Diego and Vivek dig into the fears many product managers, business analysts, and product owners have about being replaced by AI, and reframe AI as a tool that multiplies your impact rather than eliminates your role. They walk through concrete examples of how AI can supercharge analysis, strategy, and communication, and why the product managers who know how to use these tools will outpace those who ignore them.​

Key Takeaways

What AI product managers really do

Diego breaks down three paths in AI product management: AI enhanced PM, AI experience PM, and AI builder PM and what each role actually owns day to day. You learn how to think about your own career path depending on your strengths and interests.​

Will AI replace product roles

Instead of worrying about AI taking jobs, Diego shows how AI is becoming the new Excel, a tool that makes great product managers, analysts, and leaders 10 times more effective if they learn to use it. The real risk is refusing to adapt while others around you do.​

How to become an AI savvy PM

Diego shares a practical roadmap for someone starting as a business analyst, project manager, or junior PM who wants to move into AI product work without trying to make one giant leap. He explains how to stack experience, choose the right roles, and build genuine AI fluency along the way.​

Building and shipping AI features

The conversation goes deep on how AI changes the product development lifecycle, from data and guardrails to evaluation and post launch monitoring. Diego explains why working with probabilistic systems like LLMs demands a different mindset than traditional deterministic software.​

Using AI to 10x your productivity

Diego walks through how he personally uses tools like Gemini to draft strategy docs, process customer feedback, and prioritize roadmaps, and how anyone can run similar workflows with their own tools of choice. The focus is on finding the parts of your job that consume the most time and letting AI handle the heavy lifting.​

Career and learning mindset

From using AI to evaluate your resume against job descriptions to stress testing your interview answers, Diego shares ways to turn AI into a career coach. He also talks about formal education, risk taking, and why degrees can open doors but do not define your ceiling as a product manager.​

Connect With Diego

LinkedIn Diego Granados: https://www.linkedin.com/in/diegogranadosh/

Timestamps

00:00 - Welcome and Diego’s background in AI and product management​

03:00 - Will AI replace PMs, BAs, and product owners or make them stronger​

06:00 - Industry trends gen AI hype, guardrails, and where startups can still win​

08:00 - Why Diego wrote The AI Product Playbook and who it is really for​

12:00 - The three AI PM paths AI experience, AI builder, and AI enhanced​

17:00 - How much AI knowledge do you actually need as a PM​

20:00 - A realistic multi step path into AI product management​

21:00 - How AI changes product development from data to evaluations​

26:00 - Mindset and skills of effective AI product managers​

28:00 - Real examples of using AI to 10x productivity in PM workflows​

34:00 - Using AI to plan your growth, promotions, and job search​

37:00 - Do you really need a college degree to be a successful PM​

39:00 - Why Diego fell in love with AI product management and predicting the future​

41:00 - Final thoughts on where AI and product careers are headed​

If this episode resonated with you, share it with a fellow PM, BA, or aspiring product leader who is trying to figure out their next step in the age of AI.

Key Topics & Insights

1. The Reality of the Job Search: Persistence, Patience, and Rejection

Each guest describes a journey marked by multiple interviews, rejections, and moments of doubt, but emphasizes the importance of perseverance and self-belief.

Rejection is reframed as a learning opportunity, every interview, even unsuccessful ones, helps refine answers and builds confidence for the next round.

“You are going to get out what you put in,” Tyrone notes, highlighting the need for consistent effort and a growth mindset.

2. Leveraging Networks and Mentorship

Alumni stress the value of leaning into mentors and the Agile Academy community for support, advice, and encouragement.

Building connections, both within the cohort and externally (e.g., reaching out to recruiters on LinkedIn), significantly increases the chance of landing interviews and offers.

Organizing job search efforts, using spreadsheets to track applications and recruiter contacts, helps maintain momentum and clarity.

3. Transitioning from Non-Tech Backgrounds

Several guests, including Birtni and Lehar, share how they moved from fields like teaching, healthcare, and running a bakery into agile roles, proving that a tech background isn’t a prerequisite for success.

Honesty about knowledge gaps is encouraged; being upfront in interviews about what you don’t know can build credibility and shows a willingness to learn.

4. Balancing Life, Work, and Learning

Many alumni juggled full-time jobs, family responsibilities, and the demands of the Agile Academy program.

Practical tips include maintaining routines for mental health (like exercise), staying organized, and celebrating small wins to stay motivated.

Yari and David both describe the importance of daily discipline and focusing on what’s in their control, especially during challenging personal circumstances.

5. Mindset Shifts: From Self-Doubt to Confidence

The transition to agile roles is as much about personal growth as acquiring technical skills.

Alumni describe how the program helped them articulate their strengths, recognize transferable skills, and develop the confidence to advocate for themselves in interviews.

“If somebody can, why can’t I?” Lehar reflects, capturing the spirit of resilience and self-empowerment.

6. Practical Job Search Strategies

Proactive outreach to recruiters and leveraging LinkedIn are cited as game-changers.

Alumni recommend preparing a strong list of questions for interviews and continuously updating a bank of challenging questions to practice.

Staying active in the alumni network and sharing interview experiences helps everyone prepare and improve together.

7. The Power of Community and Giving Back

Many guests express a desire to give back to the Agile Academy community, mentoring others just as they were supported.

The sense of belonging and shared struggle is a recurring theme—no one is alone on this journey.

Key Takeaways

Persistence Pays Off: Stay consistent, keep learning from each experience, and don’t let rejection define your journey.

Lean Into Your Network: Mentors, peers, and alumni are invaluable resources—ask for help and share knowledge.

Own Your Story: Non-traditional backgrounds are assets. Be honest about what you know and eager to learn what you don’t.

Stay Organized: Track your applications, recruiter contacts, and interview questions to maximize your job search effectiveness.

Prioritize Wellbeing: Balance the grind with activities that recharge you—mental resilience is key.

Give Back: As you progress, support others in the community. Success is sweeter when shared.

Timestamps

00:00 – Introductions & guest backgrounds (Yari, Tyrone, Lehar, David, Birtni)

03:00 – Navigating job offers, rejections, and building confidence (Tyrone)

08:00 – Organizing the job search and leveraging connections

12:00 – Transitioning from non-tech roles and overcoming self-doubt (Birtni, Lehar)

18:00 – Coping with layoffs, resilience, and staying positive (Birtni)

22:00 – Mindset shifts: From “I can’t” to “I did” (Lehar)

24:00 – The impact of Agile Academy’s support and resources (Yari)

27:00 – Balancing family, work, and career change (David)

32:00 – Practical job search strategies and continuous improvement

35:00 – The importance of community and giving back

He’s worn many hats, from working in education and finance to diving deep into analytics, and eventually making his mark as a product leader in tech. Along the way, he’s faced self-doubt, career pivots, and the challenge of breaking into a new industry without a traditional background.

In this episode, Tyrone opens up about the real struggles and wins that shaped his journey. He shares how reframing his identity, from “finance guy” to “tech professional” was a game-changer, and why knowing your own story inside out is the secret sauce for nailing interviews. 

What You’ll Learn:

• The mindset shift that helped Tyrone see himself as a tech professional—and why that matters more than your resume
• How to prepare for interviews so you can confidently talk about your experience (and not sound like a robot)
• Building real connections with recruiters and why those relationships can open unexpected doors
• The art of storytelling in interviews, using the STAR method, and how to share both real and hypothetical stories to show your thinking
• What to do when you don’t know the answer to a question (hint: honesty and curiosity go a long way)
• Why helping others in your network can come back to help you in surprising ways
• How to treat interviews as a two-way street, gathering data about companies and making sure they’re the right fit for you

If you enjoy this episode, we’d love for you to rate, review, and share it with your friends!

From international students navigating visa challenges to career changers leveraging non-technical backgrounds, this episode is packed with practical advice, candid reflections, and actionable strategies for anyone aspiring to break into tech roles like Product Manager, Scrum Master, or Agile Coach.

Key Topics & Insights

1. Overcoming Barriers as International Students

Sid Sachdeva and Paulo Carini recount their experiences moving to the U.S. for education, facing uncertainties, and navigating the additional hurdles of visa sponsorship and limited interview opportunities.

They emphasize the importance of persistence, networking, and standing out by being resourceful and indispensable to their teams.

2. Leveraging Non-Traditional Backgrounds

Haley Prestwood and Darian Riley highlight how skills from unrelated fields, such as philosophy, politics, law, and even Division I basketball coaching, can translate into tech roles.

Both stress the value of soft skills: communication, facilitation, and leadership, which are often more critical than technical expertise for roles like Scrum Master and Product Manager.  

3. The Power of Mentorship and Community

All guests credit mentorship, peer support, and structured bootcamps (like the Agile Coach Program) as pivotal in their transitions.

Mock interviews, feedback from experienced practitioners, and ongoing community support helped them build confidence and refine their approach to job applications and interviews.

4. Mindset Shifts and Dealing with Imposter Syndrome

Haley and Sid discuss the emotional journey, moving from self-doubt and imposter syndrome to confidence and self-advocacy.

They encourage listeners to "lean into discomfort," ask questions, and recognize that growth happens outside the comfort zone.

5. Practical Job Search Strategies

The guests share actionable tactics: rigorous interview prep, building detailed Q&A documents, practicing with mentors, and making themselves available for opportunities at any time.

Paulo and Sid note the importance of being proactive, applying to many positions, and not being discouraged by rejections, especially as international candidates.

6. Transitioning and Thriving in Tech Roles

Once in their roles, guests focused on continuous learning, building relationships with team members, and seeking feedback.

Darian Riley, now a senior agile leader, describes how coaching and servant leadership skills from sports directly informed his agile practice, team empowerment, and ability to drive business value.

7. Embracing Remote Work and Flexibility

Haley and Paulo reflect on the benefits and adjustments of remote work, including the freedom to travel and the need for self-discipline and asynchronous communication.

8. The Role of AI and Continuous Upskilling

The panel discusses how AI tools are transforming learning and productivity, making it easier to upskill and adapt to new challenges in tech.

KEY TAKEAWAYS:

Persistence Pays Off: Breaking into tech, especially as an international student or career changer, requires resilience, relentless application, and a willingness to stand out.

Soft Skills Matter: Communication, leadership, and adaptability often outweigh technical skills, especially in agile roles.

Mentorship Accelerates Growth: Seek out mentors, practice interviews, and leverage community resources.

Mindset is Everything: Overcoming self-doubt and embracing discomfort are crucial for growth.

Be Proactive and Prepared: Prepare extensively for interviews, make yourself available, and treat every opportunity as potentially life-changing.

Continuous Learning: Invest in your own growth, leverage AI tools, and never stop improving.

Key Product Ownership Insights:

Joe Justice (Agile Business Institute, ex-Tesla, WikiSpeed)

• Agility as Innovation Engine: Agility is about making change cheaper, faster, and less emotionally taxing. At Tesla, the “Justice Board” (a cascading chain of KPIs) aligns everyone to the mission, empowering any contributor to propose measurable experiments that advance the master plan12.
• Embedded Leadership: Leaders, including product owners, should be deeply involved with teams—removing barriers, modeling commitment, and sharing ownership of outcomes.
• Mob Programming for Ownership: High-performing teams share business context and technical knowledge through practices like mob programming, making the product owner an integral, accessible part of the team rather than a distant decision-maker.

Richard Seroter (Google Cloud)

• The PO as Value Translator: The product owner is not a distant spec-writer but an “intense stakeholder”—embedded with engineers, translating customer needs into actionable stories, and prioritizing with courage and clarity.
• Continuous Feedback & Data-Driven Decisions: Modern product teams thrive on small batch delivery and rapid feedback. Product owners must be adept at interpreting telemetry and customer data to inform priorities and validate outcomes quickly.
• Role Fluidity: In some organizations, the distinction between product owner and product manager blurs, but the core remains: maximizing value by being close to both customers and the delivery team, reducing friction between vision and execution.

Mark Shead (Xeric Corporation)

• Principles Over Labels: True agility is about living agile values and principles, not just adopting practices or titles. Teams and product owners must align decisions to core agile principles, not just mimic successful teams elsewhere.
• Embedded Product Owners: The most effective product owners are those who use the product themselves and are continuously available to the team—answering questions, clarifying needs, and making real-time decisions.
• Backlog as a Living Tool: Product owners must ruthlessly prioritize, avoid bloated backlogs, and focus on delivering customer value, not just accumulating requests or technical debt.

Sheetal Rajpal (Head of Product; ex-Amazon, LendingTree)

• Customer-Centricity & Data: Product owners must “walk in the customer’s shoes,” using data and direct observation to continuously improve user experience and product outcomes.
• Strategic Product Thinking: At Amazon, product leaders own both strategy and execution—articulating a clear vision, defining decision-making tenets, and using the “working backwards” process to align teams around customer-centric outcomes.
• Building Data-Driven Products: Making products data-driven requires clarity on objectives, a deep understanding of data quality, and explicit constraints—especially when leveraging AI or machine learning.

Jeff Bubolz (Organizational Agility Advisor, Co-Founder)

• Focus & Trade-Offs: The essence of product ownership is making tough trade-offs and saying “no” as often as “yes.” A focused, strategic backlog is more valuable than a frantic, overloaded one16.
• Scaling Without Overhead: When scaling, avoid creating layers of product owners and managers that add friction. Instead, form autonomous, cross-functional teams aligned to real products and outcomes.
• The Three Vs: Product owners should set Vision, maximize Value, and Validate outcomes—prioritizing learning and continuous improvement over rigid plans.

Practical Advice for Product Owners

• Be Embedded: The best product owners are part of the team’s daily life, not just attending ceremonies or writing requirements. They are accessible, knowledgeable, and invested in both the product and the people.
• Prioritize Ruthlessly: Every “yes” to a backlog item is a “no” to something else. Product owners must be strategic, focusing on what delivers the most value and aligns with the product vision.
• Align on Principles: Start with shared understanding of agile principles and values, then select practices that support those principles in your context.
• Use Data Effectively: Leverage real-time data and customer feedback to inform decisions, validate outcomes, and iterate quickly.
• Enable Team Autonomy: Empower teams to solve problems, avoid micromanagement, and foster a culture of continuous learning and experimentation.
• Strategic Scaling: When scaling, ensure teams remain cross-functional and outcome-oriented, not siloed by function or weighed down by management layers.

Quotes from the Episode

“Agility is making change cheaper in time and money, and also in emotional willpower—making it less draining or even more fun. That is the game.” — Joe Justice

“A product owner is not an arm’s length participant. You should be pairing with engineers, getting rapid feedback, and translating customer needs into value.” — Richard Seroter

“The most effective product owners I’ve ever worked with were embedded with the team, using the software daily, and always available to help.”
— Mark Shead

“At Amazon, PMs own both strategy and execution—articulating vision, setting decision-making tenets, and working backwards from the customer.” — Sheetal Rajpal

“The essence of product ownership is making tough trade-offs and saying no as often as yes. Focused, strategic backlogs unlock value.” — Jeff Bubolz

Richard shares his journey from leading outbound product management teams to driving developer relations at Google, offering an insider’s perspective on Google Cloud’s AI strategy and what it means for product leaders, teams, and organizations.

Richard unpacks how Google’s unique AI stack-from foundational research and custom TPUs to platforms like Vertex and Gemini-powered assistants-is shaping the next generation of products. 

The discussion dives deep into how AI is transforming the role of product managers and product owners, and why adaptability, curiosity, and discipline are more critical than ever.

Key Takeaways

Google’s AI Stack: More Than Hype

• Google’s end-to-end AI stack spans research, custom hardware (TPUs), foundational models (like Gemini), platforms (Vertex), and user-facing tools that power everything from Gmail to code assistants.
• The focus: Make AI widely useful and integrated-not just a novelty.

Product Management in the Age of AI

• AI accelerates landscape analysis, market research, and prototyping-what once took weeks can now happen in minutes.
• Product managers must ruthlessly prioritize, know when to quit, and focus on high-impact opportunities-even at large companies like Google.

Timeless Skills for Modern PMs

• Humility, curiosity, and discipline remain essential. The best PMs lead through influence, not authority, and are relentless about customer empathy.
• “Customer zero” mindset: Use your own product to build insight and credibility.

AI Fluency for Teams

• Becoming “AI first” starts with being “AI ready.” Upskill every team member, from executive assistants to general managers, in foundational AI concepts and tools.
• Build comfort and reduce anxiety by encouraging experimentation and bottom-up idea generation.

Prototyping and Communication

• The days of 50-page specs are fading. Use AI tools to create prototypes, videos, and visual artifacts-even if you don’t code-to communicate ideas and inspire teams.
• Product owners and managers must own the translation from concept to working representation.

Building Trust and Responsible AI

• Avoid the “black box” trap: Understand how LLMs fit into architectures, and design for transparency, real-time updates, and responsible evaluation.
• Regularly test and update systems as models evolve to maintain quality and trust.

Agents and Agent Platforms

• Agents are redefining automation and business processes. Google’s Agent Space and development kits enable low-code/no-code agent creation and orchestration.
• Product leaders should familiarize themselves with agent frameworks to unlock new possibilities for users and businesses.

Lead the Change

• AI isn’t just about productivity-it’s about doing better, more fulfilling work at higher quality and impact.
• Don’t wait for AI to reshape your role. Proactively lead your career and organization through this transformation.

Connect with Richard Seroter:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/seroter/

Timestamps:

• 00:00 – Introduction: Richard’s journey and evolving role at Google Cloud
• 02:00 – Google’s AI stack: From research to real-world applications
• 05:00 – Product strategy: Where PMs add value in an AI-driven world
• 10:00 – Prioritization, opportunity cost, and ruthless focus at scale
• 12:00 – Timeless PM skills: Humility, curiosity, and discipline
• 16:00 – AI fluency: Upskilling teams and building readiness
• 20:00 – Prototyping and communication: New tools for product owners
• 24:00 – AI’s impact on engineering productivity and team workflows
• 28:00 – Actionable steps for AI-ready teams: Artifacts, documentation, and collaboration
• 32:00 – Tools, research, and continuous customer feedback at Google
• 35:00 – Misconceptions and best practices in building AI products
• 40:00 – Scoping MVPs and defining requirements for AI-powered features
• 42:00 – Agents and agent platforms: The next frontier in automation
• 46:00 – The future of work: Leading with AI, not just adapting to it
• 48:00 – Closing thoughts: Be the driver of change, not the passenger

Our conversation explores how backgrounds in healthcare, finance, and data analytics can lead to thriving PM careers, emphasizing that a technical degree is not a prerequisite for success. The guests break down the core skills needed-critical thinking, emotional intelligence, cross-functional collaboration-and provide actionable advice for anyone aspiring to break into or advance within product management.

We also discuss the differences between PM roles at startups versus large enterprises, the evolving relationship between product managers and product owners, and how to lead through influence rather than authority. The episode is packed with practical strategies for interviews, panel preparation, and building daily habits that set PMs apart in a competitive field.

Featured Guests:

• Diego Granados
• Richard Seroter
• Rajsi Rana
• Neha Satya 
• Parth Detroja

Key Takeaways:

• Diverse Backgrounds: Success in product management is possible from non-traditional backgrounds-technical degrees are helpful but not required.
• Foundational Skills: Critical thinking, emotional intelligence, and cross-functional teamwork are essential.
• Dealing with Ambiguity: PMs must drive clarity and connect customer needs, business objectives, and technical feasibility.
• Influence Over Authority: Product managers lead through storytelling, data, and consensus-not direct authority.
• Customer Focus: The best PMs relentlessly advocate for the customer at every product stage.
• Role Clarity: The distinction between product manager and product owner varies by company, but both require close collaboration with engineering and stakeholders.
• Interviewing & Preparation: Build rapport with recruiters, use relevant buzzwords, tailor your story, and research your interview panel.
• Continuous Improvement: Treat product management and interviewing as skills to be honed daily-write, practice, and seek feedback.

Timestamps

• 00:00 – Introduction: Meet the guests and their journeys  
• 02:00 – Do you need a technical background? Myths debunked  
• 05:00 – What does a product manager really do?  
• 08:00 – Core skills: Ambiguity, cross-functional work, and influence  
• 12:00 – Defining your PM role and career growth  
• 15:00 – Product owner vs. product manager: Real-world perspectives  
• 20:00 – Leading through influence, not authority  
• 24:00 – Building strong partnerships with engineering  
• 26:00 – Interview tips: Recruiter calls and panel strategies  
• 30:00 – Daily habits for PM success and continuous learning  
• 32:00 – Final thoughts: Growth mindset and resilience in the PM journey

With over 200,000 followers on LinkedIn and a resume template downloaded over 100,000 times, Brian shares his unique journey from software developer and product owner to becoming a sought-after mentor for senior tech professionals and executives.

Brian unpacks the real reasons job seekers struggle to land interviews, why a resume alone isn’t enough, and how data-driven strategies, networking, and personal branding can transform your job search. He dives deep into resume writing, LinkedIn optimization, and interview techniques, offering actionable advice for anyone looking to stand out and secure multiple job offers.

KEY TAKEAWAYS:

• Beyond the Resume: Landing interviews requires more than just a well-written resume. Social profiles, networking, and a proactive application strategy are equally important.
• Data-Driven Approach: Build your resume based on current market needs by analyzing multiple job postings for your target role and identifying common keywords and requirements.
• One Story, One Resume: Use a single, well-optimized resume and LinkedIn profile for your target role to avoid red flags and confusion.
• Apply Fast, Apply Smart: Speed matters—apply quickly to new postings and avoid the “easy apply” trap by reaching out directly to hiring managers and recruiters.
• Target the Sweet Spot: Apply for roles where you meet 60–80% of the qualifications to ensure growth and avoid stagnation.
• Interview Mindset: If you’re brought in for an interview, the employer already sees value in you. Focus on building rapport, demonstrating curiosity, and thinking out loud when faced with unknowns.
• Networking That Works: Stand out by engaging meaningfully with content creators and professionals on LinkedIn—give value before asking for help.
• Compensation Strategy: Never disclose your salary expectations early. Let employers make the first offer to maximize your negotiating position.
• Plain Text Wins: Use a simple, plain-text resume format with bullet points—avoid fancy templates that can’t be read by applicant tracking systems (ATS).
• Leave a Lasting Impression: Success in interviews and networking is about the experience you create for others—be memorable, authentic, and valuable.

Connect with Brian Golod:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/briangolod/

Ashley discusses how her need to balance motherhood with a demanding career led her to explore AI tools, ultimately transforming her workflow and delivering outsized results for her organization. She breaks down the fundamentals of AI and AI agents in plain language, explains the difference between automation and agentic workflows, and highlights how businesses, especially project managers, business analysts, and enterprise leaders can leverage AI agents to drive efficiency, boost collaboration, and solve real business problems.

We explore the cultural and operational challenges of AI adoption in enterprise settings, including data privacy, change management, and the importance of cross-functional enablement. 

Ashley also provides a behind-the-scenes look at her consulting process, from identifying bottlenecks in customer journeys to building and scaling agentic workflows that deliver measurable ROI. She shares practical advice for aspiring professionals looking to future-proof their careers in the age of AI, emphasizing experimentation, continuous learning, and the value of people skills.

Key Takeaways:

• Ashley’s Journey: How a marketer condensed her workweek using AI, leading to a $25M pipeline overachievement in just three months1.
• AI vs. Automation: Understanding the distinction between rule-based automations and autonomous AI agents, and why it matters for business processes1.
• Real-World Impact: How AI agents can autonomously manage project workflows, from transcribing calls to creating actionable tasks in tools like Asana1.
• Enterprise Adoption: Insights into how even risk-averse industries like healthcare and government are embracing AI, and the cultural shifts required for successful implementation1.
• Data Security & Regulation: Best practices for vetting AI vendors, ensuring compliance, and using AI to audit privacy policies1.
• Implementation Blueprint: Ashley’s approach to identifying business problems, piloting agentic workflows, and scaling solutions across organizations with robust documentation and enablement plans1.
• Measuring ROI: A framework for tracking both quantitative and qualitative outcomes during AI pilot projects and organization-wide rollouts1.
• Future of AI Roles: Predictions about emerging roles like “marketing engineer” and the importance of domain expertise and adaptability in the evolving AI landscape1.
• Career Advice: Why curiosity, intentional tool optimization, and people skills are critical for anyone looking to build a resilient career in AI-driven business environments1.

Connect with Ashley:

• LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/theashleygross/

Timestamps:
00:00 – Introduction to Ashley Gross & her background
02:00 – How Ashley condensed her workweek with AI
05:00 – AI vs. automation: What’s the difference?
10:00 – AI agents in project management: Real-world examples
13:00 – Enterprise adoption: Culture, excitement, and barriers
15:00 – Data privacy, regulation, and vendor selection
18:00 – Ashley’s consulting process: From problem to agentic workflow
21:00 – Case study: Accelerating sales cycles with AI agents
24:00 – Scaling agentic workflows: Documentation & enablement
27:00 – Measuring ROI: Quantitative and qualitative outcomes
29:00 – The future of AI roles and skills
30:00 – Career advice for aspiring AI professionals
32:00 – Ashley’s educational programs and closing thoughts

If you enjoyed this episode, please rate, review, and share it with your network!

They also discuss how new and aspiring product managers can think strategically, set meaningful OKRs, and develop the right mindset for success.  

Whether you’re a startup founder or part of a large-scale enterprise, this conversation will leave you with actionable takeaways on how to structure your product thinking for impact.

Key Takeaways:
✅ The PRFAQ Framework: Amazon’s structured approach to idea validation and strategic product development.
✅ How writing narratives instead of presentations fosters better decision-making.
✅ The difference between product vision and strategy—and why both are essential.
✅ The role of customer-centric thinking in creating successful products.
✅ How new product managers can quickly ramp up and add value to their teams.
✅ Best practices for setting OKRs and tracking meaningful product metrics.
✅ Marcelo’s personal journey from engineering to product leadership and the lessons he learned along the way.

Connect and learn more about Marcelo Calbucci. 
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marcelocalbucci/

Resources & Links:
📖 Marcelo’s Book on the PRFAQ Framework: https://www.theprfaq.com/
📄 Example PRFAQ Templates: https://www.theprfaq.com/examples
📧 Marcelo’s Website: https://calbucci.com/

Norman breaks down the nuances of the SDR role, offering practical advice for anyone looking to transition into high-paying B2B sales positions.

We explore the foundational skills needed to succeed in sales, the differences between B2C and B2B sales, and how resilience, energy, and coachability can set you apart in interviews. He also shares his insights on leveraging tools like LinkedIn Sales Navigator, crafting compelling cold emails, and building long-term relationships with clients.

Key Takeaways:

• What is an SDR? Understanding the role and why it’s crucial for businesses.
• B2C vs. B2B Sales: Contrasting high-pressure commission-only roles with salaried SDR positions.
• Norman’s Journey: How he landed an SDR role at Google without a college degree and used grit to succeed.
• Prospecting Basics: Researching ideal client profiles (ICPs) and buyer personas effectively.
• Outreach Techniques: Writing cold emails that stand out and optimizing subject lines for mobile readability.
• Qualifying Leads: Asking the right questions to ensure meetings are valuable for both parties.
• Mindset for Success: Why energy, resilience, and a learner’s mindset are key for landing your first SDR job.

Connect with Norman:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/norman-rodriguez/

Timestamps:
00:00 - Introduction to Norman & his background
02:00 - What is an SDR? Breaking down the role
05:00 - Transitioning from B2C to B2B sales
10:00 - Norman’s experience as an SDR at Google
15:00 - Prospecting basics: Ideal client profiles & buyer personas
20:00 - Cold emailing tips: Subject lines & mobile optimization
25:00 - Qualifying leads effectively
30:00 - Mindset for success: Energy & coachability in interviews
40:00 - Tools for SDRs: LinkedIn Sales Navigator, LeadIQ, ZoomInfo
50:00 - Final thoughts & Norman’s advice for aspiring SDRs

If you enjoyed this episode, please rate, review, and share it with your network!

They dive deep into topics like transitioning careers, empowering teams to deliver business value without feeling overwhelmed, and navigating the challenges of scaling agile practices across organizations. Darian also shares his insights on leveraging AI in agile workflows and how Scrum Masters can evolve their roles to contribute to product strategy and organizational innovation.

Key Takeaways:

Darian’s Transition from Coaching Basketball to Agile Leadership: How coaching skills like mentoring and team building naturally transferred to agile practices.

Empowering Teams: Strategies for helping teams focus on business value while avoiding overwhelm.

Upskilling Through Pair Programming: How senior team members can mentor others effectively.

AI in Agile: Practical ways to integrate AI into agile workflows for efficiency and collaboration.

Scrum Master Evolution: Moving beyond facilitation to contribute to product strategy and innovation.

Creating Wins: Small shifts like transitioning from Scrum to Kanban for better team alignment.

Advice for New Agile Leaders: Building relationships through one-on-ones and understanding the technical and human sides of teamwork.

Connect with Darian:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/darian-riley-b1915349/

Timestamps:

00:00 - Introduction to Darian & his background

02:00 - Transitioning from coaching basketball to agile leadership

05:00 - Empowering teams to focus on business value without overwhelm

10:00 - Pair programming and strategies for upskilling teams

15:00 - Coaching teams on ownership and continuous improvement

20:00 - Leveraging AI in agile workflows for efficiency

25:00 - Aligning with leadership goals as a Scrum Master

30:00 - Evolving the Scrum Master role to influence product strategy

40:00 - Creating wins through small shifts in team practices

50:00 - Final thoughts & Darian’s reflections on his career journey

If you enjoyed this episode, please rate, review, and share it with your network!

Key Quotes from Sid Sachdeva:

1. “Being proactive is key. You have to start six months before everyone else to get ahead.”
2. “It’s not about how much you know—it’s about how you show up, engage, and collaborate.”
3. “Networking is a numbers game—keep applying, keep connecting, and don’t take rejections personally.”
4. “Product management is like being a mini-CEO—you have to balance engineering, design, and business.”

Main Topics Covered:

1. How to Get Started in Agile Roles: Adam shares how he went from working in finance to becoming a Scrum Master and later an Agile Coach. He explains how he discovered Agile and why it made sense to him.

2. Tips for Scrum Master Interviews: Adam talks about the different stages of job interviews:

First Interview: How to tell your story and connect with the recruiter.

Second Interview: How to prepare for more detailed conversations.

Third Interview: How to understand the team and company culture.

3. Personal Growth as a Way to Stand Out: Adam explains how working on personal growth, like reading self-improvement books, can help you stand out in interviews. He encourages people to talk about their personal growth in job interviews to show they are always learning.

4. Coaching During Interviews: Adam shares how you can add value during interviews by coaching the interviewer. He gives examples of how he explained Agile ideas to interviewers who didn’t fully understand them.

5. Do You Need a College Degree to Be a Scrum Master? Adam answers the common question about whether a college degree is needed to work in Agile. His answer? No, you don’t need a degree. What matters more is your mindset and willingness to learn.

Practical Interview Tips:

Share Your Agile Story: Talk about how you got into Agile and what you’ve learned.

Be Yourself: Show that you’re open to learning and can fit into the company’s culture.

Focus on Personal Growth: Mention books or courses that helped you grow as a person.

Ask Good Questions: Use the interview to learn more about the company and role.

Book Recommendations:

How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey

Leadership Gold by John Maxwell

Key Quotes from the Episode:

“If you talk about personal growth in your interviews, you will stand out from other candidates.” – Adam Miner

“You don’t need a degree to succeed in Agile. It’s more about your mindset and learning.” – Adam Miner

In this episode, we get into the nitty-gritty of job interviews with Neha, who's been through the wringer and come out on top. She's now a product manager and has some great insights on how to handle interviews, from the first handshake to the final questions. Neha's journey is pretty inspiring—starting off in business analytics, moving into the health tech industry, and now making waves at a company called Tree, where she's shaking up the influencer marketing world.

HIGHLIGHT QUOTES

• "If you can speak to personal growth outside of your nine-to-five in leadership, communications, discipline, success habits, you will probably set yourself apart from eight or nine out of ten other candidates in the process."
• "It's very much about what you are saying that another candidate is not saying."
• "You do not need a degree to succeed in corporate or agile. You don't have to have a technical background."

Get to know Adam and what she’s up to:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adam-miner-77793129/

Connect with Vivek and Pabitra to find out more about what they're up to:

Vivek’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vivekkhattri/

Pabitra’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pabitrakhanal/

The Agile Coach LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-agile-coach-llc/

Agile Coach Website: https://theagilecoach.com/

If you enjoy The Agile Coach and are interested in learning more, you can check us out at our website https://theagilecoach.com/

Adam shares his experience transitioning from a Scrum Master role to an Agile Coach role. He emphasizes the importance of developing the skill of influencing people through organic trust and respect. Adam believes that the ability to influence is crucial for both Scrum Masters and Agile Coaches. He also highlights the value of understanding the Agile mindset and principles, rather than focusing solely on specific frameworks or certifications. Adam discusses the challenges of working with leadership and management teams, particularly in overcoming resistance to change. He emphasizes the need for Agile Coaches to balance their knowledge of Agile practices with strong interpersonal and leadership skills. Adam encourages new Agilists to be opportunistic and step out of their comfort zones to gain experience. He also advises seeking guidance from experienced professionals in the desired role.

HIGHLIGHT QUOTES

• "The most effective skill in an Agile environment is the ability to influence people through organic trust and respect."
• "If you understand the mindset of agility and take the values and principles to heart, you can apply them to any process or situation."
• "It's difficult to convince leadership that changing the way they think is necessary to achieve different results."
• "The best coaches have a delicate balance of training and coaching, combining Agile knowledge with strong interpersonal skills."
• "The goal for any coach should be to scale Agile leadership and create self-organizing teams."

Get to know Adam and what he’s up to:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adam-miner-77793129/

Connect with Vivek and Pabitra to find out more about what they're up to:

Vivek’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vivekkhattri/

Pabitra’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pabitrakhanal/

The Agile Coach LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-agile-coach-llc/

Agile Coach Website: https://theagilecoach.com/

If you enjoy The Agile Coach and are interested in learning more, you can check us out at our website https://theagilecoach.com/

HIGHLIGHT QUOTES

What is it like being a scrum master and product owner - Abbie: “I think the scrum master and the product owner roles are tough. Like they're, it's a unique personality that you need. You need someone who's driven. You need someone who can handle conflict. You need someone who's able to have difficult conversations”

Scrum Master vs. Leadership Role - Abbie: “As a scrum master, I always felt like I could see pain points at the team level and I didn't have any power to do anything about it per se. Now being in a leadership role, I think I can drive change here. What's impacted my team? And I don't know what other word to say besides authority, but I don't mean authority but the ability to implement some of that change has been really exciting and just seeing wins in my team, right? So they're getting out a big body of work to production that they've spent, you know, multiple sprints on and to see it through and celebrate that with them.”

Get to know Abbie and what she’s up to:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/abbie-gortsema123/

Connect with Vivek and Pabitra to find out more about what they're up to:

Vivek’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vivekkhattri/

Pabitra’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pabitrakhanal/

The Agile Coach LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-agile-coach-llc/

Agile Coach Website: https://theagilecoach.com/

If you enjoy The Agile Coach and are interested in learning more, you can check us out at our website https://theagilecoach.com/

HIGHLIGHT QUOTES

Product Management: Delivering Products and Building Solutions - Laurin Lukas Stahl: “Product management is the idea that there is a central person within a product squad embedded in the overall idea of what the product needs, whose responsibility is finally to deliver the product, to shepherd it throughout each and every stage.”

Product vs. Project Management: Understanding the Difference - Laurin Lukas Stahl: “The main difference is that projects have defined scopes or timelines, whereas products aim to continuously deliver value to users and strive for improvement.”

Structured Thinking: Unlocking Effective Product Management - Laurin Lukas Stahl: “Structured thinking involves approaching problems with a clear process, using frameworks specific to the problem at hand, and communicating ideas effectively.”

Get to know Laurin and what he’s up to:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/laurin-stahl/

Connect with Vivek and Pabitra to find out more about what they're up to:

VIvek’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vivekkhattri/

Pabitra’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pabitrakhanal/

The Agile Coach LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-agile-coach-llc/

Agile Coach Website: https://theagilecoach.com/

If you enjoy The Agile Coach and are interested in learning more, you can check us out at our website 

https://theagilecoach.com/

He walks us through the No Degree platform and how he creates content and interacts with people without degrees and helping them take the roles that best fit them. He shares key insights on constant learning especially when you don't have the "advantage" of having a degree.

HIGHLIGHT QUOTES

You can learn so much by being proactive - Jonaed: "You've got a degree? Ten years later and new technology comes out, what are you going to do? Lean in on your degree? No, you have to get involved. Things are always changing so immerse yourself."

Understand the role of recruiters - Jonaed: "The recruiter's job is not to help you out, their job is to help their clients fill roles. If you are their target market and they have a job for you, they'll be helpful. If not they will not be. This is a misconception people have because, the fact is, they're busy and they have their quota so you have to make it easy for them."

Get to know Jonaed and what he’s up to:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonaed/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/NoDegreeDotCom

Connect with Vivek and Pabitra to find out more about what they're up to:

• About Vivek
• About Pabitra
• About The Agile Coach
• Agile Coach Website

If you enjoy The Agile Coach and are interested in learning more, you can check us out at the link below:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-agile-coach-llc

She shares her thoughts on what makes a good product owner/manager and the changes ChatGPT is ushering in the way we process work for the better. For agile, Priyanka also champions giving people space to be creative to bring their ideas to reality.

HIGHLIGHT QUOTES

Changing and overlapping roles after going agile - Priyanka: "Things have changed like the number of roles in a project have changed. Previously it was the developer doing the designing as well, doing the QA, doing the BA, and then there was like a product owner. But like over time when things are more agile now, we have several roles, like people wear different hats, especially in my experience in the startup world."

Leaders should take the lead on implementing innovation - Priyanka: "Someone being a leader, they might not think about the things that are in the market, but then a developer who has hands-on experience and who might have already done that in another project, we can utilize their skill on that. So I guess it's about giving space to people in the team."

Get to know Priyanka and what she’s up to:

• LinkedIn

Connect with Vivek and Pabitra to find out more about what they're up to:

• About Vivek
• About Pabitra
• About The Agile Coach
• Agile Coach Website

If you enjoy The Agile Coach and are interested in learning more, you can check us out at the link below:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-agile-coach-llc

Vivek and Joe run a few prompts and are definitely impressed by some of the answers. Although some are a bit drawn out, the AI has produced impressive results throughout the session.

HIGHLIGHT QUOTES

How does ChatGPT produce specific answers? - Joe: "After this is done, I want to try and give it something more generic. Because I feel like it could've picked this up off the web. But if it's coming up with these things, I am in shock."

Get to know Joe and what he’s up to:

• About Joe
• About Balanced Agility
• Balanced Academy  Website

Connect with Vivek and Pabitra to find out more about what they're up to:

• About Vivek
• About Pabitra
• About The Agile Coach
• Agile Coach Website

If you enjoy The Agile Coach and are interested in learning more, you can check us out at the link below:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-agile-coach-llc

HIGHLIGHT QUOTES

Acing an interview with less experience - Rye: “I'd recommend when people are in this interviewing stage, is really focusing on what you're bringing to a company, but also like how you're adding value to them, and also you have to think like the company's in a position where they need someone to fill this gap that they have, and so what can you bring to the table, focusing on the specifics there, I think that's what really helped and leveraged by success in interviews.”

Defining what is an impediment - Rye: “Impediments can come in the form of many things, especially in this day and age, I think we'll just talk about my teams and what impediments look like it could be anything from a failed server, or a database or some technical blockage that our developers experiencing. So that could simply mean connecting that individual with a subject matter expert that can help troubleshoot it. That could be an example of an impediment.”

Get to know Rye and Net Health:

• LinkedIn
• Net Health

Connect with Vivek and Pabitra to find out more about what they're up to:

• About Vivek
• About Pabitra
• About The Agile Coach
• Agile Coach Website

If you enjoy The Agile Coach and are interested in learning more, you can check us out at the link below:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-agile-coach-llc

She shares her insights on how to reaffirm yourself and excel in your role even if you don't initially have any background in IT or software development. She highlights the importance of learning and continuing to grow and how essential this can be in the Agile environment.

HIGHLIGHT QUOTES

Don't be afraid to ask questions - Haley: "Don't be afraid to ask questions and get off mute in meetings. When I first started in my first role, I was so scared to come off mute and ask questions but that's really how you're going to improve and grow."

Lean on the Agile coach community - Haley: "That has been so supportive for me is just staying connected. I've been in IT for 3 years now but I still stay in touch with so many people in the program and that's been very beneficial and helps me continuously grow my knowledge and improve."

Get to know Haley and check out the book she recommended:

• LinkedIn
• How to do the Work

Connect with Vivek and Pabitra to find out more about what they're up to:

• About Vivek
• About Pabitra
• About The Agile Coach
• Agile Coach Website

If you enjoy The Agile Coach and are interested in learning more, you can check us out at the link below:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-agile-coach-llc

He gives us an inside look at a few processes at the Musk companies and the processes they implement for cost reduction and innovation. Joe shares his insights on scrum and how effectively it helps in calling different roleplayers to collaborate and work seamlessly all throughout.

HIGHLIGHT QUOTES

What is Agility? - Joe: "Agility is making change cheaper in time, money, and emotional willpower like making it less draining and even more fun. That is the game. How Elon says, it is "Pace of innovation is the only thing that matters in the long run." And that's working really well for Elon from a business perspective. Agility is that."

Agile is to reduce the cost to make a change - Joe: "Change is expensive in a traditional mindset and then disruption increases the cost of your existing plan. If you're able to respond quickly to change, then change is a cost-advantage to you."

Get to know Joe and what he’s up to:

• LinkedIn
• Twitter
• About WIKISPEED

Connect with Vivek and Pabitra to find out more about what they're up to:

• About Vivek
• About Pabitra
• About The Agile Coach
• Agile Coach Website

If you enjoy The Agile Coach and are interested in learning more, you can check us out at the link below:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-agile-coach-llc

Mikaylah talks about the importance of starting the role right and adopting the right mindset once you start doing what's needed from you. She also highlights the need to continue learning and that you are never confined to just one role as a scrum master.

HIGHLIGHT QUOTES

Understand your story so you don't have to lie - Mikaylah: "You can embellish, you can make something sound bigger, but never lie on your resume because that's cheap. A true scrum master when you're interviewing can see straight through that. I'd know you don't know what you're talking about."

Show up with your best self every day - Mikaylah: "There are thousands of people who want to take my job at Universal and I remind myself that every single day. I am replaceable and I think that is the biggest mentality to note and that stems to everything."

Get to know Mikaylah and what she’s up to:

• LinkedIn

Connect with Vivek and Pabitra to find out more about what they're up to:

• About Vivek
• About Pabitra
• About The Agile Coach
• Agile Coach Website

If you enjoy The Agile Coach and are interested in learning more, you can check us out at the link below:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-agile-coach-llc

She shares her journey to becoming a Scrum Master and how to capitalize on networking opportunities. Mikaylah advises aspiring Scrum Masters to seek out a mentor to guide them and to double down on the skill of communication as creating a safe space but also commanding the room is the role of a Scrum Master. 

HIGHLIGHT QUOTES

Scrum Masters provide the HOW to the WHAT - Mikaylah: "A Scrum Master's role is to then take whatever they're prioritizing and say, how are we going to get it done? Product owner is the what in the team. The Scrum Masters are the how, that's the value that we provide to the team is okay, they're saying we got to get this done. We have the team members ready to do the work. The scrum master will then say, this is how it's going to work."

Lead from the front and add skills to your tool belt - Mikaylah: "Get down there with your team. If you don't know it, learn it. If all you can do is sit there, sit next to them and rub their back and give them a donut, like do that. Supporting your team. Never saying, it's not my job. Never say you can't do it, and gaining as many skills in your tool belt as you can."

Get to know Mikaylah and what she’s up to:

• LinkedIn

Connect with Vivek and Pabitra to find out more about what they're up to:

• About Vivek
• About Pabitra
• About The Agile Coach
• Agile Coach Website

If you enjoy The Agile Coach and are interested in learning more, you can check us out at the link below:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-agile-coach-llc

HIGHLIGHT QUOTES

You have to have a handle on what you're trying to measure  - Angela: "People will say things like, 'we have to go faster' or 'we can't keep up with the competition.' But all of those reasons I firmly believe that they're sincere, they're just not measurable."

It's okay to assume some leaders don't have clarity - Angela: "Even leaders who think they have a clear vision of where they're going, they may be assuming that people are doing what they think is the top goal but that's not necessarily the case until they follow up or verify."

Get to know Angela and check out her book:

• About Angela
• The Scrum Master Files

Connect with Vivek and Pabitra to find out more about what they're up to:

• About Vivek
• About Pabitra
• About The Agile Coach
• Agile Coach Website

If you enjoy The Agile Coach and are interested in learning more, you can check us out at the link below:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-agile-coach-llc

HIGHLIGHT QUOTES

Don't shy away from conflict as a scrum master - Angela: "Sometimes when people are just misunderstanding each other or communication is breaking down, a scrum master has got to get in there sometimes with their black and white stripes and their whistle almost like a referee but oftentimes it's just to help."

How to provide better feedback - Angela: "Instead of making it about you and telling them what they're doing wrong, why don't you invite their participation? Why don't you get them to come up with the answer?"

Get to know Angela and check out her book:

• About Angela
• The Scrum Master Files

Connect with Vivek and Pabitra to find out more about what they're up to:

• About Vivek
• About Pabitra
• About The Agile Coach
• Agile Coach Website

If you enjoy The Agile Coach and are interested in learning more, you can check us out at the link below:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-agile-coach-llc

HIGHLIGHT QUOTES

Leading a team to become a self-empowering unit - Pabitra: "Really think about how I help them in their personal or professional growth so that they feel like they're valued at work not just what they're producing but also their feeling valued at work because somebody actually cares about their growth."

There are always transferrable skills - Pabitra: "No matter what job that you have, there are a lot of the non-technical side or more of the people side of things and business side of things because, at the end of the day, you work for a business. No matter what your role is, you're helping businesses do better."

Connect with Vivek and Pabitra to find out more about what they're up to:

• About Vivek
• About Pabitra
• About The Agile Coach
• Agile Coach Website

If you enjoy The Agile Coach and are interested in learning more, you can check us out at the link below:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-agile-coach-llc

HIGHLIGHT QUOTES

Sales skills are a good foundation for product management - Andrej: "I think sales is a great way to break into product management because you do have that people communication skills. You think about success, you think about revenue, and then you're also getting customer feedback so you are working with the product every now and then by providing input on what the customer wants. And second, with product management and product ownership, you care a lot about go-to-market strategy."

Product managers need to earn trust - Andrej: "From the outside looking in, product management looks like such a cakewalk. It's not. There's a whole political landscape you have to navigate. And so, with product coming in, I knew some of the business stuff from the MBA and from previous roles I had in previous experience and I was pretty good with people so when it came to talking to people, okay, I got this in the bag. Now what I didn't realize is you have an engineering team who's like oh yeah, that's a ton of work. It's not. And so you have to decide for it and figure out what's actually true and what isn't. So you have to earn trust."

Get to know Andrej and what he’s up to:

• About Andrej

Connect with Vivek and Pabitra to find out more about what they're up to:

• About Vivek
• About Pabitra
• About The Agile Coach
• Agile Coach Website

If you enjoy The Agile Coach and are interested in learning more, you can check us out at the link below:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-agile-coach-llc

Andrej also shares how he builds teams by performing a gap analysis and prioritizing a potential product manager's communication skills. He talks about mentoring others using prioritization strategies and clarifies that a degree is not needed to enter a product; so be aware that competition is tough but not impossible to break through.

HIGHLIGHT QUOTES

Product management is about creating synchronicity - Andrej: "When I think about product management, you really don't have a successful product if you don't meet product market fit, right? So when you're thinking about it initially, you might think, okay, how quickly are we actually pushing things to the market and are we meeting that equilibrium point? But for me, what I really started to care about was predictability. So how in sync are our product managers with our business stakeholders?"

Become great at the product by creating your own product - Andrej: "If you've never been a product owner or product manager, go out and build a product. Go and find someone on Fiverr who can do some light work for you that's relatively cheap. Make some wireframes, put together a backlog, and let's see you build a product. I mean, I do it in my free time, so even though I'm working in product, I'm trying to figure out how can I build something so that I can just go work because I love product management."

Get to know Andrej and what he’s up to:

• About Andrej

Connect with Vivek and Pabitra to find out more about what they're up to:

• About Vivek
• About Pabitra
• About The Agile Coach
• Agile Coach Website

If you enjoy The Agile Coach and are interested in learning more, you can check us out at the link below:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-agile-coach-llc

HIGHLIGHT QUOTES

Mentors solve the problem with you, coaches help the person behind it - Joe: "As a coach, your coachee or client, however you want to call it, shows up and they say, hey, I've got a problem that I need to solve. And the coach comes in and says okay, cool. How can I help you? Not the problem. Let's talk to you and figure out what's going on in your life. How are you working on this problem? What can we do to support you so that you can solve the problem on your own."

Teach the way the brain wants to learn which is through activity - Joe: "There are a lot of ways that we can learn that are more exciting, more interesting, and more effective. So then we start teaching based on the way our brains work. So gains, activity, getting people moving around, laughter, jokes, music, bright colors, interactivity. All of these things combined together create a much more effective and enjoyable learning experience."

Get to know Joe and what he’s up to:

• About Joe
• About Balanced Agility
• Balanced Agility Website

Connect with Vivek and find out more about what he’s up to:

• About Vivek
• About The Agile Coach
• Agile Coach Website

If you enjoy The Agile Coach and are interested in learning more, you can check us out at the link below:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-agile-coach-llc

Joe gives tips on how to create psychological safety to encourage transparent conversation and shares some activities he does with new teams. He also discusses how he aligns with stakeholders and leadership and how key metrics are based on goals that leaders must first define. Lastly, Joe provides expert tips on hiring agile facilitators and some qualities to look for in product owners. 

HIGHLIGHT QUOTES

Create psychological safety by bonding with the team - Joe: "The first thing that you need to do is, as a coach, you need to connect with every person on that team. And there are going to be people who don't necessarily want to connect with you. And you have to set up one-on-ones. You have to bond with these people. You have to connect with them as human beings."

Deal with leadership through expectation management - Joe: "The higher up in the organization you get, it's a question of, hey stakeholder, what is it that you want to see from this? What does this team need to do to make you happy, to be successful? In your mind, what are the things that you can see that would keep them from being successful, and how can we prevent them? And then what can we do so that in the future when the team needs help, you are in a position to help them?"

Providing air cover for supporting difficult decisions - Joe: "You'll run into situations, where as a leader, your job isn't to make sure that the organization runs clockwork the way it's supposed to. The vast majority of your time is spent on when stuff goes wrong, how do I pick up the pieces and get us back to what we should be doing?"

Get to know Joe and what he’s up to:

• About Joe
• About Balanced Agility
• Balanced Agility Website

Connect with Vivek and find out more about what he’s up to:

• About Vivek
• About The Agile Coach
• Agile Coach Website

If you enjoy The Agile Coach and are interested in learning more, you can check us out at the link below:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-agile-coach-llc

Richard shares how to exercise leadership as a product owner and work with stakeholders not as a boss but as a member of the team. He also talks about using data points to prioritize feature decisions, instilling self-governance and accountability, and promoting continuous improvement in the team.

HIGHLIGHT QUOTES

A product owner leads through influence - Richard: "A good product owner leads through influence. They don't have direct authority. They don't have a management staff of people. The engineers don't report to them. But you are leading often by showing that you have their back. And, for me again, that was a very underrated aspect that if you're a good product owner, the engineers think you are covering for them in a good way."

Don't procrastinate and always ship at the end of each release - Richard: "I don't think you're going to have a good time if you don't force your team to ship after the end of each release, each sprint, because if you don't ship, what's really easy to do? Let's just roll it into the next one. If you have that failsafe, you're going to use it versus like nope, we ship at the end of each release."

Get to know Richard and what he’s up to:

• About Richard
• Twitter
• Website

Connect with Vivek and find out more about what he’s up to:

• About Vivek
• About The Agile Coach
• Agile Coach Website

If you enjoy The Agile Coach and are interested in learning more, you can check us out at the link below:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-agile-coach-llc

Banu provides tips on relationship building and digs into the actual ways to communicate with stakeholders. She gives tips on influential leadership which informs how to negotiate with other people, how to open to new ways of thinking to resolve unprecedented problems, and how to be upfront about risk.

HIGHLIGHT QUOTES

Create trust by following through with promises - Banu: "Trust comes from how much of what I say lines up with what I do. It's a massive input of integrity that you have to show because obviously when you're coming in and talking to a person for the first time, we can all be nice. There are plenty of internet articles out there that tell you how to make a good first impression. But after that, how much you follow through is what's important, and that sense of integrity is what people need to understand."

Document when decisions are made so everyone understands the why - Banu: "If you don't understand the why behind a specific decision, then it really becomes a political game. And there are different ways of dealing with the political side of things, but if there was a rational decision that was being made and generally in product management, I've been fortunate enough not to get into the political side of things but really understand why a certain decision was made. Document that and make sure everyone understands the why."

Get to know Banu and what she’s up to:

• About Banu

Connect with Vivek and find out more about what he’s up to:

• About Vivek
• About The Agile Coach
• Agile Coach Website

If you enjoy The Agile Coach and are interested in learning more, you can check us out at the link below:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-agile-coach-llc

Get to know Joe and what he’s up to:

• About Joe
• About Balanced Agility
• Balanced Agility Website

Connect with Vivek and find out more about what he’s up to:

• About Vivek
• About The Agile Coach
• Agile Coach Website

If you enjoy The Agile Coach and are interested in learning more, you can check us out at the link below:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-agile-coach-llc

Get to know Joe and what he’s up to:

• About Joe
• About Balanced Agility
• Balanced Agility Website

Connect with Vivek and find out more about what he’s up to:

• About Vivek
• About The Agile Coach
• Agile Coach Website

If you enjoy The Agile Coach and are interested in learning more, you can check us out at the link below:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-agile-coach-llc

Get to know Joe and what he’s up to:

• About Joe
• About Balanced Agility
• Balanced Agility Website

Connect with Vivek and find out more about what he’s up to:

• About Vivek
• About The Agile Coach
• Agile Coach Website

If you enjoy The Agile Coach and are interested in learning more, you can check us out at the link below:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-agile-coach-llc

AGILE HIGHLIGHTS

• Neha's transition from medical school to product manager
• Core skillsets needed in product management
• Things you don't need to become a product manager
• You have to be able to put things into perspective as you progress
• Emotional intelligence is needed to ask the right questions
• Connection before correction

AGILE MOMENTS

On what made Neha choose the path of product management: 

“Ultimately, it all came down to the impact that product managers have on decision-making within the company. You hear a lot of the time “product and CEO of the company” and I don't believe that as true. It's really that product people are enablers for their team.”

Neha's on critical thinking as a core skill:

“I think one skill that's also very important for a product manager is having critical thinking skills. So, really look at what the problem is at hand and work collaboratively with your teams to come up with the solution that balances need of the customer, the business, and why it's technically feasible.”

Neha on how data can best back you up:

“Everything that we mentioned, stakeholder management, all of that I think is basically the cherry on top if you have this to back you up which is data-driven. I think it's really important to use whatever data you have at hand to make the right decisions”

Get to know Neha and what she’s up to:

• About Neha

Connect with Vivek through the links below:

• About Vivek
• About The Agile Coach
• Agile Coach Website

I

f you enjoy The Agile Coach and are interested in learning more, you can check us out at the link below:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-agile-coach-llc

Tune in for some of the best insights and highlights in our previous interview with Parth!

HIGHLIGHTS

• Can people become product managers without going to college?
• Being a product manager and the tradeoffs you should make
• Why Facebook bought a VR company

“Showing that you've helped tangibly shape real products is the biggest thing that will open doors for you. Take any elite university, there are thousands of students at that same university so it's kind of hard to stand out in that regard.”-Parth on where the college degree adds value

Get to know Parth and what he’s up to:

• About Parth

Connect with Vivek and find out more about what he’s up to:

• About Vivek
• About The Agile Coach
• Agile Coach Website

If you enjoy The Agile Coach and are interested in learning more, you can check us out at the link below:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-agile-coach-llc

AGILE HIGHLIGHTS

• Exploring the stages of Su Ha Ri
• Su is the beginning stage where the student follows one master
• Ha is where the student begins to branch out
• Ri is the stage where students learn from their own practice
• How the scrum master can show up in each of these stages
• Assessing yourself through the Su-Ha-Ri

AGILE MOMENTS

Pabitra - When the team reaches the Ri stage:

“This is a beautiful stage to be in and for a coach to see the team get to this stage is amazing to witness. If these are true and your team is at a Ri stage, you really need to let them go in a way.”

Pabitra - Seeing the team become a high-performing team:

“There are always different approaches to get the same results. So at this stage, the team can come up with their own solutions, they just need a coach to help them find different ways to achieve what they need.”

Pabitra - Moving between the three stages as a scrum master:

“Am I showing up as a teacher? A coach? An advisor? And that is what a true coach does is consistently evaluating and uncovering better ways of helping the team at the end of the day.

Get to know Pabitra and what she’s up to:

• About Pabitra

Connect with Vivek and find out more about what he’s up to:

• About Vivek
• About The Agile Coach
• Agile Coach Website

If you enjoy The Agile Coach and are interested in learning more, you can check us out at the link below:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-agile-coach-llc

Tune in for some of the most notable highlights and learning points in our previous interview with Diana!

HIGHLIGHTS

• The creation of the book Agile Retrospectives and its core points
• How you should use gathered data for learning and generating insight
• Having a shared understanding with your team and deciding what to do after that
• How long should we plan for a retrospective?

“It's not about individual performance. It's about how we work together to create a system where we can make sure that people's best is good enough for what we need. ”

-Diana on being able to push your team to their best

Get to know Diana and what he’s up to:

• About Diana

Connect with Vivek and find out more about what he’s up to:

• About Vivek
• About The Agile Coach
• Agile Coach Website

If you enjoy The Agile Coach and are interested in learning more, you can check us out at the link below:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-agile-coach-llc

AGILE HIGHLIGHTS

• The critical role of the scrum master
• Anti-Pattern #1: Scrum master acting like a project manager
• Anti-Pattern #2: Being a scrum cop
• Anti-Pattern #3: Making everything a teachable moment
• Anti-Pattern #4: Not prioritizing connection
• Anti-Pattern #5: Being a scrum mom
• Better practices for a scrum master to improve

AGILE MOMENTS

Pabitra - Believe in Agile in order to bring the necessary change:

“If somebody is a scrum master or Agile practitioner, I believe that the person has to be passionate about Agile because it's so much about you uncovering yourself. ”

Pabitra - On why prioritizing connection is important:

“As a scrum master or change agent, when you come into an organization you have to understand that change is hard. There is a lot of fear when a lot of changes are happening in an organization.”

Get to know Pabitra and what she’s up to:

• About Pabitra

Connect with Vivek and find out more about what he’s up to:

• About Vivek
• About The Agile Coach
• Agile Coach Website

If you enjoy The Agile Coach and are interested in learning more, you can check us out at the link below:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-agile-coach-llc

Tune in for some valuable nuggets of insight and information in our past two interviews with Adam!

HIGHLIGHTS

• Adam relates the importance of communication in sports and the corporate world
• Moving around impediments as a Scrum Master
• Building relationships and forming a high-performing team
• Celebrate your team's success and efforts

“Number one is that I have to be the ultimate example of being transparent. Part of this is about not necessarily playing the bureaucratic, political game in organizations. My personality and style with my teams is not to be the stubborn optimist. If something is going wrong and it's on fire, I'll empathize with that and I'll say this is not a good situation to be in.”

-Adam on fostering transparency in teams

Get to know Adam and what he’s up to:

• About Adam

Get to know Pabitra and what she’s up to:

• About Pabitra

Connect with Vivek and find out more about what he’s up to:

• About Vivek
• About The Agile Coach
• Agile Coach Website

If you enjoy The Agile Coach and are interested in learning more, you can check us out at the link below:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-agile-coach-llc

AGILE HIGHLIGHTS

• The primary roles of a product owner
• Common anti-patterns for the product owner role
• Having multiple decision-makers for one product
• Not knowing when and how to step away from your role
• Product backlogs not being ready
• The better practices for a product owner

AGILE MOMENTS

Pabitra - When product owners step into the role of a scrum master:

“If they take the role too seriously and don't necessarily understand that a scrum master is not necessarily a project manager or manager for the developers, this can backfire and they mind end up being more controlling and interfering more than helping the team.”

Pabitra - A solution for backlogs not being ready:

“As a product owner, you always want to be thinking ahead. If the development team is working on starting user stories for whatever time box your company may have, you want to be thinking about the next sprint or iteration.”

Get to know Pabitra and what she’s up to:

• About Pabitra

Connect with Vivek and find out more about what he’s up to:

• About Vivek
• About The Agile Coach
• Agile Coach Website

If you enjoy The Agile Coach and are interested in learning more, you can check us out at the link below:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-agile-coach-llc

In this special episode of The Agile Coach, Pabitra goes solo to discuss the 5 stages of team development. As a scrum master, it is very important to be intact with your team and Pabitra is here to help you. Tune in to find out which stage is most crucial, and how you can get more ideas and feedback from your team.

AGILE HIGHLIGHTS

• The 5 Stages Of Teams
• The Forming Stage
• The Storming Stage
• The Norming Stage
• The Performing Stage
• The Adjourning Stage

AGILE MOMENTS

Pabitra - The most crucial stage of a team

“Second is storming stage two of the five and it's considered the most critical and also the most difficult stage to go through. It can be riddled with conflicts such as individual personalities and working styles really clashing within the team.”

Pabitra - Empower your team and let them be heard

“Instead of thinking you have to have all the answers and give it to them, empower them to come up with your own answers, and do it as a team to facilitate those conversations. That way the team feels like they're being heard. And they feel like they can come and share their ideas and feedback.”

Connect with Vivek & Pabitra and find out more about what he’s up to:

• About Vivek
• About Pabitra
• About The Agile Coach
• Agile Coach Website

If you enjoy The Agile Coach and are interested in learning more, you can check us out at the link below:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-agile-coach-llc

Tune in and find out what’s the best moment in our interview with Matt, and watch out for more highlights in the coming episodes.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Measuring outcome vs output
• You can build, but think if it's the right thing to build
• Remember that the features are still just a hypothesis

“The idea of focusing on outcomes to me is really putting the most important thing out there and saying, it's also a way of acknowledging that we don't know we work in a complex environment, and it's essentially putting us in a mindset of experimentation and hypothesis making.” -Matthew on focusing on outcomes and not outputs

Get to know Matt and what he’s up to:

• About Matthew
• About Pfizer
• Pfizer.com

Connect with Vivek and find out more about what he’s up to:

• About Vivek
• About The Agile Coach
• Agile Coach Website

If you enjoy The Agile Coach and are interested in learning more, you can check us out at the link below:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-agile-coach-llc

HIGHLIGHTS

• On-boarding as a product manager
• Getting the product strategy across
• Understanding what product market fit is
• It's always a learning opportunity
• Minimum Viable vs. Minimum Lovable Product
• How a product manager prioritizes
• Learnings while working as a PM

QUOTES

Laurin - On-boarding as a new product manager:

“The first 90 days are crucial to how you're going to basically get on-boarded to the new company, to a new product that you're working on. So when I was a new product manager starting out in that company, before I even had any leadership and strategic responsibilities, I really wanted to get an understanding.

Laurin - Defining Product Market Fit:

“It basically means you need to define the metric for your price, about what you based on what the nature of the product is, what product market fit would mean for you.”

Laurin - Mistakes are part of the game:

“You shouldn't be afraid to make mistakes, because otherwise, you will only try to make safe changes that don't change the game, then you'll just start optimizing and trying to improve metrics by a little bit because you're afraid to make big changes that could have a big impact.”

Get to know Laurin and what he’s up to:

• About Laurin
• About Trality
• Sign up with Trality

Connect with Vivek and find out more about what he’s up to:

• About Vivek
• About The Agile Coach
• Agile Coach Website

If you enjoy The Agile Coach and are interested in learning more, you can check us out at the link below:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-agile-coach-llc

Learn what is a product manager and his/her role in the business as a whole, the ins and outs of this job in terms of day-to-day tasks, and its dynamics with the product management team.

Today we have Laurin Lukas Stahl on board. Laurin is the Head of Product at Trality and is a great source of insight into product management. Meet Laurin and learn more from him in this latest episode of The Agile Coach. 

HIGHLIGHTS

• Laurin's quest to become a product manager
• What is a product manager
• What's awesome about being a product manager
• The day-to-day life of a product manager
• Skill set and attributes of a product manager

QUOTES

Laurin - Defining a product manager:

“The product manager that is working on a specific product or feature in a specific scope, that's the person who's supposed to have all the information available to make the right decisions on how the product is supposed to be taken for.”

Laurin - Role of a product manager:

“Make all the decisions and have all the information available, while always trying to get as much value out as possible with as little resources as possible. So basically, how can I drive the product forward as efficiently as possible.”

Laurin - Important attribute of a product manager:

“One thing is curiosity. So I really like to understand how things work and to take things apart.”

Laurin - Strategizing for a product:

“The number one thing is actually having a product strategy and making sure that everyone that works with the product is following and agrees with the same strategy.”

Get to know Laurin and what he’s up to:

• About Laurin
• About Trality
• Sign up with Trality

Connect with Vivek and find out more about what he’s up to:

• About Vivek
• About The Agile Coach
• Agile Coach Website

If you enjoy The Agile Coach and are interested in learning more, you can check us out at the link below:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-agile-coach-llc

HIGHLIGHTS

• What is a Sprint review
• Observed patterns
• The need for databases
• What is a Sprint Retrospective
• Make the retrospective fun
• It's not a blame game

QUOTES

Pabitra - Defining a Sprint Review:

“Sprint Review really is a more of an informal event that happens into the sprint and is really to showcase what the team has done over the sprint, really the product increment, what did they create.”

Pabitra - The need for databases:

“Even though the stakeholders might not understand the technicality of it, just talking about it and saying, we needed to create this database, or we needed to do this thing on the back end, and now because we have this, here is how it's gonna help.”

Pabitra - Defining a Sprint Retrospective:

“Sprint retrospective is a big deal for the team and also for the scrum master because that's one meeting that you solely are responsible for.

Pabitra - Keep it fresh and fun:

“You want to keep it spicy, you want to keep it fun and engaging, and so definitely restarts, research some things so that you can keep it fresh and keep alternating throughout.”

Pabitra - Don’t make it a blame game:

“We want to talk on how we improve on these different things, but we're not here to blame anybody, and so really putting that up there, it's definitely important.”

Get to know Pabitra and what she’s up to:

• About Pabitra

Connect with Vivek and find out more about what he’s up to:

• About Vivek
• About The Agile Coach
• Agile Coach Website

If you enjoy The Agile Coach and are interested in learning more, you can check us out at the link below:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-agile-coach-llc

Vivek and Pabitra will be sitting down today to discuss the ins and outs of sprint planning. 

Tune in and learn how sprint planning is done, what challenges you may face and the best methods to use straight from our hosts, only here in the latest episode of The Agile Coach.

HIGHLIGHTS

• The art of sprint planning
• The definition of ready
• Autonomy defines the team's capacity
• The purpose of backlog refinement
• The best method of conducting a standup

QUOTES

Pabitra - The importance of goal-writing:

“Coming up with goal-writing the goal based on what the team is committing to a lot of times it's not just like the user story, but the outcome is if we complete this set of a user story or this functionality.”

Pabitra - Why autonomy is needed in a team:

“We're trying to create self-organizing autonomous teams, and so if I don't give that autonomy to the team, we don't know what our capacity is yet.”

Pabitra - The purpose of backlog refinement:

“The way I see the purpose of backlog refinement is to look at the product backlog and create that shared understanding more than anything.”

Pabitra - Best way of doing a stand-up:

“The best method to conduct a stand-up, I found is to kind of walking the board. So instead of like calling on each person and making it seem like that person is giving a status.”

Get to know Pabitra and what she’s up to:

• About Pabitra

Connect with Vivek and find out more about what he’s up to:

• About Vivek
• About The Agile Coach
• Agile Coach Website

If you enjoy The Agile Coach and are interested in learning more, you can check us out at the link below:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-agile-coach-llc

Haven’t checked Part 1 with Lynnea Brumbaugh yet? Don’t miss Episode 58: CONSCIOUS LEADERSHIP: What It Is, What It Does, How It’s Done, With Lynnea Brumbaugh (Part 1)

HIGHLIGHTS

• Lynnea Brumbaugh is back
• The Drama Triangle
• The three main roles in the melodrama
• How to look at the drama triangle
• How to get out of the drama

QUOTES

How Lynnea defines radical self-awareness:

“When life feels constricted, we start playing roles, we start putting on our masks, we show up not as our sort of glorious, amazing people that we actually truly are.”

Lynnea talks about the roles in the drama triangle:

“If there's a melodrama on stage, you've got a hero, you got a victim, and you got a villain. And those are the three main drama roles that the Drama Triangle place.”

Lynnea presents the 3 steps of observing the drama triangle:

“Step one would be we notice it and other people step, notice it in ourselves, and step three is stepping back and becoming curious becoming the observer of the drama. So it's always easier to detect ego behavior, like drama mask behavior in other people.”

How Lynnea defines a healthy state of being:

“A healthy expanded state of being means that our behaviors, and our thoughts and our emotions are literally responding to whatever is happening at this moment.”

Get to know Lynnea and what she’s up to:

• About Lynnea
• About Quantum Empowerment Academy
• Quantum Empowerment Academy Website

Connect with Vivek and find out more about what he’s up to:

• About Vivek
• About The Agile Coach
• Agile Coach Website

If you enjoy The Agile Coach and are interested in learning more, you can check us out at the link below:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-agile-coach-llc

HIGHLIGHTS

• Introducing Lynnea Brumbaugh
• What is conscious leadership
• How to become a conscious leader
• How to handle employee blindspots
• What is focused energy flow
• Talking about emotions
• Emotions vs. feelings

QUOTES

How Lynnea defines conscious leadership:

“Conscious leadership is living from the present moments, like living in this moment. And then having the ability to lead other people from a deep place of this is now this is today, this is not what happened last week.

Lynnea on handling employee blind spots:

“Step one for blind spot awareness is taking a breath or two taking learning to take some conscious breaths.”

How Sagar sees organizations strive to innovate:

“Because when we work with our blind spots, we are by definition, tapping into our survival systems, that helped us to survive when we were little in the world.”

Get to know Lynnea and what she’s up to:

• About Lynnea
• About Quantum Empowerment Academy
• Quantum Empowerment Academy Website

Connect with Vivek and find out more about what he’s up to:

• About Vivek
• About The Agile Coach
• Agile Coach Website

If you enjoy The Agile Coach and are interested in learning more, you can check us out at the link below:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-agile-coach-llc

HIGHLIGHTS

• Introducing Sagar Satyal
• Importance of psychological safety
• Empathy and Invulnerability
• What is self-awareness vs. self-deception
• The Jackal vs. the Giraffe
• The language to use in NVC
• Sagar's final thoughts

QUOTES

How Sagar sees organizations strive to innovate:

“The way I see it, having worked with individuals and teams in organizations, obviously, they want to innovate. They want to stay relevant. I think that's the fundamental thing because it's an ever-changing world.”

Sagar’s opinion on teamwork:

“I think teamwork and collaboration are very important, I don't think it's just a matter of individuals performing in silos and then moving up, and then that turning out to be a great creative process, I don't think it works that way.”

What Sagar thinks about empathy:

“I think it requires vulnerability to be empathetic because I have a lot of things to say to you, but I also keep that in mind that just like me, you also have your own needs, objectives, and challenges when you show up at work.”

Sagar on emotional intelligence in leadership:

“Ultimately, it trickles down to emotional intelligence. It's about being able to recognize emotions, understand emotions in yourself, understand emotions in the other person, and acknowledging these emotions that are at play.”

Sagar on actions and consequences:

“A lot of times we lack emotional intelligence because we don't see the consequences of our actions. We don't see the long-term ramifications of our actions right.”

Get to know Sagar and what she’s up to:

• About Sagar
• About My Emotions Matter
• My Emotions Matter Website

Connect with Vivek and find out more about what he’s up to:

• About Vivek
• About The Agile Coach
• Agile Coach Website

If you enjoy The Agile Coach and are interested in learning more, you can check us out at the link below:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-agile-coach-llc

HIGHLIGHTS

• Sangya Gyawali: Business Analyst & Entrepreneur
• Being a business analyst in banking
• The day-to-day routine
• Challenges in communicating
• Sangya's tips to new BAs

QUOTES

Aligning teams the Sangya way: “A lot of it is around aligning your team that you're a part of, in making sure that we're still progressing, and we're still trying to achieve the same thing.”

Sangya’s responsibility as a BA: "As your role suggests, you're there to offer the technical pattern recognition, analytical skill sets that your team doesn't have.”

How Sangya deals with the challenges of her role: "My technique has always been to be good at a little bit good at everything, and I tried to go deep when I can, and that's usually in more my analytical skill set.”

Sangya says adaptability is key: "Your competitive edge is how much you can adapt and be flexible as techniques change and methods change."

Get to know Sangya and what she’s up to:

• About Sangya
• About Flextock
• Flextock Website

Connect with Vivek and find out more about what he’s up to:

• About Vivek
• About The Agile Coach
• Agile Coach Website

If you enjoy The Agile Coach and are interested in learning more, you can check us out at the link below:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-agile-coach-llc

HIGHLIGHTS

• Dilip's background
• The 3 phases of Dilip's career
• Aspirations can hold you back
• There are many paths in life
• Exchange of personal experiences

QUOTES

Dilip on his background: “Getting your products to market or scaling it, growing products that have been so that's my background, my career.”

Dilip on being held back by aspirations: “I have a good career, and I have a good life now. So I think what it tells us is that sometimes we have these aspirations, and they can hold us back.”

Dilip on the different paths of life: “There are many paths in life, and you can make the best out of any path that you're taking. The goal is, are you growing? Are you questioning yourself? Right? Do you have a growth mindset?”

Vivek on the journey to the USA: “It was like this journey that I went to, there's the whole world, new people, opportunities, and there was a lot to learn.”

Dilip on making mistakes: “People should make mistakes. That's how they learn from mistakes. We should minimize the costly ones. Of course, we should have. It's more on processes.”

Get to know Dilip and what he’s up to:

• About Dilip
• About Nimi
• Nimi Website

Connect with Vivek and find out more about what he’s up to:

• About Vivek
• About The Agile Coach
• Agile Coach Website

If you enjoy The Agile Coach and are interested in learning more, you can check us out at the link below:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-agile-coach-llc

HIGHLIGHTS

• How Anu get into UX
• Finding the first job
• Anu's first experience with agile
• The UI-UX difference
• Current projects and challenges
• How to start with UX design
• What sets a designer apart

QUOTES

Anu: “My internships and all that I realized I loved what I did. But when I saw the reality of what that's like, professionally, it wasn't exactly what I wanted to do. But I realized that UX and the whole digital space were a lot more interesting to me.”

Anu: “We started doing agile in two weeks, sprints, all of that. And we would, at the end of every two weeks, delivered the design, to engineering.”

Anu: “The biggest thing that sets apart a designer from an engineer or business analyst or product owner, whoever is that, for a designer, the, what they care about the most is that end-user, like the human being, who is using whatever the product or services, and that's what they care about, that's the person they care about.”

Get to know Anu and what he’s up to:

• About Anu
• About Publicis Sapient
• Anu’s Website

Connect with Vivek and find out more about what he’s up to:

• About Vivek
• About The Agile Coach
• Agile Coach Website

If you enjoy The Agile Coach and are interested in learning more, you can check us out at the link below:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-agile-coach-llc

HIGHLIGHTS

• The what and why of estimation
• Probabilistic vs. Deterministic approach
• Dissecting story points
• Utilizing the Fibonacci sequence
• Do's and Don'ts of Estimation
• The problem when comparing two teams
• When do teams estimate

QUOTES

Joe: “In the end, somebody's like, hey, I need to have this done by a certain time. And we estimate so that we can make sure that we get that stuff done.”

Joe: “What it's basically saying to an Agile team is, we're going to roughly size this work so that we can determine how long it will take.”

Joe: “When we're talking about agile estimation, what we're saying is, we're not going to take that gut feel we're going to instead focus on empirical estimation.”

Joe: “We're going to use the Fibonacci sequence to estimate our stories instead of just 1,2,3,4,5 level blah, and he was like, Okay, why? And they said ‘ ‘because the Fibonacci sequence is cool.”

Joe: “Never be afraid to change the stuff that your teams are doing. I mean, try it and see if it works. If it works, yeah, keep doing it.”

Joe: “That's what happens when you have two teams. So even if they're comparing the exact same task, no two teams have the exact same amount of experience with that task.”

Get to know Joe and what he’s up to:

• About Joe
• About Balanced Agility
• Balanced Agility Website

Connect with Vivek and find out more about what he’s up to:

• About Vivek
• About The Agile Coach
• Agile Coach Website

If you enjoy The Agile Coach and are interested in learning more, you can check us out at the link below:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-agile-coach-llc

HIGHLIGHTS

• Dilip's Professional Story
• The Uphill Journey To Product Management
• The Love Of Product Building
• The Learning Curve As A Product Manager
• Becoming An Analytical Leader
• Leadership Through Empathy
• Understanding Executive Presence

QUOTES

Dilip: “as you progress in your career later on, okay, my mindset was, well, I've been kind of taking, I've been kind of, you know, you know, benefiting from the system, how am I going to give back, what's the next phase of my life.”

Dilip: “I really thrive in a small environment where I'm building products, and creating products or ideating products.”

Dilip: “When you become a leader, your job is not in creating perfect estimates, your job is not be the person who knows all the answers, your job is to be the guide, your job is to be the person taking the team to the tunnel.”

Dilip: “Empathy is really not sympathy. Empathy is really trying to feel what somebody is going through. And you really can't feel what somebody's going through until you really are in their position.”

Dilip: “Figure out what you're really passionate about, and try your best to figure out your path, your purpose, it doesn't have to be perfect.”

Get to know Dilip and what he’s up to:

• About Dilip: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dilipramachandran/
• About Nimi: https://www.linkedin.com/company/nimidev/
• Nimi Website: https://nimidev.com/

Learn more about our host with the link below:

• Vivek Khattri: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vivekkhattri/

If you enjoy The Agile Coach and are interested in learning more, you can check us out at the link below:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-agile-coach-llc

HIGHLIGHTS

• Resistance to change in leadership and teams
• Michelle on Psychological Safety
• The More Humane Way of Applying Agile
• Giving a good experience to your Agile team
• The SCARF Model

QUOTES

Michelle: “The studies that come out about Agile transformation and resistance to change are cited as one of the main reasons why Agile transformation isn't successful.”

Michelle: “I see my role as a change agent is to help people navigate through that process in a way that is humane and gentle and respectful of their choice throughout the entire process.”

Michelle: “There are many people who are just told you are going to be part of a scrum team, or you're, we're going Agile, buckle up, buttercup, and they, you know, and they're just, they're along for the ride, but they may not be really into it.”

Michelle: “SCARF is an acronym that stands for Status, Certainty, Autonomy, Relatedness, and Fairness.”

Learn more about Michelle in the link below:

• LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michelle-pauk-82a88316/

Learn more about our host with the link below:

• Vivek Khattri: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vivekkhattri/

If you enjoy The Agile Coach and are interested in learning more, you can check us out at the link below:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-agile-coach-llc

HIGHLIGHTS

• Kevin's professional career
• From Sales to Product Ownership
• Misconceptions in Agile and Scrum
• Product ownership requires learning
• Always ask if needed

QUOTES

Kevin: “I worked with I met some of my best friends that I still have today in sales. And it really made me a better person, to be honest, persevering through all the rejection and the hustle you have to have it really set me up for success in my current role.”

Vivek: “If you have the work ethic to work 50-60 hours and grind it out. If you can't do tech, you're gonna be really appreciated because, in my opinion, tech is there's a lot of work-life balance.”

Kevin: “One of the most common misconceptions about getting into the Agile space is that you need to have this glorious background of coding and what infrastructures look like.”

Vivek: “The challenge is not having the tech background, the challenge is you're not being adaptable, you're not being able to learn new stuff, you are not able to like listen to another Product Owner/Product Manager.”

Learn more about Kevin in the link below:

• LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/king-kevin/

Learn more about our hosts with the link below:

• Vivek Khattri: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vivekkhattri/
• Pabitra Khanal: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pabitrakhanal/

If you enjoy The Agile Coach and are interested in learning more, you can check us out at the link below:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-agile-coach-llc

HIGHLIGHTS

• The start of Michelle's tech career
• Getting into Agile and Scrum
• Mindset shift of anticipation
• Struggles of being a new Scrum Master
• Coaching new Scrum Masters

QUOTES

Michelle: “We are drawn to the things that we need to learn, or we teach the things we need to learn. I think that is absolutely true.”

Michelle: “I guess the mindset shift for me was realizing like, as a project venue manager, I genuinely felt bad that I didn't anticipate that these things would happen.”

Michelle: “One of the things that I try to make space for people I'm mentoring or coaching to think about that reflects on that conversation, but also encouraging them to do some of that reflection work themselves.”

Michelle: “I would just say, you know, the learning process is very messy. Learning happens in the mess. And if you can be comfortable with that, like, you can know everything there is to know about agile, so is it really about you? This is about the team.”

Learn more about Michelle in the link below:

• LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michelle-pauk-82a88316/

If you enjoy The Agile Coach and are interested in learning more, you can check us out at the link below:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-agile-coach-llc

Vivek Khattri and Pabitra Khanal welcome Jolene back in this latest episode of The Agile Coach! Jolene is a Transformation Coach and the CEO of Balanced Agility, a company dedicated to developing organizations' capabilities to use agile as a strategic business asset. 

HIGHLIGHTS

• About Balanced Agility
• Getting aligned with clients
• Effectively choosing leaders
• Scrum masters in new organizations
• What a Scrum master really is

QUOTES

Jolene: “So balance, agility, the concept, the name, really even try to convey our approach to everything that we do. So we mainly play in the space of training and coaching.”

Jolene: “It goes to an approach that we take in everything we do, really a balanced approach, as we took a look at what differentiates us from a lot of folks.”

Jolene: “It really starts with the very first conversation that you have with them. So way before the actual engagement. And this is going to vary for the role.”

Jolene: “When it comes to the balanced approach is going there is an understanding what is the job that they're looking for you to do? That's one of the things to know. And knowing if you're going in, where are they in?”

Jolene: “Being a great leader means being able to ask great questions. So when I interview folks, when I'm hiring for these roles, the questions that they ask are almost as important as the answers.”

Jolene: “My biggest tip for Scrum Masters is it's not about the Agile tools. They're just tools and techniques to get you there.”

Learn more about Jolene in the link below:

• LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jolene-jangles/
• Balanced Agility: https://www.linkedin.com/company/balanced-agility/
• Website: https://www.balancedagility.com/

If you enjoy The Agile Coach and are interested in learning more, you can check us out at the link below:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-agile-coach-llc

HIGHLIGHTS

• Understanding API
• Know the basics, be curious
• What's important for Nikhil when interviewing
• Scrum Master problem solving
• Dealing with compliance problems
• Handling objections from other scrum masters
• What is DevOps

QUOTES

Nikhil: “No, you don't have to be technical to be a scrum master. But you need to have a certain level of understanding and certain level of curiosity around what technology is, and what are the things that developers go through in order to be a great scrum master.”

Nikhil: “It's not about knowing how to solve the problem. It's about identifying the problem. And getting the right people in the room to solve that problem.”

Nikhil: “Scrum Masters, first of all, don't even look at that as a problem. Because they'll go like, Oh, this is compliance. This is how the company operates.”

Nikhil: “Agile is not about perfection. So whatever you're trying to do here, is like, you need to view it from the lens of this team. Yeah, not from one Agile principle that has been followed in the industry.”

Nikhil: “DevOps, in general, is a team that is responsible for maintaining the infrastructure where code is deployed.”

Learn more about Nikhil in the link below:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nambiarnikhil/

If you enjoy The Agile Coach and are interested in learning more, you can check us out at the link below:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-agile-coach-llc

HIGHLIGHTS

• Nikhil’s work at Slalom
• Nikhil on working on code
• What agile means to Nikhil
• Bugs and businesses
• Ensuring quality in development

QUOTES

Nikhil: “I think there's a large perception of how developers view agile people is most likely because we have had poor Scrum Masters and poor product owners, or a lack of quality of resources, or people in those roles, brings about certain impressions.”

Nikhil: “So when I'm when we are developing things, a lot of times it is easy to get caught up in the details and to go into different rabbit holes, because the technology being a knowledge-based profession, especially for engineering, yeah, you can quickly start spiraling out into trying to make things perfect.”

Nikhil: “My opinion is that if you truly want to move quickly, you are going to have issues with your application. And that is something that you need to accept as normal.”

Nikhil: “even though, yeah, the fact is that there are going to be issues, that does not mean that as developers, we shouldn't be improving the quality of our application, our overarching goal still needs to be that we need to deliver high-quality solutions in a timely manner.”

Vivek: “I've been a product person, and we don't need a perfect architecture, we don't need perfectly clean code, we just need something to put it out there.”

Learn more about Nikhil in the link below:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nambiarnikhil/

If you enjoy The Agile Coach and are interested in learning more, you can check us out at the link below:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-agile-coach-llc

HIGHLIGHTS

• The Iron Triangle Model
• The other triangle: ROI, Sentiment, and Fitness
• Importance of experimentation
• Integrating the possibility of failure

QUOTES

Matt: “I think that the whole Iron Triangle of project management back in the day was it served some, some benefits. There was there's some rigor around managing processes, managing projects, there's a lot of good stuff there.”

Matt: “The most important thing is whether someone will actually use this product and how quickly they'll use it. “

Matt: “ Only the customer, only the consumer can define if it's fit for their purpose.”

Matt: “We see this a lot, whether it's software or otherwise, people are afraid to change stuff because they don't know what they're going to break.”

Learn more about Matt in the link below:

• Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/matthewphilip
• Website: mattphilip.wordpress.com/
• Twitter: mattphilip

If you enjoy The Agile Coach and interested in learning more, you can check us out in the Link below:

• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-agile-coach-llc

HIGHLIGHTS

• Matt’s leadership model
• The 8 stances of a scrum master
• Matt on the Coaching Stance
• Why it’s good to quantify things

QUOTES

Matt: “I think there's some great stuff that we can learn from our friends who do experience design as a professional.”

Matt: “I've also found a lot of coaches including myself, it's hard for us to really feel like the sense of accomplishment because it's like this a soft thing. I'm helping other people succeed. But how do I know if I succeeded?”

Matt: “It's actually quite meaningful for a coach, I think, to be able to say, ‘ ‘Alright, here's the quantified value of what I've helped me this to do. And it creating small experiments to get us toward that bit.”

Learn more about Matt in the link below:

• Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/matthewphilip
• Website: mattphilip.wordpress.com/
• Twitter: mattphilip

If you enjoy The Agile Coach and interested in learning more, you can check us out in the Link below:

• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-agile-coach-llc

Matt and Vivek will be discussing what it takes to lead the Agile Transformation for large organizations with multiple levels and teams, what challenges you may encounter, and what matters in building an Agile Team.

HIGHLIGHTS

• The Agile Transformation in Pfizer
• Companies owning Agile processes
• Challenges in Agile Transformation
• Adding value as an Agile Coach
• Core values in building an Agile Team

QUOTES

Matt: “One pattern I've seen across multiple companies, the organization doesn't have the capability to do this stuff.”

Matt: “Helping the organization own it, rather than just kind of have something installed on itself, that's the real hard work that coaches, Scrum Masters, and product people do.”

Matt: “I try to work at the highest levels, I can't, at some point, you're gonna get frustrated, you're gonna get the resistance. So part of it is understanding how you deal with change.”

Matt: “I think a lot of organizations suffer from a lack of psychological safety, organizationally, in teams.”

Matt: “For leaders, managers, always be working on yourself first. You know, I realized how much I fail, and how much I want to improve. And so always be reading, always improving.”

Learn more about Matt in the link below:

• Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/matthewphilip
• Website: mattphilip.wordpress.com/
• Twitter: mattphilip

If you enjoy The Agile Coach and interested in learning more, you can check us out in the Link below:

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-agile-coach-llc

HIGHLIGHTS

• Introduction to the 5 stages of a retrospective
• Stage 1: Set the stage
• Stage 2: Gather data
• Stage 3: Generate insight
• Stage 4: Decide what to do
• Stage 5: Close the retrospective

QUOTES

Joe: “Very first stage. And number one thing they call out, set the stage, if you show up panicked, if you're freaking out, they're going to be freaked out.”

Joe: “Next step, gathering the data, now look, if they have a bunch of data, great, have them bring in the data and then look at the data.”

Joe: “Now, we're going to go from just having data to gathering insights. So there's a difference between data and wisdom. Data is just information, wisdom, or the insights that you gather from that data.”

Joe: “Your job isn't to have the answer. Your job as a facilitator is to help them process through the framework. It's to help work them through the process so that they can solve these problems on their own.”

Joe: “The next stage is deciding what to do. So you take a list of all these experiments and you vote on them again.”

Joe: “Make sure that you celebrate. Let these people know that they accomplished something. And then document the experiments. Don't just do all of this work and say that was really great. And then walk out of this room and let all the experiments fall on the floor.”

Learn more about Vivek in the link below:

• Vivek Khattri: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vivekkhattri/

If you enjoy The Agile Coach and interested in learning more, you can check us out in the Link below:

• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-agile-coach-llc

• Benefits of Agile and Scrum
• Peter and Vivek’s background
• What is Agile?
• Understanding Agile Terminologies
• Roles and Tools involved in Agile
• Skills needed for Agile

QUOTES

Peter: “I've really seen agile find its place in a lot of major companies, from an IT perspective, from a business intelligence perspective, from an enterprise and data analytics perspective, as really the modern way to help push those companies forward.”

Peter: “Companies prefer to get value to the customer early on, they almost want to bring value to the customer on a weekly basis, and that's where they actually need talent who can think in that way.”

Peter: “If you don't have a strong software background, the way that I've always thought about agile as I've gotten started, is it's really the way that we go about living our lives as we take on a project.”

Vivek: “Everything is teachable and coachable.”

Peter: “You are going to wear many different hats and that's really what Agile promotes is it allows that you know, you on a team can wear many different hats in any given time.”

Learn more about Peter and Vivek in the links below:

• Vivek Khattri: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vivekkhattri/
• Peter Scmitz: https://www.linkedin.com/in/peter-g-schmitz/

If you enjoy The Agile Coach and interested in learning more, you can check us out in the Link below:

• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-agile-coach-llc/

• A Business Analyst’s day-to-day
• A Business Analyst’s accomplishments
• Importance of being a Business Analyst
• Requirement Gathering
• Reasons to be a Business Analyst
• Business Analyst tools

QUOTES

Peter: “It really comes down to having an inquisitive nature, and then also being comfortable asking questions and guiding those conversations with stakeholders and product owners and product managers, so that you can really start to understand and derive value in the organization that way.”

Vivek: “As a BA you need to be a few Sprint's ahead, and you want to refine those stories in your product backlog in partnership with the product owner or a product manager”

Peter: “For me, conveying that in the interview that I want to shadow somebody that I want a good relationship with another business analyst is crucial. Because if they say, “Oh, that's not something that we do”, that's actually a red flag for me in the interview saying, well, “How am I going to learn?”

Peter: “In the interview, and then actually executing in your role, you want to make sure that you communicate how you are good at aligning on what the most important thing is to focus on. Because as a business analyst, there's always 1000 different things you could do.”

Peter: “Companies are born out of chaos, right? There's something chaotic in the world. And as a function of that you create a solution. And so your goal isn't to fight the chaos, it's to embrace it.”

Learn more about Peter in the link below:

• LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/peter-g-schmitz

• Jess’ definition of Networking
• How Jess got her skill in networking
• Why networking is powerful
• Navigating job seekers and recruiters  in networking
• Desperation vs. Urgency
• Best practices for job seekers can network
• Best approaches in Jess’ experience in recruitment
• Working on limiting beliefs and self doubt
• Dealing with imposter syndrome
• Recommended habits for people in the job market

QUOTES

Jess: “But I think today, you know, if we really look at the word networking, and how I see it is really just making connections with people, connecting other human beings, learning about them, sharing your own experiences, you could be networking all the time.”

Jess: “I think networking is powerful, because you never know who's going to open what door”

Jess: “I really love the magic and the idea of like, wow, you never know what's gonna happen. You never know what piece of information this person could give you that could shift your whole path or your whole world”

Vivek: “The world is so vast, there's so many interesting people, there's so many interesting things.”

Jess: “Show up in curiosity, say, Hey, I'm really interested in the work that you're doing. I'm really curious to know about what your day to day has been like, you know, what thoughts are on working for this company? Being curious works, because people want to share about their experience”

Jess: “What's happening in your mind is going to affect how you show up, right? And how you up is going to affect the results that you get. So if you're reaching out to people with this super needy, desperate energy, you're going to get a different result than if you are standing in your power and saying, I know I offer value, right. And I'm curious and open to learning, that's going to get a different response. So I would say be aware of what's happening in your mind, get curious about the dialogue that you have with yourself, that's a good place to start, looking at literally what are your thoughts saying to you, is kind of where you could start diagnosing where you're at shift from there.”

Vivek: “Most of the recruiters or hiring managers, like they hire people, because they want to solve a problem, they have a vacancy, they don't really hire because they're nice people, and they want to give me an opportunity.”

Jess: “I will have limiting beliefs my whole life, right? They're gonna, they're gonna change and they're gonna be there. And that's okay. We can still be successful. Even with them there, I guess, is a message that I would want people to know, too, right. Like, think of all the things that you have achieved, even when you were feeling like not 100% Confident? Yeah. Once they were like, Jess, you feel like crap. And look what you've created in that feeling. Imagine what you could create, if you elevate out of this, right?”

Jess: “The first thing (habits) that comes to mind is self care. We can totally burn ourselves out, especially when it comes to job searching.”

Jess: “Networking is really powerful. These people have the power to like when you get in connection with people, they can give you feedback on your resume. They can tell you what to expect in the interview process. They can refer you to their companies, which is really powerful if you're making a transition.”

Learn more about Jess in the link below:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jesssmithcoaching/
• Email: jess@jesssmithcoaching.com
• Website: jesssmithcoaching.com

• The role of a Product Owner
• Leadership factor in Product Ownership
• Difference of Product Ownership and Product Management
• The setup in Pivotal and Centurylink
• The importance of updating versions and models
• The leadership style needed in Product Ownership
• Building a relationship with the team
• How to build relationships with the engineering team
• Managing and sourcing backlog items
• Best practices for decomposing and refining backlogs
• Best practices for continuous improvement
• Best approach for prioritization
• Best practices for product life cycle
• Richard’s advice to new product owners

QUOTES

Richard: "Because look, if it wasn't for agile, I don't think you need the idea of a product owner, if we were shipping every three years. Those were the old days, I was in those projects, those big waterfall projects where you did requirements for nine months, it coded for a few months, and you did a bunch of integration testing for twice as long.”

Vivek: “It's a very demanding job. It's a really rewarding job in a minute, you know, you have to be technical. There's a lot of elements of leadership, prioritization, which is so important.”

Richard: "A product owner needs to still be sitting there, readily talking to customers, readily talking to your internal teams, they care about your product, and regularly talking to engineers.”

Richard: "There's gonna be different paradigms. I think the important thing is who's going to make sure that you don't add a lot of friction between; what are we trying to accomplish? And how does that get broken into work that engineers can work on? As long as you don't add friction to that and mess up that process I don't care what you call people.”

Richard: "And so as a product owner, product manager, I have to be really good at identifying good data sources, adding telemetry to code, and knowing how to find some signal in the noise, because I can just get drowned in data points.”

Richard: “A good product owner leads through influence. They don't have direct authority. They don't have a management staff of people, the engineers don't report to them. No, but you are leading, often by showing that you have their back.”

Richard: “I learned quickly, especially with a few folks who were a little more grouchy, that I have to prove I've done the work first.”

Richard: “If you want a good relationship with engineers, show you care about their thing, and genuinely.”

Richard: “Yeah, I mean, arguably, some of the best parts of DevOps of Agile have these ideas that you should first of all be hiring people who are never satisfied and not in the sort of like, they're psycho. So we're just always mad about stuff. But like you people who don't just settle in go and like, good enough and good enough.”

Richard: “Sometimes your priority is stabilizing it, sometimes your priority is growing something else. Sometimes your priority is maybe just finding a new market. So I think that's the awesome, fun part of this job is that there's no single sort of Product Strategy for each person. But you have to stop, observe your landscape, talk to stakeholders, understand your corporate priorities, and then reflect that in your backlog.”

Richard: “But you know, hey, look, a good product owner says no, a lot. A good product owner does not say yes, all the time. That is a bad product owner, right? Because you should be saying no, you should be retiring features, retiring products when necessary. So first half, you have to think of the end sometimes.”

Richard: “ Are you a learner? Are you someone who's going to come in here and invest in the relationship, you're not gonna, you're gonna have some courage, and you're gonna have an opinion. And I want to hear your point of view. And you're not just a yes person who comes in and says yes to everybody, or, you know, you're going to come in with an opinion, you're going to be observant, you're going to listen.”

Learn more about Laxmi in the link below:

• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/seroter/
• Twitter: @rseroter
• Website:  https://www.seroter.com

• Working as a scrum master in Mayo Clinic and acquiring an Agile mindset
• Empower your team by not making them excessively reliant on you 
• Learn how to ask the right questions, then ask some more 
• How to create transparency in your team 
• Working with leader to develop an agile mindset 
• Handling a difficult member in the team 
• What is the biggest hurdle to success?
• Good leadership is largely about building good rapport with co-workers 
• How to be an effective facilitator
• Don't be afraid to change things up if you're not achieving the desired outcome
• How to make retrospectives fun, engaging, and productive

QUOTES

Laxmi: "I don't find myself needing to jump in to fix things for my team. In the past, when I work with teams, I used to find myself in a situation that I'm sure a lot of scrum masters out there have felt this way at some point in their careers, where in the process of being helpful, you kinda create this need for your team to become excessively reliant on you." 

Laxmi: "Allow the team to learn by doing something poorly. Let them have a bad daily scrum. We humans, I think, learn when we make mistakes. That's how I learn." 

Laxmi: "First, it's really helping the team understand what we're tying to get out of by visualizing our work. What is the reason behind transparency." 

Pabitra: "So it's not, you're not shoving and pushing, you're not a dictator. You're not saying, hey, like do this or do that. But you're really helping them come up with your own like ways in a way and saying, Hey, you know, I see like what you're doing here and that provides value, but here is like also by not having this in place, there's this here's what's causing us or here's the problem that's causing."

Laxmi: You really want to build out a one-to-one relationship and coach them a little to find out what is getting in the way of them being a better team member, right. What is that internal dialogue? And the biggest thing is you have to be open to the experiences of that person, without any judgment." 

Laxmi: "I firmly believe our style and personality obviously plays an important role in our ability to effectively facilitate. However, as a scrum master, you shouldn't just subscribe to one way of facilitating team events. Yeah. So just like, you know, you're advocating to the team that, Hey, there is more than one way to achieve the same outcome. You also have to believe that there is more than one way to hold, for example, a daily scrum. If your team is still asking the same three questions, what did I work on yesterday, What am I working on today? What is progressing in my work? Then I believe you're just going through the motions and most likely, so is your team." 

Laxmi: "As a facilitator, you have to create an environment for the team to perform at their best. And if you're not experimenting with your technique and, you know, doing what's necessary to provide, the setting that's needed, where the team can reflect, they can discuss and have fun, I don't think you're growing as a scrum master or caring enough to bring them, bring the group together."

Learn more about Laxmi in the link below:

• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/laxmi-khanal-921687100/

• A lifetime of learning 
• What is Kanban? 
• The Kanban Iceberg: it's not just about sign cards 
• Explaining Flow
• What does a flow manager do? 
• Measuring Cumulative Flow Diagram (CFD)
• The Agile Manifesto
• How to coach a team on XP (Extreme Programming) 
• On Service Delivery Review 
• Measuring outcome vs output

QUOTES

Matt: "It's been really nice to see how different people are doing things and learning from other people and different places and pick up bits and pieces. For me, an agile mindset is one of learning and so picking up bits and pieces where people are doing some interesting things, trying interesting things, and that's what I've just done. Very little of what I've done is my own novel idea. It's really just incorporating other people's ideas and making it work."   

Matt: "Kanban helps us to see how our work works. It's really making visible the work systems that we work in." 

Matt: In knowledge work, where we are in, intangible goods, it's harder to see the work. It's stuff that lives in our computers and in the cloud, and so it's not quite as transparent and visible as in a physical goods environment. 

Matt: "It's a way of, I talk about humanizing work. For me, seeing how actual people were doing work can be overburdened and stressed out by having too much work to work on, or not having a visibility into how things are working. And so it's about the work's sake, but also the worker's sake that I really find Kanban to be a helpful way of thinking really about our work."

Matt: "The Kanban Iceberg metaphor that I've used in the past is, that which is seen at the top of the iceberg, which is the sign cards or the cork boards. But there's so much of the Kanban method that's below the surface. Not quite as easily seen. I think about the other practices, the principles, and the values."

Matt: "In my experience, I've experienced lots of different places that say Agile and do Agile. My very first experience was doing XP extreme programming orientation. My main experience is initially doing Agile stuff from an XP standpoint. For me that's really valuable because I understood the importance of engineering excellence and technical excellence as opposed to just the organizing principles of some methods that are useful but don't necessarily speak to what code looks like and what deliverable work should look like." 

Matt: "Make it okay to fail. We talk a lot about psychological safety. Making it clear that it’s okay that you're not gonna get it right the first time. And being resilient in that experience and to learn from those things." 

Matt: "If doing something fast is important, there's tradeoffs obviously, maybe the quality suffers but sometimes the customer's okay with that. It takes a very important conversation to make them aware of the implications of taking some shortcuts with code. But one of the things that I find useful, for example, is predictability. Being able to be predictable in delivery, to the extent that we have control over some of these sources of variation and impact." 

Learn more about Matt in the link below:

• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthewphilip/
• Website: http://mattphilip.wordpress.com/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/mattphilip

Featuring clips from the following episodes (in order of appearance):

Ep. 16 | Agile Team Retrospectives (ft. Meghann Rudolph) Ep. 18 | Inspiration Behind Writing Agile Retrospectives (ft. Diana Larson) Ep. 18 | Step 1: Setting the Stage (ft. Diana Larson) Ep. 18 | Step 2: Gathering Data (ft. Diana Larson) Ep. 18 | Step 3: Gathering Insight (ft. Diana Larson) Ep. 18 | Step 4: Deciding What to Do (ft. Diana Larson) Ep. 18 | Step 5: Closing the Retrospective (ft. Diana Larson) Ep. 1 | What is Meeting Facilitation? (ft. Joe Ziadeh) Ep. 14 | Making a Retrospective Fun, Engaging & Effective (ft. Adam Miner)

Featuring clips from the following episodes (in order of appearance):

Ep. 2 | Role of a Business Analyst in Scrum (ft. Jeff Bubolz) Ep. 31 | What are You Expected to Know? (ft. Zach Klipsch) Ep. 31 | What is a BA Supposed to Do? (ft. Zach Klipsch) Ep. 24 | Communicating And Mitigating Risk (ft. Banu Raghuraman) Ep. 24 | How to Give Bad News or Say "No" (ft. Banu Raghuraman) Ep. 31 | Understanding Business Partners and Stakeholders (ft. Zach Klipsch)

Our Speaker: Alex Courtney

Alex received his bachelor's in business administration and management from University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point and his MBA from the University of Central Missouri. Since graduation, Alex has worked in many agile roles including those of a product manager, scrum master, and agile coach. He is currently working as the Director of Digital Product for BJC HealthCare. We are proud to introduce Alex Courtney.

Our Speaker: Jeremy Aschenbrenner

With a rich background in management and IT, Jeremy now acts as the chief instructor at The BA Guide where he helps other achieve their goal of becoming a business analyst. We are proud to introduce Jeremy Aschenbrenner.

Our Speaker: Zach Klipsch After a high school injury cost him the ability to play soccer in college, Zach worked with a physical therapist who helped show him the value of determination and helping others. This inspired Zach to attend and graduate from Maryville University in Saint Louis, Missouri. Through their dual degree program with Washington University, he was able to major in biomedical engineering. After spending 6 to 8 hours per week working for the university as an analyst and technical expert, Zach discovered that he had many of the skills and tools needed to become an entrepreneur. This led him to pursue full time employment at Bayer, Centene Corp, and presently Quanterix. We are proud to introduce Zach Klipsch.

Featuring clips from the following episodes (in order of appearance):

Ep. 13 | Facilitation from a Modern Agile Perspective (ft. Barbara Kryvko)  Ep. 14 | Growing as a Scrum Master & Coach (ft. Adam Miner) Ep. 19 | Harnessing the Power of the Team (ft. Lakshmi Ramaseshan) Ep. 16 | Vulnerability & Courage (ft. Meaghann Rudolph) Ep. 9 | Mastering the Art of Scrum & Building High-Performing Teams (ft. Adam Miner) Ep. 2 | Scrum, UX Integrations & Leading Teams (ft. Jeff Bubolz) Ep. 6 | Deconstructing ScrumBan & Going from Control to Trust (ft. Andrew Stellman) Ep. 5 | Scaled Agile (SAFe) Deep-Dive for Scrum Masters (ft. Venkat Bagayat) Ep. 17 | Transparency, Collaboration & SAFe (Scaled Agile Framework) (ft. Hari Khanal)

Our Speaker: Athulya Mohanan

Athulya began her career at Reiotech, a small startup in India, where she worked as a design engineer. It was here that she was introduced to Agile principles by some external consultants, but it wouldn’t be until after finishing her masters in the US and starting her PhD in electrical engineering that she’d realize her passions lied not in a research lab, but in helping individuals achieve success through Agile. Athulya has since worked as an Agile Coach and scrum master for about 6 years, transforming teams and training others in Agile boot camps. She is currently employed as a Technical Delivery Manager at OpenTable. We are proud to introduce Athulya Mohanan.

Our Speaker: Hari Khanal

Hari has a passion for serving others and bringing people together, and it was this passion that drove him to leave his job in sales to pursue a career in Agile. He currently works as a scrum master, coach and facilitator for multiple organizations as well as runs his own companies outside of his career. We are proud to have Hari Khanal back on the podcast.

Our Speaker: Anu Jayasignhe

After studying industrial design at Carnegie Mellon and participating in a number of internships, Anu discovered that his love of product ideating could pair much better with his desire for faster results in the world of UX (user experience) design. Through a combination of hack-a-thons and teaching himself the technical tools, Anu quickly landed his first job as a UX designer at IBM where he worked until eventually becoming the current design lead at Publicis Sapient. We are proud to introduce Anu Jayasignhe.

Our Speaker: Parth Detroja

Parth had been interested in marketing from and early age, but it wasn't until after he he was nearing graduation from Cornell with a degree in applied economics that he realized it was something he wanted to pursue. Despite his lack of a background in tech, Parth took the world by storm, landing jobs at Microsoft, Amazon and, in 2017, Facebook, where he currently works as a product manager. Along with his impressive work experience, Parth also co-authored the #1 bestselling technology and business strategy book, "Swipe to Unlock". We are proud to introduce Parth Detroja.

Our Speaker: Marla Dufek

Marla entered into her career as a professional coach with a desire to help people see themselves as naturally creative resourceful and whole. She is certified under the International Coaching Federation and is a Certified Professional Co-Active Coach. We are proud to introduce Marla Dufek.

Our Speaker: Banu Raghuraman Banu Raghuraman has been an active leader in the agile community and tech space for around a decade, with experience in product management, business analysis, and emotional intelligence. Although she is currently working as a digital product manager at EY, Banu also enjoys mentoring others, conducting public speeches and live webinars that encourage others to become leaders themselves. We are proud to introduce Banu Raghuraman.

Our Speaker: Michael Fritz Being a father, podcaster and automation guru, Michael does it all! With over 12 years in the quality assurance testing and automation field, Michael has helped numerous businesses create automation solutions through his company Arch DevOps. We are proud to introduce Michael "Fritz" Fritzius.

"Breaking Into Software Test Automation" Udemy Course: https://www.udemy.com/share/104BMk/

Our Speaker: Neha Satya Neha is a product manager at Capco and a project manager mentor at Product Gym. Although she is relatively new to the working world, Neha is no stranger to hard work. Her drive, determination, confidence and communication skills have made her an incredibly sought after candidate in the agile and product space. We are proud to introduce Neha Satya.

Our Speaker: Richard Chen

Richard is the co-founder of Product Gym, a recruiter-founded company whose goal is to be a community for aspiring product managers and a place where they can network, be coached and collaborate to achieve their dream career. He advocates strongly for the letting go of negative energy, staying humble and bringing enthusiasm into everything you do. We are proud to introduce Richard Chen.

Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/theagilecoach/support

Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/theagilecoach/support

Our Speaker: Lakshmi Ramaseshan

Lakshmi started out as a developer, but after being asked to serve as a liaison, bridging the gap between her team and the customer, Lakshmi's desire to best serve her organization began to take shape. With her drive and passion for serving others, Lakshmi quickly moved into more formal roles such as product manager, scrum master and agile coach, earning her over 15 years of experience as an Agile leader. Despite her knowledge, Lakshmi remains humble, staying engaged with agile communities and continually uncovering better ways to grow her team and her life. We are proud to introduce Lakshmi Ramaseshan.

Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/theagilecoach/support

Our Speaker: Diana Larson

When it comes to Agile retrospectives, Diana Larson literally helped write the book. Her publication, “Agile Retrospectives: Making Good Teams Great” is world-renowned and has helped countless Agile leaders fully embrace the power that the 12th Agile principle has to offer. Presently, Diana dedicates her time to the company she co-founded: The Agile Fluency Project. Here, her goal is to help new and experienced Agilists make the most of Agile practices within the needs of their businesses and teams. In her free time, Diana enjoys staying connected with the Agile community, speaking at meet-ups and going on podcasts like the one you’re hearing today! We are proud to welcome Diana Larson.

Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/theagilecoach/support

Our Speaker: Hari Khanal

Hari has a passion for serving others and bringing people together, and it was this passion that drove him to leave his job in sales to pursue a career in Agile. He currently works as a scrum master, coach and facilitator for multiple organizations as well as runs his own companies outside of his career. We are proud to introduce Hari Khanal.

To connect with Hari, check him out on LinkedIn:

https://linkedin.com/in/hari-khanal

Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/theagilecoach/support

Our Speaker: Meghann Rudolph

Meghann Rudolph is an adventurer at heart, constantly looking for life's next opportunity as she races towards her next entrepreneurial goal. Presently working as a Scrum master and Agile facilitator at Comcast and as a LinkedIn content creator, Meghann credits much of her success to the love and support shown to her by her family and mentors. We are proud to introduce, Meghann Rudolph.

To connect with Meghann, check out her LinkedIn:

https://linkedin.com/in/meghann-rudolph

Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/theagilecoach/support

Our Speaker:

Rajsi Rana After studying computer science and finance at the University of Cambridge, Rajsi Rana learned about the idea of becoming a product manager through a friend, and the rest is history. Having a type-A personality, Rajsi went from being a college student to a technical program manager at Amazon fairly quickly. After working in this position for a few years, in 2019, she became the senior product manager at Oracle Cloud where she works on special projects that focus on the company's top customers. We are proud to introduce Rajsi Rana.

Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/theagilecoach/support

Our Speaker: Barbara Kryvko

After earning her degree from Webster University in Computer Science and Mathematics, Barbara Kryvko began her Agile journey in the software space, gaining decades of experience in Network engineering, software development, IT Consultation, and systems administration. Eventually, she would end up at Monsanto where she'd become a Scrum Master and Agile Coach for the first time, managing multiple teams as well as coaching their product managers, business partners and management. Currently, Barbara works as a Senior Agile Coach at Bayer Crop Science where she works to "foster a culture of excellence, collaboration and continuous improvement." We are proud to introduce Barbara Kryvko.

To connect with Barbara, find her at the link below:

LinkedIn: https://LinkedIn.com/in/barbarakryvko

Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/theagilecoach/support

Our Speaker: Sagar Satyal

Sagar Satyal is the co-founder of My Emotions Matter, an organization based in Kathmandu Nepal whose mission is to help others live harmoniously by providing educational resources, screenings and consultation services regarding emotional management and emotional intelligence. Along with being a huge football fan and enjoying walks in the park, Sagar enjoys exploring himself and the role emotions play in our everyday lives. Taking each day as it comes, Sagar's goal is to live a meaningful life and to help create an environment for others to do the same. We’re proud to introduce Sagar Satyal.

Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/theagilecoach/support

Our Speaker:

Adam Miner Baseball has always been his passion, and when it comes to being a scrum master, Adam Miner hits a home run. With a background in athletics, majoring in biology and starting his career in finance, Adam’s route to becoming a scrum master in IT product management is less than conventional. However, Adam’s unique experiences have allowed him to draw many parallels between high-performing sports and corporate teams and has molded how he treats others as a leader today. We are proud to have Adam Miner back on the podcast.

Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/theagilecoach/support

Our Speaker: In a chaotic world where acting impulsively seems to be the norm, Josh Magro encourages us to master the art of emotional agility. Josh is a licensed psychotherapist, motivational speaker, self-mastery coach and co-founder of Personal Power and Prosperity, Inc; an organization that helps others navigate their emotions, heal from their past, and fall madly in love with their life. In the short term, Josh does live workshops as well as one-on-one therapy sessions where members learn to challenge their own limiting beliefs and express their vulnerability. However, in the long term, his goal is to make concepts such as “feeling your feelings” and “showing up authentically” so common that the work he currently does is no longer needed. We’re proud to introduce Josh Magro.

To connect with Josh, check him out at the links below:

Josh on LinkedIn: https://LinkedIn.com/JoshMagro

P3 Workshops: https://P3Workshops.com

Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/theagilecoach/support

Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/theagilecoach/support

Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/theagilecoach/support

Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/theagilecoach/support

Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/theagilecoach/support

Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/theagilecoach/support

Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/theagilecoach/support

Our Speaker: Adam Miner

Baseball has always been his passion, and when it comes to being a scrum master, Adam Miner hits a home run. With a background in athletics, majoring in biology and starting his career in finance, Adam’s route to becoming a scrum master in IT product management is less than conventional. However, Adam’s unique experiences have allowed him to draw many parallels between high-performing sports and corporate teams and has molded how he treats others as a leader today. We are proud to introduce Adam Miner.

Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/theagilecoach/support

Andrew Stellman earned a degree in Computer Science from Carnegie-Mellon, but although he started out as a humble software developer, he has since come to develop a generation of Agilists through his work as a product manager, consultant and O'Reilly published author. Some of his literary works include, "Beautiful Teams," "Learning Agile," "Applied Software Project Management," "Head First Agile," "Head First PMP," and "Head First C#". He's worked with both small and large, 80+ person teams and served as the Vice President of Goldman Sachs for five years. We are proud to introduce Andrew Stellman.

To connect with Andrew, visit his website Stellman-Greene.com or find him on LinkedIn and Twitter @AndrewStellman.

Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/theagilecoach/support

Attributing most of her success to her belief in people, Jolene Jangles has spent over 20 years working in technology and product development as a business analyst, mentor, coach, facilitator and Agile team leader. While working as a BA back in 2005, many now-traditional Agile practices had not yet evolved, so Jolene was required to figure out how to demonstrate Agility in her own unique way. This stroke of serendipity would later go on to heavily influence her philosophy on what it means to be a good leader, promoting the idea that successful teams tend to come from an environment where unique personal growth and decision-making take priority over traditional technique implementation. Aside from working in the Target system for nine years, transforming groups of sizes between 150 to 300 people, Jolene is also a Brené Brown instructor and the founder of Balanced Agility. We are proud to introduce Jolene Jangles.

Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/theagilecoach/support

Our Speaker: Diego Granados

Although he enjoys testing out new Xbox features as a part of his job at Microsoft, Diego Granados doesn’t play games when it comes to product management. Originally from Mexico City, Diego graduated with an MBA from Duke University. He has several years of experience working as a product manager at Cisco and now Microsoft where he primarily works with machine-learning models. We’re proud to introduce Diego Granados.

To connect with Diego, search for him on YouTube under "PM Diego Granados".

Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/theagilecoach/support