Many self-appointed gurus keep repeating that the MVP is “the first usable product version with a minimal set of features”. Bullsh*t. Even Wikipedia is wrong! — Let’s start with the basics. MVP is short for “Minimum Viable Product”. The goal of MVP, as defined by Eric Ries, is to validate critical assumptions about the product idea and get maximum validated learning with minimal effort. The value of MVP is to learn as quickly as possible, minimize…

Toyota way, nemawashi, servant leadership, and lean thinking critique — This story is Part II of the "End of Scrum" series. I'm trying to look to the future and answer the question: "Is it really game over for Scrum as some say, or maybe the game hasn't even started yet?". Before continuing this one, I encourage you to read Part…

Scrum is not a panacea for everything. — In 2010, Ken Schwaber and Jeff Sutherland wrote the first version of the Scrum Guide to help people worldwide understand Scrum. Scrum quickly became the # 1 framework in the software development industry. I’m a great Scrum enthusiast myself. Having said that, it’s easy to notice that many people try…

Velocity is one of the most misused Agile metrics. Managers, Product Owners and Scrum Masters trying to keep it constant at all costs drive their Teams to the abyss of no return — What is Velocity? Velocity is an indication of how many Product Backlog Items (e.g. User Stories) were turned into an Increment during the Sprint by the Scrum Team. Velocity can be measured in several ways. A frequently used metric is the sum of Story Points corresponding to Product Backlog Items completed during Sprint…

Top 10 books on product management 2022 — Many people ask me for books on Product Management. Recently I decided to spend a few hours browsing my notes and trying to construct a list of the top 10. In my opinion, those are classics that every PM must read. They will tech you much more than any certification. 1. The Lean Startup by Eric Ries …

It’s crazy. My LinkedIn account just hit 15K followers. In the last 28 days, my posts have been displayed over 113K times, resulting in 982 comments, reactions, and shares.

Have you noticed that most content on product management is focused on what “to do?” However, the biggest challenge for me was unlearning the behaviors I learned at the beginning of my career. Here are the top three “unlearnings”: Stop obsessing over the solutions As a former software developer, I often felt like going straight…

The history of medicine is full of dramatic errors that resulted in cemeteries full of patients. Yet, doctors have argued that they have been acting based on compelling evidence for thousands of years. The same is with product management. Self-appointed gurus do harm as people tend to believe more in stories and emotions than hard facts or scientific proof. — Self-confidence and conviction about their perfection and reaching the limits of knowledge about treatment are typical of doctors of all ages. The father of medicine, Hippocrates, was an advocate of the trepanation of the skull. He recommended its use in his medical guide on head injuries. In the Middle Ages…

As a novice Project Owner, I was obsessed with product features. I was constantly rushing to add as many of them as possible to attract new customers. My product backlog grew at an alarming rate, the team gave 120% of themselves and yet we did not see satisfactory results. It…