Grooming
Thursday
Daily Standup
Sprint Planning
Friday
Daily Standup
Features are delivered to customers in collaboration with Marketing, Sales, Training and Customer Success teams together.
Week 1:
Monday:
1. Morning: Agile Manifesto and Scrum Guide Principles
- C-Suite leaders set strategic goals aligned with Agile principles.
- Product Managers and Product Owners refine product backlogs based on customer feedback.
- Engineering teams conduct sprint planning using Scrum principles.
2. Afternoon: Kanban Principles
- Teams use Kanban boards to visualize work and optimize flow.
- Marketing and Sales teams manage campaigns using Kanban principles for efficient execution.
Tuesday:
3. Morning: Scaled Agile (SAFe and Nexus)
- Nexus and SAFe frameworks align work across multiple Scrum teams.
- Product Managers participate in PI (Program Increment) planning to synchronize activities.
4. Afternoon: Working Backwards and Jobs to be Done
- Teams work on defining customer outcomes and aligning product features using the Working Backwards method.
- Design and Engineering collaborate to address customer Jobs to be Done, iterating on user experiences.
Wednesday:
5. Morning: Outcomes Over Output
- Teams focus on delivering outcomes that provide value to customers.
- Marketing and Sales teams analyze outcomes of recent campaigns and adjust strategies.
6. Afternoon: The Power of Habit
- Teams discuss and reinforce positive habits in their workflow.
- Training teams incorporate habit-building elements into educational materials.
Thursday:
7. Morning: The Toyota Way Principles
- Lean principles from The Toyota Way guide continuous improvement.
- Engineering teams participate in a retrospective to identify process improvements.
8. Afternoon: The Servant as Leader and The Build Trap
- C-Suite leaders embrace servant leadership principles to support teams.
- Teams discuss strategies to avoid the "Build Trap" by focusing on delivering value over features.
Friday:
9. Morning: Failing Forward and Drive
- Teams share lessons learned from failures, embracing the concept of failing forward.
- Product Managers and C-Suite leaders discuss motivation strategies inspired by the principles in "Drive."
10. Afternoon: Sprint Review and Retrospective with APCG Activities
- Teams conduct a sprint review, demonstrating completed work.
- Retrospective includes a "Failing Forward" session and an APCG activity focusing on growth-oriented creativity.
- Idea Board session: Teams contribute new ideas and prioritize them for the upcoming sprint.
Week 2:
Monday:
1. Morning: Agile Manifesto and Scrum Guide Principles
- Teams kick off the new sprint with sprint planning.
- C-Suite leaders set the tone for the upcoming sprint based on lessons learned.
2. Afternoon: Kanban Principles
- Teams update Kanban boards and ensure a smooth flow of work.
- Marketing and Sales teams adapt campaign strategies based on the retrospective.
Tuesday:
3. Morning: Scaled Agile (SAFe and Nexus)
- Teams continue work based on scaled Agile frameworks.
- Product Managers refine the product roadmap based on sprint outcomes.
4. Afternoon: Working Backwards and Jobs to be Done
- Teams continue refining outcomes and addressing customer Jobs to be Done.
- Design and Engineering iterate on user experiences.
Wednesday:
5. Morning: Outcomes Over Output
- Teams prioritize delivering outcomes and value.
- Marketing and Sales teams adjust strategies based on sprint outcomes.
6. Afternoon: The Power of Habit
- Teams reinforce positive habits identified in the retrospective.
- Training teams incorporate feedback into educational materials.
Thursday:
7. Morning: The Toyota Way Principles
- Engineering teams continue continuous improvement based on Lean principles.
- Teams discuss how to optimize processes further.
8. Afternoon: The Servant as Leader and The Build Trap
- C-Suite leaders reinforce servant leadership principles.
- Teams continue focusing on delivering value over falling into the "Build Trap."
Friday:
9. Morning: Failing Forward and Drive
- Teams continue sharing failures, extracting learnings, and adapting.
- Product Managers and C-Suite leaders iterate on motivation strategies.
- Hackathon: Teams dedicate a portion of the day to collaborate on innovative projects and experiments.
10. Afternoon: Sprint Review and Retrospective with APCG Activities
- Teams conduct a sprint review, demonstrating completed work.
- Retrospective includes a "Failing Forward" session and an APCG activity focusing on growth-oriented creativity.
- Roadmapping session: Teams update and align on the product roadmap based on recent insights and ideas.
Throughout both weeks, the inclusion of mindmapping, hackathons, idea boards, and roadmapping enhances creativity, innovation, and strategic planning, aligning with the Agile Product Creative Growth (APCG) method. These activities foster collaboration, adaptability, and a customer-centric approach to product development and growth.
Product Manager
1. Strategic Vision:
The Product Manager is responsible for crafting the strategic vision for the product. In the context of Agile Product Creative Growth, they focus on understanding market trends, customer needs, and overall business goals. The Product Manager's role is to set the overarching product strategy that aligns with the organization's creative and growth objectives.
2. Portfolio Management:
Managing a portfolio of products or features, Product Managers prioritize initiatives based on their strategic importance and potential impact. This strategic portfolio management ensures that creative efforts are directed toward high-value opportunities, contributing to the organization's growth objectives.
3. Stakeholder Communication:
Product Managers engage with various stakeholders, including executive leadership, marketing, sales, and customers. Their role is to communicate the strategic direction and ensure alignment with organizational goals. This cross-disciplinary collaboration aligns with the principles of Agile Product Creative Growth
Product Owners
1. Close Collaboration with Teams:
The Product Owner works closely with development teams on a day-to-day basis. They act as a bridge between the Product Manager's strategic vision and the practical implementation by development teams. In the Agile Product Creative Growth context, the Product Owner ensures that creative ideas align with the broader product strategy.
2. Backlog Management:
Product Owners are responsible for maintaining and prioritizing the product backlog. They collaborate with development teams to refine user stories, ensuring that the most valuable features are implemented first. This iterative approach aligns with the Agile principles embraced by Agile Product Creative Growth.
3. User Story Definition:
Product Owners collaborate with the team to define user stories with clear acceptance criteria. They ensure that the team has a shared understanding of the creative requirements and customer needs, fostering a customer-centric focus in line with Agile Product Creative Growth.
4. Feedback Incorporation:
Product Owners gather feedback from stakeholders and customers, ensuring that the development work aligns with evolving needs and expectations. This iterative feedback loop is fundamental to both Agile methodologies and the Agile Product Creative Growth method, promoting adaptability and customer satisfaction.
5. Collaboration with Product Manager:
Product Owners work in close collaboration with Product Managers to align strategic and tactical goals. While Product Managers focus on broader strategic objectives, Product Owners ensure that day-to-day creative efforts align with these goals. This collaboration supports the iterative and adaptive nature of Agile Product Creative Growth.
In summary, both the Product Manager and Product Owner play crucial roles in supporting the Agile Product Creative Growth method. The Product Manager provides strategic direction, while the Product Owner ensures the practical implementation aligns with that strategy, fostering a dynamic and customer-centric approach to creative growth.
Agile Coaches
Agile Coaches can play a critical role in supporting the Agile Product Creative Growth (APCG) method by guiding teams and organizations in adopting and optimizing agile practices. Their responsibilities span coaching, mentoring, and facilitating to foster a culture of creativity, collaboration, and continuous improvement. Here are key responsibilities for Agile Coaches within the APCG framework:
1. Agile Adoption and Transformation:
- Responsibility: Facilitate the adoption of agile methodologies within teams and across the organization. Support the agile transformation process by providing guidance on agile practices and principles.
2. APCG Methodology Understanding:
- Responsibility: Develop a deep understanding of the Agile Product Creative Growth method. Provide insights and guidance on how agile principles can be integrated into creative growth strategies.
3. Team and Individual Coaching:
- Responsibility: Coach teams and individuals on agile practices, principles, and mindset. Provide continuous support to help teams embrace agility and creative thinking.
4. Continuous Improvement Initiatives:
- Responsibility: Encourage and facilitate continuous improvement initiatives within teams. Help teams reflect on their processes, identify areas for improvement, and implement changes to enhance performance.
5. Agile Ceremonies Facilitation:
- Responsibility: Facilitate agile ceremonies, such as sprint planning, daily stand-ups, sprint reviews, and retrospectives. Ensure that ceremonies contribute to continuous improvement and align with APCG goals.
6. Collaboration and Communication:
- Responsibility: Promote a culture of collaboration and open communication within teams and across the organization. Facilitate cross-functional collaboration to enhance creativity and innovation.
7. Agile Mindset Cultivation:
- Responsibility: Cultivate an agile mindset within teams and the organization. Promote values such as adaptability, customer focus, and collaboration to support the principles of the Agile Product Creative Growth method.
8. Stakeholder Engagement:
- Responsibility: Engage with stakeholders, including leadership, product managers, and team members. Align coaching efforts with stakeholder expectations and organizational goals.
9. Change Management Support:
- Responsibility: Support teams through the change management process associated with agile adoption. Help individuals and teams navigate and adapt to changes in workflows and processes.
10. Agile Training Programs:
- Responsibility: Develop and deliver agile training programs for teams and individuals. Ensure that training aligns with the APCG method and addresses the specific needs of the organization.
11. Agile Tooling and Technology:
- Responsibility: Provide guidance on agile tooling and technologies. Ensure that teams have access to the necessary tools for effective collaboration, communication, and project tracking.
12. Cross-Functional Collaboration:
- Responsibility: Promote cross-functional collaboration among different departments and teams. Help break down silos and encourage seamless communication to support agile workflows.
13. Metrics and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs):
- Responsibility: Define and track agile metrics and KPIs to assess team and organizational performance. Use data-driven insights to guide coaching efforts and identify areas for improvement.
14. Agile Governance Integration:
- Responsibility: Integrate agile governance practices into coaching strategies. Ensure that governance structures support agility, adaptability, and the principles of the Agile Product Creative Growth method.
15. Individual and Team Empowerment:
- Responsibility: Empower individuals and teams to take ownership of their work and decisions. Encourage autonomy and self-organization while providing the necessary guidance and support.
16. Alignment with APCG Values:
- Responsibility: Ensure that coaching efforts align with the core values of the Agile Product Creative Growth method. Emphasize the importance of creativity, collaboration, and customer-centricity in agile practices.
17. Agile Portfolio Management:
- Responsibility: Collaborate with leadership and portfolio managers to ensure that agile practices are integrated into portfolio management. Align coaching efforts with strategic portfolio goals.
18. Agile Certification and Professional Development:
- Responsibility: Stay updated on agile practices and certifications. Provide guidance on professional development opportunities for individuals and teams seeking to enhance their agile skills.
By fulfilling these responsibilities, Agile Coaches contribute to the successful implementation of the Agile Product Creative Growth method by guiding teams and individuals in adopting agile practices, fostering a culture of continuous improvement, and aligning coaching efforts with organizational goals and creative growth strategies.
Scrum Master
An Agile Scrum Master in the context of the Agile Product Creative Growth (APCG) method can play a crucial role in facilitating the adoption of agile practices and principles while ensuring that the Scrum framework is tailored to meet the needs of creative growth. Here are key responsibilities for an Agile Scrum Master within the APCG framework, considering the specific guidelines you've mentioned:
1. Scrum Framework Facilitation:
- Responsibility: Facilitate the effective use of the Scrum framework within the organization, emphasizing principles outlined in Jeff Sutherland's book, Scrum, rather than rigidly following the Scrum Guide as a playbook.
2. Sprint Planning Efficiency:
- Responsibility: Ensure that Sprint Planning sessions are efficient and focused. Adhere to the principle that Sprint Planning should be 30 minutes or less for a two-week sprint. Heavy lifting and detailed discussions are reserved for backlog grooming/refinement or Epic Groomings.
3. Backlog Grooming/Refinement Facilitation:
- Responsibility: Facilitate backlog grooming/refinement sessions to ensure that the product backlog is well-prepared for upcoming sprints. Collaborate with the Product Owner, development team, and stakeholders to refine user stories and prioritize work.
4. Epic Grooming Facilitation:
- Responsibility: Facilitate Epic Grooming sessions to ensure that high-level epics are well-understood and broken down into smaller, actionable tasks. Collaborate with cross-functional teams to align epics with the APCG strategy.
5. Daily Standup Facilitation:
- Responsibility: Facilitate the daily standup meeting, emphasizing that it should be facilitated by either the Scrum Master or the Product Owner/Project Manager unless both are unavailable. Encourage team members to share updates concisely and identify any impediments.
6. Rotation for Daily Standup Facilitation:
- Responsibility: Implement a rotation system for daily standup facilitation within the team. Ensure that team members take turns leading the daily standup meeting when both the Scrum Master and the Product Owner/Project Manager are unavailable.
7. Servant Leadership:
- Responsibility: Embrace a servant leadership approach. Focus on facilitating and supporting the team rather than being in charge of decision-making. Remove impediments, foster a collaborative environment, and empower the team to self-organize.
8. Collaboration with Product Teams:
- Responsibility: Collaborate closely with product managers, product owners, and other product teams. Ensure that the team's work aligns with product development goals and contributes to the overall APCG strategy.
9. Continuous Improvement:
- Responsibility: Drive a culture of continuous improvement within the team. Encourage retrospectives and facilitate discussions on how to enhance processes, communication, and collaboration.
10. Obstacle Removal:
- Responsibility: Actively identify and remove obstacles that hinder the team's progress. Collaborate with stakeholders and other teams to address issues promptly and ensure a smooth flow of work.
11. Team Empowerment:
- Responsibility: Empower the team to make decisions and take ownership of their work. Foster an environment where creativity and innovation thrive, aligning with the principles of the Agile Product Creative Growth method.
12. Conflict Resolution:
- Responsibility: Address conflicts and challenges within the team promptly. Facilitate open communication and work towards resolutions that align with the overall goals of the organization and the APCG strategy.
13. Communication and Transparency:
- Responsibility: Ensure transparent and open communication within the team and with stakeholders. Facilitate communication channels that support collaboration, creativity
Brand Management
The Brand Management Team can play a pivotal role in shaping and maintaining the brand identity and image of a company. Their responsibilities extend beyond marketing to encompass the overall perception and representation of the brand. In the context of the Agile Product Creative Growth method, the Brand Management Team supports the organization in various ways:
Responsibilities of the Brand Management Team:
1. Brand Strategy Development:
- The team is responsible for developing and refining the brand strategy. This involves defining the brand's positioning, values, and personality. In the Agile Product Creative Growth method, a clear brand strategy provides a foundation for aligning creative efforts with the overall brand identity and business objectives.
2. Brand Guidelines and Standards:
- Brand Management establishes and maintains brand guidelines and standards. These guidelines ensure consistency in messaging, visual elements, and brand representation across various channels. Consistency is crucial in Agile Product Creative Growth to build a cohesive and recognizable brand image.
3. Cross-Functional Collaboration:
- Brand Management collaborates with various teams, including marketing, product, design, and development. Their involvement in cross-functional collaboration aligns with the Agile Product Creative Growth method, emphasizing the importance of integrated efforts across disciplines.
4. Creative Direction:
- The team provides creative direction for brand campaigns and materials. This includes overseeing the development of visual assets, messaging, and overall creative elements. Creative direction is essential in Agile Product Creative Growth to ensure that creative efforts align with the brand's strategic goals.
5. Brand Monitoring and Analysis:
- Brand Management monitors brand perception and conducts analyses to assess the effectiveness of branding initiatives. This data-driven approach supports the Agile Product Creative Growth method by providing insights that can inform iterative improvements and adjustments to creative strategies.
6. Customer Experience Alignment:
- Ensuring that the brand is consistently represented throughout the customer journey is a key responsibility. This aligns with the Agile Product Creative Growth method's emphasis on delivering a seamless and positive customer experience across all touchpoints.
How Brand Management Supports Agile Product Creative Growth:
1. Alignment with Brand Values:
- Agile Product Creative Growth emphasizes the importance of aligning creative efforts with organizational values. The Brand Management Team ensures that all creative endeavors are in harmony with the brand's values and identity, fostering a cohesive and authentic brand image.
2. Facilitation of Integrated Campaigns:
- Agile Product Creative Growth involves the integration of marketing, design, and development efforts. The Brand Management Team facilitates integrated campaigns by ensuring that branding elements are consistently represented across various channels, contributing to a unified and impactful brand presence.
3. Agile Response to Market Changes:
- The Brand Management Team's monitoring and analysis efforts enable an agile response to market changes. In Agile Product Creative Growth, the ability to adapt brand strategies in response to evolving market dynamics is crucial for maintaining relevance and resonance with the target audience.
4. Customer-Centric Branding:
- The team focuses on creating a customer-centric brand experience. This aligns with the Agile Product Creative Growth method's customer-centric approach, where creative efforts are driven by a deep understanding of customer needs and preferences.
5. Iterative Brand Enhancements:
- Through continuous monitoring and analysis, the Brand Management Team contributes to iterative enhancements of the brand strategy. This iterative approach aligns with the principles of Agile Product Creative Growth, where continuous improvement is fundamental to achieving creative and growth objectives.
In summary, the Brand Management Team supports the Agile Product Creative Growth method by establishing and maintaining a strong brand foundation, fostering cross-functional collaboration, and ensuring that creative efforts align with the brand's strategic goals and values. Their role is integral to building a brand that not only reflects the organization's identity but also drives growth through creative and customer-centric initiatives.
C-Suite Leadership
The C-Suite, comprising top executives such as the CEO, CFO, COO, CTO, and others, plays a pivotal role in supporting the Agile Product Creative Growth (APCG) method. Their responsibilities involve shaping the overall organizational strategy, fostering an agile culture, and driving innovation. Here are key responsibilities for the C-Suite within the APCG framework:
1. Strategic Leadership:
- Responsibility: Provide strategic leadership by setting the vision, mission, and overall direction for the organization. Align strategic goals with the principles of the Agile Product Creative Growth method.
2. Agile Culture Advocacy:
- Responsibility: Advocate for and instill an agile culture throughout the organization. Promote the values of adaptability, collaboration, and continuous improvement within teams.
3. Support for Agile Transformation:
- Responsibility: Champion and support the organization's agile transformation efforts. Allocate resources and provide executive sponsorship for agile initiatives and training programs.
4. Resource Allocation and Investment:
- Responsibility: Allocate financial and human resources strategically to support Agile Product Creative Growth initiatives. Make investment decisions that align with the organization's growth goals.
5. Alignment of Business Units:
- Responsibility: Ensure that different business units within the organization are aligned with the overall Agile Product Creative Growth strategy. Foster collaboration and communication between departments.
6. Innovation Leadership:
- Responsibility: Drive a culture of innovation within the organization. Encourage experimentation, creativity, and the pursuit of new ideas to fuel growth and competitiveness.
7. Risk Management and Mitigation:
- Responsibility: Oversee risk management efforts, identifying potential risks associated with agile initiatives, and implementing strategies to mitigate them effectively.
8. Agile Governance:
- Responsibility: Establish agile governance structures that provide guidance and oversight while allowing for flexibility and adaptability. Ensure that governance supports, rather than hinders, agile practices.
9. Talent Development and Retention:
- Responsibility: Prioritize talent development and retention strategies that align with the principles of the Agile Product Creative Growth method. Foster a culture of continuous learning and skill development.
10. Customer-Centric Focus:
- Responsibility: Reinforce a customer-centric focus throughout the organization. Ensure that agile practices are aligned with understanding and meeting customer needs effectively.
11. Cross-Functional Collaboration:
- Responsibility: Promote cross-functional collaboration among different departments and teams. Break down silos and encourage seamless communication to support agile workflows.
12. Communication and Transparency:
- Responsibility: Foster open communication and transparency within the organization. Ensure that information flows freely across teams, supporting the principles of Agile Product Creative Growth.
13. Agile Metrics and Performance Evaluation:
- Responsibility: Develop and implement agile metrics for performance evaluation. Evaluate the success of agile initiatives based on key performance indicators aligned with organizational goals.
14. Agile Ceremonies Participation:
- Responsibility: Actively participate in Agile ceremonies, such as sprint reviews and planning sessions. Provide executive insights and guidance during planning phases and reviews.
15. Collaboration with External Partners:
- Responsibility: Collaborate with external partners, stakeholders, and industry leaders to support the Agile Product Creative Growth method. Build strategic alliances that enhance the organization's capabilities.
16. Responsiveness to Change:
- Responsibility: Demonstrate adaptability and responsiveness to change. Embrace an agile mindset at the executive level to lead by example and set expectations for the entire organization.
17. Alignment with Agile Product Creative Growth Values:
- Responsibility: Ensure that organizational values align with the core principles of Agile Product Creative Growth, emphasizing customer focus, collaboration, and continuous improvement.
18. Alignment with Legal and Ethical Standards:
- Responsibility: Ensure that all agile practices align with legal and ethical standards. Collaborate with legal and compliance teams to maintain integrity and uphold ethical business practices.
By fulfilling these responsibilities, the C-Suite provides the leadership, strategic vision, and cultural support necessary to effectively implement the Agile Product Creative Growth method, driving organizational success and fostering a culture of agility and innovation.
Data Teams
The responsibilities of data teams in supporting the Agile Product Creative Growth (APCG) method involve leveraging data-driven insights to inform decision-making, enhance product development, and contribute to overall organizational growth. Here are key responsibilities for data teams within the APCG framework:
1. Data-Driven Decision-Making:
- Responsibility: Enable teams across the organization to make informed decisions by providing timely and relevant data. Support the use of data to validate hypotheses, identify opportunities, and guide strategic choices.
2. Collaboration with Cross-Functional Teams:
- Responsibility: Collaborate with product managers, product owners, engineers, designers, and other cross-functional teams. Understand their data needs and proactively provide insights that contribute to the success of their projects.
3. Contribution to Product Development:
- Responsibility: Support product development by analyzing user behavior, conducting A/B testing, and providing insights into feature performance. Contribute to the enhancement of user experiences based on data-driven findings.
4. Implementation of Data Governance:
- Responsibility: Establish and maintain data governance practices to ensure data accuracy, integrity, and security. Collaborate with relevant stakeholders to define and enforce data quality standards.
5. Identification of Key Metrics:
- Responsibility: Work with product managers and other stakeholders to identify key performance indicators (KPIs) and metrics relevant to business objectives. Define and track metrics that align with organizational goals.
6. Customer Segmentation and Personalization:
- Responsibility: Analyze customer behavior to identify segments and patterns. Provide insights that support personalized user experiences and targeted marketing strategies based on data-driven segmentation.
7. Performance Monitoring and Alerting:
- Responsibility: Monitor the performance of products, features, and systems using relevant metrics. Implement alerting mechanisms to proactively identify and address any deviations or anomalies.
8. Data Visualization and Reporting:
- Responsibility: Create visually compelling and insightful reports and dashboards. Communicate data findings effectively to non-technical stakeholders, aiding in their understanding of complex data insights.
9. Continuous Improvement and Iteration:
- Responsibility: Embrace a culture of continuous improvement. Iterate on data collection methods, analysis processes, and reporting mechanisms to adapt to changing business needs and enhance the effectiveness of data-driven insights.
10. Feedback Loop Integration:
- Responsibility: Establish feedback loops with product teams and other stakeholders. Actively seek feedback on data insights, and use this information to refine data collection strategies and improve the relevance of provided insights.
11. Support for Experimentation and Innovation:
- Responsibility: Collaborate with teams engaged in experimentation. Provide support in designing experiments, analyzing results, and deriving meaningful conclusions that contribute to innovative product development.
12. Training and Knowledge Sharing:
- Responsibility: Conduct training sessions to enhance the data literacy of non-technical teams. Share knowledge about available data tools and best practices for leveraging data effectively.
13. Ethical Data Practices:
- Responsibility: Uphold ethical standards in data collection, analysis, and usage. Ensure compliance with data privacy regulations and advocate for responsible data practices within the organization.
14. Integration of Jobs-to-be-Done Theory:
- Responsibility: Incorporate the Jobs-to-be-Done theory into data analysis. Understand user needs and motivations through data to contribute to the development of products that align with customer expectations.
15. Collaboration with Strategy Teams:
- Responsibility: Collaborate with strategy teams to provide data-driven insights that inform strategic decisions. Contribute to the development and execution of go-to-market strategies based on data-backed recommendations.
By fulfilling these responsibilities, data teams play a crucial role in supporting the Agile Product Creative Growth method, fostering a culture of data-driven decision-making, innovation, and continuous improvement across the organization.
Designers
The design team has significant responsibilities in supporting the Agile Product Creative Growth (APCG) method, contributing to the creation of user-centric, visually appealing, and innovative solutions. Here are key responsibilities for the design team within the APCG framework:
1. User-Centric Design:
- Responsibility: Prioritize user needs and experiences in the design process. Conduct user research to understand user behaviors, preferences, and pain points, and integrate these insights into design decisions.
2. Collaboration with Cross-Functional Teams:
- Responsibility: Work collaboratively with product managers, product owners, engineers, data teams, and other stakeholders. Engage in cross-functional teams to ensure a holistic approach to product development that considers both user experience and technical feasibility.
3. Iterative Design Process:
- Responsibility: Embrace an iterative design process that aligns with Agile principles. Regularly gather feedback from stakeholders and end-users to iterate on designs and make continuous improvements.
4. Responsive and Adaptive Design:
- Responsibility: Design user interfaces that are responsive and adaptive to different devices and screen sizes. Ensure a consistent and optimal user experience across various platforms.
5. Prototyping and User Testing:
- Responsibility: Create prototypes and conduct user testing to validate design concepts. Use feedback from testing sessions to refine designs and improve usability.
6. Visual Design Excellence:
- Responsibility: Maintain a high standard of visual design excellence. Pay attention to details such as color, typography, and layout to create visually appealing and cohesive designs.
7. Brand Consistency:
- Responsibility: Ensure consistency with the organization's brand guidelines in all design elements. Contribute to building and reinforcing a strong and recognizable brand identity.
8. Collaboration with Marketing and Brand Teams:
- Responsibility: Collaborate with marketing and brand teams to align design efforts with overall branding and marketing strategies. Contribute to the creation of visually compelling assets for marketing campaigns.
9. Data-Driven Design:
- Responsibility: Work closely with data teams to incorporate data-driven insights into the design process. Use analytics and user data to inform design decisions and optimize user experiences.
10. Design Thinking Workshops:
- Responsibility: Facilitate design thinking workshops to encourage creativity, collaboration, and problem-solving within the team. Use design thinking principles to generate innovative solutions.
11. Feedback Loop Integration:
- Responsibility: Establish a feedback loop with stakeholders and end-users. Actively seek and incorporate feedback to iterate on designs, ensuring they align with evolving project requirements.
12. Collaboration with Product Teams:
- Responsibility: Collaborate closely with product managers and product owners to align design efforts with product goals and objectives. Ensure that designs contribute to the overall product strategy.
13. Agile Ceremonies Participation:
- Responsibility: Actively participate in Agile ceremonies such as sprint planning, reviews, and retrospectives. Provide updates on design progress and seek input from the team.
14. Continuous Learning and Skill Development:
- Responsibility: Stay updated on design trends, tools, and technologies. Continuously enhance design skills and share knowledge with the team.
15. Advocacy for Jobs-to-be-Done Theory:
- Responsibility: Advocate for the integration of Jobs-to-be-Done theory into the design process. Ensure that designs align with the functional and emotional needs of users.
16. Design System Maintenance:
- Responsibility: Contribute to the development and maintenance of a design system. Ensure consistency across products and projects by adhering to established design patterns and guidelines.
17. Alignment with Strategic Goals:
- Responsibility: Align design decisions with the strategic goals of the organization. Contribute to the development of design strategies that support overall business objectives.
By fulfilling these responsibilities, the design team plays a pivotal role in supporting the Agile Product Creative Growth method, contributing to the creation of products that not only meet user needs but also align with business goals and foster innovation and continuous improvement within the organization.
People Managers
In the Agile Product Creative Growth (APCG) method, people managers can play a vital role in fostering collaboration, supporting individual and team growth, and aligning organizational objectives. While self-managing agile teams have the autonomy to make decisions related to their work, people managers are expected to collaborate with various stakeholders, including Product Managers, Product Owners, Engineering, Design, Marketing, Brand, Project Management, Program Management, the C-Suite, and HR. Here are the expectations and collaborative responsibilities for people managers in this context:
1. Strategic Alignment:
- Expectation: Align people management strategies with the strategic goals of the organization and collaborate with stakeholders to ensure cohesion.
- Collaborative Responsibility: Engage with Product Managers, Product Owners, Engineering, Design, Marketing, Brand, Project Management, Program Management, the C-Suite, and HR to understand their strategic priorities. Align talent management initiatives with the overall organizational strategy.
2. Cross-Functional Collaboration:
- Expectation: Facilitate collaboration and communication across diverse functions to foster a holistic understanding of organizational goals.
- Collaborative Responsibility: Create opportunities for cross-functional collaboration, such as joint workshops, training sessions, and cross-functional teams. Encourage open communication and knowledge sharing among different departments.
3. Talent Acquisition and Development:
- Expectation: Collaborate with various functions to attract, develop, and retain talent aligned with the organization's diverse needs.
- Collaborative Responsibility: Work closely with HR, Product Management, Engineering, Design, and other departments to identify key skills and competencies needed for organizational success. Support talent acquisition and development initiatives that benefit multiple functions.
4. Leadership Development:
- Expectation: Facilitate the development of leadership skills within different functions.
- Collaborative Responsibility: Identify leadership potential across departments and provide targeted development opportunities. Collaborate with leaders in Engineering, Design, Marketing, and other areas to ensure a consistent approach to leadership development.
5. Performance is Team-Based:
- Expectation: Emphasize that performance is measured based on teamwork and overall team outcomes rather than individual achievements.
- Collaborative Responsibility: Collaborate with leaders across functions to establish performance goals that focus on collective team success. Promote a culture where individuals are recognized for their contributions to the team's outcomes.
6. Feedback and Recognition:
- Expectation: Foster a culture of constructive feedback and recognition across the organization.
- Collaborative Responsibility: Collaborate on feedback mechanisms and recognition programs that acknowledge team achievements. Encourage leaders in each department to recognize and celebrate collective successes.
7. Professional Development:
- Expectation: Support ongoing professional development for individuals in various functions.
- Collaborative Responsibility: Collaborate with leaders in Engineering, Design, Marketing, and other areas to identify relevant training and development opportunities. Provide resources and support for continuous learning.
8. Workforce Planning:
- Expectation: Collaborate on workforce planning to ensure the availability of the right talent across functions.
- Collaborative Responsibility: Engage in workforce planning discussions with leaders from different departments. Anticipate future talent needs and work collaboratively to address potential skill gaps.
9. Employee Well-Being:
- Expectation: Prioritize employee well-being across all functions.
- Collaborative Responsibility: Collaborate on initiatives that enhance employee well-being, considering factors such as workload, stress, and work-life balance. Encourage a culture that values individual and team well-being.
10. Conflict Resolution:
- Expectation: Address and resolve conflicts that may arise between different functions.
- Collaborative Responsibility: Establish effective conflict resolution mechanisms and encourage open communication. Address conflicts promptly and collaboratively to ensure a positive working relationship.
11. Managers Not Included in Product Development Meetings:
- Expectation: Acknowledge that people managers are not included in meetings related to product development, allowing teams to maintain autonomy.
- Collaborative Responsibility: Respect the autonomy of self-managing agile teams and avoid unnecessary managerial intervention in product development meetings. Ensure that teams have the space to make decisions collaboratively.
12. Span of Control Dynamics:
- Expectation: Recognize that the span of control for managers may naturally increase over time due to their exclusion from certain meetings.
- Collaborative Responsibility: Adapt to the evolving span of control dynamics and collaborate with an increasing number of teams. Provide support and resources to managers navigating larger spans of control.
13. Team Development Velocity Not Used in Individual Metrics:
- Expectation: Clarify that team development velocity is not used in individual performance metrics.
- Collaborative Responsibility: Collaborate with leaders to ensure that individual performance metrics focus on collaboration, contribution to team outcomes, and adherence to Agile principles rather than individual velocity metrics.
By embracing these expectations and collaborative responsibilities, people managers contribute to a harmonious and effective partnership with various stakeholders, ensuring a culture of collaboration, growth, and success within the Agile Product Creative Growth framework, while allowing self-managing agile teams the autonomy to make decisions related to their work.
Engineering Teams
The engineering team plays a critical role in supporting the Agile Product Creative Growth (APCG) method by contributing to the development of high-quality software solutions, embracing agility, and collaborating effectively with cross-functional teams. Here are key responsibilities for the engineering team within the APCG framework:
1. Agile Development Practices:
- Responsibility: Embrace and adhere to Agile development principles and practices. Participate in Agile ceremonies such as sprint planning, daily stand-ups, sprint reviews, and retrospectives.
2. Collaboration with Cross-Functional Teams:
- Responsibility: Work closely with product managers, product owners, designers, data teams, and other stakeholders in cross-functional teams. Foster a collaborative environment where feedback and ideas are openly shared.
3. Iterative and Incremental Development:
- Responsibility: Adopt an iterative and incremental development approach. Deliver software in small, incremental releases to quickly respond to changing requirements and gather continuous feedback.
4. Technical Excellence:
- Responsibility: Strive for technical excellence in coding, testing, and overall software development. Follow best practices, coding standards, and contribute to code reviews to maintain high-quality code.
5. Collaboration with Design and UX Teams:
- Responsibility: Collaborate closely with design and user experience (UX) teams to implement user interfaces that align with design specifications. Seek clarification on design requirements and provide technical input.
6. Continuous Integration and Continuous Deployment (CI/CD):
- Responsibility: Implement and maintain CI/CD pipelines to enable frequent and automated testing, integration, and deployment. Facilitate the rapid delivery of reliable and stable software.
7. Scalability and Performance Optimization:
- Responsibility: Consider scalability and performance aspects in the development process. Optimize code and infrastructure to ensure efficient performance, especially in the context of growing user loads.
8. Security Best Practices:
- Responsibility: Prioritize security in the development process. Follow security best practices, conduct regular security assessments, and address vulnerabilities promptly.
9. Collaboration with Product Teams:
- Responsibility: Engage in regular communication with product managers and product owners to understand and clarify requirements. Collaborate on the technical implementation of features aligned with product goals.
10. Adaptability to Change:
- Responsibility: Be adaptable to changing requirements and priorities. Embrace a mindset of flexibility to accommodate shifts in project direction or customer needs.
11. Code Refactoring and Technical Debt Management:
- Responsibility: Proactively address technical debt and participate in code refactoring efforts. Ensure that the codebase remains maintainable, scalable, and aligned with evolving project goals.
12. Testing and Test Automation:
- Responsibility: Implement thorough testing practices, including unit testing, integration testing, and end-to-end testing. Promote test automation to achieve reliable and repeatable testing processes.
13. Collaboration with Data Teams:
- Responsibility: Collaborate with data teams to integrate data-driven features and functionalities. Ensure that the software can effectively leverage data insights.
14. Innovation and Continuous Learning:
- Responsibility: Foster a culture of innovation within the engineering team. Encourage continuous learning and the exploration of new technologies that could enhance development processes.
15. Feedback Loop Integration:
- Responsibility: Establish a feedback loop with cross-functional teams to gather feedback on software features and performance. Use feedback to iterate on solutions and enhance the user experience.
16. Support for Experimentation:
- Responsibility: Collaborate with teams engaged in experimentation. Provide technical support for designing and implementing experiments to validate hypotheses and gather insights.
17. Advocacy for Jobs-to-be-Done Theory:
- Responsibility: Advocate for the integration of Jobs-to-be-Done theory into the development process. Understand user needs and motivations to contribute to the creation of products that fulfill specific job requirements.
18. Alignment with Strategic Goals:
- Responsibility: Align technical decisions with the strategic goals of the organization. Contribute to the development of technical strategies that support overall business objectives.
By fulfilling these responsibilities, the engineering team contributes to the success of the Agile Product Creative Growth method, supporting the development of products that are not only technically robust but also aligned with user needs and organizational goals.
Marketing Teams
The marketing team can play a vital role in supporting the Agile Product Creative Growth (APCG) method by promoting products, engaging with customers, and contributing to overall business growth. Here are key responsibilities for the marketing team within the APCG framework:
1. Strategic Marketing Planning:
- Responsibility: Collaborate with cross-functional teams to develop strategic marketing plans aligned with organizational goals and Agile Product Creative Growth initiatives.
2. Customer Segmentation and Targeting:
- Responsibility: Use data and insights to segment customers and target specific audience groups. Align marketing strategies with the Jobs-to-be-Done theory to address customer needs effectively.
3. Brand Development and Management:
- Responsibility: Contribute to the development and management of the organization's brand. Ensure brand consistency in marketing materials and campaigns.
4. Collaboration with Product Teams:
- Responsibility: Work closely with product managers and product owners to understand product features and benefits. Translate technical information into compelling marketing messages.
5. Agile Campaign Development:
- Responsibility: Embrace agility in campaign development. Plan, execute, and iterate on marketing campaigns based on real-time feedback and data insights.
6. Digital Marketing Execution:
- Responsibility: Execute digital marketing strategies, including social media marketing, email marketing, content marketing, and search engine optimization (SEO), to reach target audiences effectively.
7. Performance Metrics and Analytics:
- Responsibility: Utilize performance metrics and analytics to measure the effectiveness of marketing campaigns. Adjust strategies based on data insights to optimize results.
8. Customer Engagement and Retention:
- Responsibility: Develop strategies to engage and retain customers. Leverage marketing automation and personalized messaging to enhance the customer experience.
9. Collaboration with Data Teams:
- Responsibility: Collaborate with data teams to integrate data-driven insights into marketing strategies. Use analytics to understand customer behavior and preferences.
10. Innovative Marketing Initiatives:
- Responsibility: Contribute to the development of innovative marketing initiatives that align with the organization's growth goals. Support experimentation and creative approaches to customer acquisition.
11. Content Development and Storytelling:
- Responsibility: Create compelling content that tells the story of the product or brand. Align content with the Jobs-to-be-Done theory to resonate with customer needs.
12. Cross-Functional Collaboration:
- Responsibility: Collaborate with cross-functional teams, including product, engineering, design, and finance, to ensure that marketing strategies align with overall organizational objectives.
13. Customer Feedback Integration:
- Responsibility: Integrate customer feedback into marketing strategies. Use feedback to iterate on messaging and campaigns, ensuring alignment with customer expectations.
14. Agile Ceremonies Participation:
- Responsibility: Participate in Agile ceremonies, such as sprint reviews and planning, to align marketing activities with product development cycles and maintain flexibility in campaign execution.
15. Community Building:
- Responsibility: Build and nurture communities around products or brands. Engage with customers through forums, social media, and other channels to foster a sense of community.
16. Event Planning and Participation:
- Responsibility: Plan and participate in events aligned with organizational goals. Leverage events for product launches, customer engagement, and networking opportunities.
17. Collaboration with Design Teams:
- Responsibility: Collaborate with design teams to ensure that marketing materials and visual assets align with brand guidelines and contribute to a cohesive brand identity.
18. Alignment with Strategic Goals:
- Responsibility: Ensure that marketing initiatives align with the strategic goals of the organization. Contribute to the development of marketing strategies that support overall business objectives.
By fulfilling these responsibilities, the marketing team supports the Agile Product Creative Growth method, contributing to the promotion of products, customer engagement, and overall business success through creative and strategic marketing initiatives.
Agile Project Managers
In the Agile Product Creative Growth (APCG) method, collaboration between project managers, product managers, and product owners is essential for successful project delivery and the achievement of strategic goals. Here are the expectations and collaborative responsibilities of project managers working with product managers and product owners in the Agile Product Creative Growth framework:
1. Shared Vision and Goals:
- Expectation: Align on a shared vision and goals for the project, ensuring that they are consistent with the overall product strategy and organizational objectives.
- Collaborative Responsibility: Collaborate closely with product managers and product owners to understand the product vision and objectives. Align project goals with product goals to ensure cohesive efforts toward organizational success.
2. Cross-Functional Collaboration:
- Expectation: Promote and facilitate cross-functional collaboration among project management, product management, and product ownership roles.
- Collaborative Responsibility: Create an environment that encourages open communication and collaboration between project teams and product teams. Foster a culture where each role contributes its expertise to the project's success.
3. Iterative Planning and Execution:
- Expectation: Embrace iterative planning and execution methodologies, such as Scrum or Kanban, to enable adaptability and responsiveness to change.
- Collaborative Responsibility: Work collaboratively to plan and execute projects iteratively, accommodating changes in product requirements or market conditions. Align project timelines and milestones with the product roadmap.
4. Customer-Centric Focus:
- Expectation: Maintain a customer-centric focus, understanding and addressing customer needs throughout the project lifecycle.
- Collaborative Responsibility: Work together to integrate Jobs-to-be-Done theory and other customer-centric approaches into both project and product development. Collaborate on customer feedback loops to continuously improve both the product and project outcomes.
5. Prioritization and Backlog Management:
- Expectation: Collaboratively prioritize features and tasks based on customer value and organizational priorities.
- Collaborative Responsibility: Engage in regular discussions to prioritize items in both the project and product backlogs. Ensure alignment between project tasks and product features to deliver maximum value.
6. Adaptability and Flexibility:
- Expectation: Embrace and navigate changes in project scope, priorities, and requirements.
- Collaborative Responsibility: Collaborate on adapting to changing circumstances, ensuring that the project can pivot based on new insights or feedback. Regularly communicate changes and adjustments to the entire team.
7. Communication and Transparency:
- Expectation: Maintain open and transparent communication between project management, product management, and product ownership.
- Collaborative Responsibility: Share project status, risks, and impediments with product managers and product owners regularly. Ensure that all parties are informed about the progress of both the project and the product.
8. Feedback Loops and Retrospectives:
- Expectation: Establish feedback loops and participate in retrospectives to continuously improve processes.
- Collaborative Responsibility: Engage in regular retrospectives and feedback sessions. Identify areas for improvement in both project and product processes, fostering a culture of continuous improvement.
9. Resource Allocation and Budget Management:
- Expectation: Collaboratively manage resources, including time, budget, and personnel, to ensure successful project delivery.
- Collaborative Responsibility: Work together on resource allocation, balancing the needs of the project with the overarching product strategy. Communicate effectively about resource constraints and requirements.
10. Success Metrics and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs):
- Expectation: Collaboratively define success metrics and KPIs that align with both project and product goals.
- Collaborative Responsibility: Identify and track key metrics that measure the success of both the project and the product. Use data-driven insights to make informed decisions and improvements.
By adhering to these expectations and collaborative responsibilities, project managers, product managers, and product owners contribute to a cohesive and productive partnership, ensuring that projects are aligned with product strategies and organizational objectives within the Agile Product Creative Growth framework.
Program Managers
Program Managers play a crucial role in supporting the Agile Product Creative Growth (APCG) method by overseeing and coordinating multiple projects and initiatives within a program. Their responsibilities involve aligning projects with organizational goals, fostering collaboration, and ensuring the successful delivery of program outcomes. Here are key responsibilities for Program Managers within the APCG framework:
1. Program Definition and Scope:
- Responsibility: Define the scope and objectives of the program in alignment with organizational goals and the Agile Product Creative Growth method. Ensure a clear understanding of the program's purpose and expected outcomes.
2. Strategic Alignment:
- Responsibility: Align the program with the overall strategic goals of the organization. Ensure that program initiatives contribute to the creative growth and innovation outlined in the Agile Product Creative Growth method.
3. Stakeholder Engagement:
- Responsibility: Engage with key stakeholders, including C-Suite leaders, product managers, and project teams. Foster collaboration and communication to ensure that stakeholder expectations align with program objectives.
4. Cross-Functional Collaboration:
- Responsibility: Promote collaboration among cross-functional teams within the program. Facilitate communication and coordination to ensure a cohesive and integrated approach to program delivery.
5. Resource Management:
- Responsibility: Manage and allocate resources across projects within the program. Work closely with project managers, product owners, and other stakeholders to optimize resource utilization.
6. Risk Management:
- Responsibility: Identify, assess, and mitigate risks at the program level. Develop risk mitigation strategies that align with the Agile Product Creative Growth method and ensure the successful delivery of program outcomes.
7. Agile Coaching and Support:
- Responsibility: Provide coaching and support to project teams within the program on agile methodologies. Foster an agile mindset and ensure teams are equipped to implement agile practices effectively.
8. Program Governance:
- Responsibility: Establish program governance structures that align with agile principles. Define decision-making processes, escalation procedures, and communication channels to support program success.
9. Communication and Reporting:
- Responsibility: Facilitate effective communication within the program. Develop and maintain reporting mechanisms that provide visibility into program progress, issues, and achievements.
10. Program Metrics and KPIs:
- Responsibility: Define key program metrics and key performance indicators (KPIs). Use data-driven insights to assess program performance and make informed decisions to support Agile Product Creative Growth.
11. Integration with Agile Teams:
- Responsibility: Integrate program management practices with the work of agile teams. Ensure that program initiatives align with the principles of agile methodologies being used by individual project teams.
12. Agile Portfolio Management:
- Responsibility: Manage the program portfolio of projects. Align program priorities with organizational goals and ensure that the collective impact of projects contributes to the overall business strategy.
13. Collaboration with Product Teams:
- Responsibility: Collaborate with product managers and product owners to align program initiatives with product development strategies. Ensure that program outcomes contribute to the success of products within the organization.
14. Change Management:
- Responsibility: Facilitate change management processes within the program. Support teams in adapting to changes in project scope, requirements, or priorities, ensuring a smooth transition.
15. Agile Ceremonies Participation:
- Responsibility: Actively participate in agile ceremonies, such as program increment (PI) planning, to align program activities with agile development cycles. Provide guidance and support during planning phases.
16. Program Reviews and Retrospectives:
- Responsibility: Conduct regular program reviews and retrospectives. Gather feedback from teams, stakeholders, and leadership to identify areas for improvement and enhance program effectiveness.
17. Innovation Support:
- Responsibility: Support innovation initiatives within the program. Foster a culture of creativity and experimentation to drive continuous improvement and contribute to creative growth.
18. Alignment with Strategic Goals:
- Responsibility: Ensure that program initiatives align with the strategic goals of the organization. Contribute to the development of program strategies that support overall business objectives.
By fulfilling these responsibilities, Program Managers play a crucial role in supporting the Agile Product Creative Growth method, ensuring that program initiatives are well-coordinated, aligned with organizational goals, and contribute to the organization's creative growth and innovation objectives.
Strategy Teams
Strategy Teams can play a pivotal role in supporting the Agile Product Creative Growth (APCG) method by shaping the overall direction of the organization, aligning activities with strategic goals, and fostering a culture of innovation. Here are key responsibilities for Strategy Teams within the APCG framework:
1. Strategic Planning:
- Responsibility: Lead the development of the organization's strategic plan. Align strategic objectives with the principles of the Agile Product Creative Growth method, emphasizing creativity, adaptability, and innovation.
2. Agile Strategy Development:
- Responsibility: Develop agile strategies that can adapt to changing market conditions and customer needs. Embrace an iterative approach to strategy development, allowing for continuous adjustments based on feedback and insights.
3. Market Analysis and Insight:
- Responsibility: Conduct market analysis and gather insights to inform strategic decision-making. Stay informed about industry trends, competitive landscapes, and emerging opportunities that support creative growth.
4. Jobs-to-be-Done Integration:
- Responsibility: Integrate the Jobs-to-be-Done theory into strategic planning. Understand customer needs, motivations, and desired outcomes to shape strategies that align with the Agile Product Creative Growth method.
5. Alignment with Agile Teams:
- Responsibility: Ensure that strategic goals align with the work of agile teams across the organization. Foster collaboration between strategy teams and operational teams to ensure a cohesive approach to execution.
6. Innovation Strategy:
- Responsibility: Develop and communicate an innovation strategy that encourages experimentation and creative thinking. Support initiatives that contribute to organizational growth and competitiveness.
7. Continuous Improvement Advocacy:
- Responsibility: Advocate for a culture of continuous improvement. Encourage teams to reflect on their processes, learn from experiences, and iterate on strategies to enhance overall effectiveness.
8. Risk and Opportunity Management:
- Responsibility: Manage risks and identify opportunities associated with strategic initiatives. Develop risk mitigation strategies that align with the principles of the Agile Product Creative Growth method.
9. Collaboration with Agile Coaches:
- Responsibility: Collaborate with Agile Coaches to ensure that agile principles are integrated into strategic planning. Provide guidance on how strategic goals can be achieved through agile methodologies.
10. Agile Governance Integration:
- Responsibility: Integrate agile governance practices into the strategic planning process. Ensure that governance structures support agility, adaptability, and the principles of the Agile Product Creative Growth method.
11. Communication of Strategic Intent:
- Responsibility: Effectively communicate the strategic intent of the organization. Ensure that all levels of the organization understand the strategic goals and how they contribute to the overall vision.
12. Agile Portfolio Management:
- Responsibility: Oversee the management of strategic initiatives as part of the overall portfolio. Align the portfolio with the organization's creative growth objectives and ensure that individual projects contribute to strategic goals.
13. Collaboration with Product Teams:
- Responsibility: Collaborate with product managers and product teams to align product development strategies with overall organizational strategy. Ensure that products contribute to the realization of strategic objectives.
14. Customer-Centric Focus:
- Responsibility: Foster a customer-centric focus in strategic planning. Ensure that strategies are developed with a deep understanding of customer needs and the desire to deliver value.
15. Resource Allocation:
- Responsibility: Participate in resource allocation decisions that align with strategic priorities. Collaborate with finance and operational teams to optimize resource utilization for creative growth.
16. Alignment with Legal and Compliance:
- Responsibility: Collaborate with legal and compliance teams to ensure that strategic initiatives adhere to legal and regulatory standards. Support the development of processes that maintain legal and ethical integrity.
17. Metrics and KPIs Definition:
- Responsibility: Define key metrics and key performance indicators (KPIs) that align with strategic goals. Use data-driven insights to measure the success of strategic initiatives.
18. Alignment with Agile Product Creative Growth Values:
- Responsibility: Ensure that strategic decisions align with the core values of the Agile Product Creative Growth method, emphasizing creativity, collaboration, and a customer-centric approach.
By fulfilling these responsibilities, Strategy Teams support the Agile Product Creative Growth method by providing strategic direction, fostering innovation, and ensuring that organizational activities are aligned with the principles of creative growth and agility.
QA Testing Teams
Quality Assurance (QA) teams play a crucial role in supporting the Agile Product Creative Growth (APCG) method by ensuring that products and solutions meet the highest standards of quality, align with organizational goals, and contribute to the overall creative growth. Here are key responsibilities for QA teams within the APCG framework:
1. Quality Standards and Guidelines:
- Responsibility: Establish and communicate quality standards and guidelines that align with the principles of the Agile Product Creative Growth method. Ensure that all team members understand and adhere to these standards.
2. Agile Testing Practices:
- Responsibility: Implement agile testing practices that integrate seamlessly with the agile development process. Collaborate with development teams to conduct testing iteratively and ensure continuous feedback.
3. Test Planning and Strategy:
- Responsibility: Develop test plans and strategies that align with product development goals and the overall APCG strategy. Incorporate risk-based testing approaches and prioritize testing efforts based on critical functionality.
4. Collaboration with Agile Teams:
- Responsibility: Collaborate closely with agile teams, including developers, product owners, and Scrum Masters. Participate in Agile ceremonies to stay informed about project progress and contribute to decision-making.
5. Automation Frameworks:
- Responsibility: Develop and maintain test automation frameworks that support agile development. Automate repetitive and critical test cases to enhance efficiency and ensure quick feedback on code changes.
6. Performance Testing:
- Responsibility: Conduct performance testing to ensure that products meet scalability and performance requirements. Identify and address performance bottlenecks that may impact the user experience.
7. User Experience (UX) Testing:
- Responsibility: Collaborate with design teams to conduct UX testing. Ensure that the user interface and overall user experience align with design principles and contribute to creative growth.
8. Security Testing:
- Responsibility: Perform security testing to identify vulnerabilities and ensure that products meet security standards. Collaborate with security teams to address and mitigate potential security risks.
9. Continuous Integration/Continuous Deployment (CI/CD) Integration:
- Responsibility: Integrate QA processes into CI/CD pipelines. Ensure that automated tests are executed as part of the continuous integration process to provide rapid feedback on code changes.
10. Test Data Management:
- Responsibility: Manage test data effectively to support testing scenarios. Ensure that test data is representative of real-world usage and covers a range of conditions.
11. Cross-Browser and Cross-Device Testing:
- Responsibility: Conduct cross-browser and cross-device testing to ensure that products are compatible with various browsers and devices. Address any issues related to responsiveness and usability.
12. Regression Testing:
- Responsibility: Implement and execute regression testing strategies to ensure that new features do not introduce unintended side effects or break existing functionality.
13. Collaboration with Product Teams:
- Responsibility: Collaborate with product managers and product owners to understand product requirements and user stories. Provide input on acceptance criteria and contribute to refining user stories.
14. Defect Management:
- Responsibility: Manage the defect life cycle effectively. Work with development teams to prioritize and address defects promptly, ensuring a quick resolution of issues.
15. Test Reporting and Metrics:
- Responsibility: Generate test reports and metrics that provide insights into the quality of the product. Use data-driven insights to identify areas for improvement and support the APCG strategy.
16. Cross-Functional Collaboration:
- Responsibility: Foster cross-functional collaboration with development, design, and product teams. Act as a quality advocate and contribute to a culture of quality throughout the organization.
17. Agile Ceremonies Participation:
- Responsibility: Actively participate in Agile ceremonies, such as sprint reviews and planning sessions. Provide insights into the quality of deliverables and collaborate on continuous improvement initiatives.
18. Alignment with Strategic Goals:
- Responsibility: Ensure that QA activities align with the strategic goals of the organization. Contribute to the development of QA strategies that support the overall APCG method and creative growth objectives.
By fulfilling these responsibilities, QA teams support the Agile Product Creative Growth method by ensuring that the products delivered are of high quality, align with strategic goals, and contribute to the overall creative growth of the organization.
THE TEST PREP QUESTIONS & ANSWERS
The Agile Product Creative Growth method gives companies a modern framework that has the simplicity and guardrails to keep innovation flowing.
True
The Agile Product Creative Growth method gives engineering teams the confidence that the right work is coming down the pike sustainably.
True
The Agile Product Creative Growth method gives Product Owners the peace of mind to innovate to the finish line without driving the next why
True
The Agile Product Creative Growth method gives product managers the peace of mind that their dreams are becoming reality while they dream of the next dream.
True
The Agile Product Creative Growth method gives leadership the confidence that they know what they approved, who is doing it, and what is expected by when.
True
The Agile Product Creative Growth method gives Project Management leadership the peace of mind that scoring models are in place and can be viewed as self-service while the development teams are working on the tasks at hand.
True
The Agile Product Creative Growth method gives the Director of Product the confidence that the entire Product Ecosystem is running smoothly, sustainably, with innovation fueled.
True
The Agile Product Creative Growth method gives the C-Suite confidence that their Products are being developed within the highest Agile Frameworks’ Standards.
True
The Director of Product is required to do the work as prioritized by the Executive Team and Stakeholders.
True
Roadmaps are created by Product with Executives and Stakeholder Leadership.
True
Development Teams can give status and deadline updates outside the team as needed.
False
Sprint Planning should be 30 minutes or less for a 7 person team to discourage burnout.
True
Scrum Masters are allowed to follow the scrum guide as guard rails, but starting with what empowers the team is what is expected in the modernized role. No scrumbots.
True
Project Management reports are available through the system chosen for scoring and status should not be asked of the team.
True
Projects are now completed iteratively, not all at once. This means that the work is broken down into measurable milestones, and improved until the minimum viable product for market is ready.
True
The concept of failing fast is important because it allows the team to try things and improve as needed.
True
Servant leadership means all teams have a pastor.
False
Servant leadership means that all teams should feel a lift toward shared success from their leaders.
True
Being Agile means being guided by the Agile Manifesto.
True
All teams have Retrospectives.
True
All teams have Standups.
True
Stop doing Agile to be Agile.
True
Being Agile means being open to learning as we go.
True
Being Agile means
our highest priority is to satisfy the customer through the early and continuous delivery of valuable software.
True
Being Agile means that
we welcome changing requirements, even late in development. Agile processes harness change for the customer’s competitive advantage.
True
Being Agile means that we
deliver working software frequently, from a couple of weeks to a couple of months, with a preference to the shorter timescale.
True
Being Agile means the business people and developers work together throughout the project.
True
Being Agile means that we build projects around motivated individuals. Then, give them the environment and support they need, and trust them to get the job done.
True
Being Agile means working software is the primary measure of progress.
True
Being Agile means that the Agile processes promote sustainable development. The sponsors, developers, and users should be able to maintain a constant pace indefinitely.
True
Being Agile means we spend continuous attention to technical excellence and good design to enhance agility.
True
Being Agile means we encourage
simplicity–the art of maximizing the amount of work not done–is essential.
True
Being Agile means we think the best architectures, requirements, and designs emerge from self-organizing teams.
True
Being Agile means at regular intervals, the team reflects on how to become more effective, then tunes and adjusts its behavior accordingly.
True
Being Agile means we
ignore changing requirements,especially late in development. Agile processes harness the lazy approach.
False
Being Agile means we
deliver broken software quarterly, from a couple of months to a couple of years, with a preference to the longer timescale
.
False
Being Agile means that business people and developers must never work together throughout the project. Only at the end can the business be angry and the developers hurt because the wrong work was done at the wrong time because no one communicated along the way.
False
Being Agile means our highest priority is to dis-satisfy the customer through the late and occasional delivery of random features.
False
Being Agile means we don’t welcome changing requirements. Agile processes hinder change for the customer’s competitive advantage.
False
Being Agile means not following Agile processes. The sponsors, developers, and users should never be able to maintain a constant pace indefinitely.
False
Being Agile means continuous technical neglect and poor design.
False
Being Agile means building projects around unmotivated individuals.
False
Agile Product Owners should be ready to help with marketing.
True
Agile Product Managers have to do it all alone.
False
C-Suite Leaders will always be part of the overall strategy decisions.
True
Designers are an important part of the development team in order to ensure a great customer experience.
True
Employee Managers are still an important part of organizations structure, however they are no longer hands on as part of product development.
True
Strategy Teams, already working with the C-Suite should now work with Product Teams and the C-Suite.
True
The Agile Product Creative Growth Team is required to self-manage progress to stay on point.
True
Sr. Leadership must agree upon the game first.
True
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