Podcasts about product owners

Agile in Construction: Why Construction Teams Need Product Owner Thinking with Luca Cotta Ramusino Read the full Show Notes and search through the world's largest audio library on Agile and Scrum directly on the Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast website: http://bit.ly/SMTP_ShowNotes. The Great Product Owner: The Customer Value Detective Luca discovered that applying the Product Owner role in construction requires thinking like a customer and understanding that "it's the customer that defines what value is." The great Product Owner in construction acts as a customer value detective, constantly asking "which task out of these is going to move the yardstick?" They ensure that work always serves a customer—if you can't identify your customer, you should stop and find one. This mindset transforms how construction teams approach their daily huddles and project planning, viewing everything through the lens of customer value rather than just task completion. The Bad Product Owner: The Waste Accumulator The bad Product Owner in construction fails to eliminate waste from processes, allowing non-value-adding activities to persist simply because "that's how we've always done it." They struggle to have candid conversations with customers and fail to tease out real requirements. Instead of transforming language into customer reality, they ask customers directly "what they want" without understanding that customers are better at identifying what they don't want than articulating what they need. This approach leads to projects that complete tasks without delivering real value. In this segment, refer to The Last Planner Method. Self-reflection Question: Can you clearly identify the customer for every piece of work your team performs, and how do you ensure that work truly moves the project toward completion? [The Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast Recommends]

Heute geht es um eine Herausforderung, die viele Product Owner, und damit auch Entwicklungsteams, kennen. Wie schafft man es, Anforderungen, Abhängigkeiten, Ziele und Ideen zu strukturieren und zu sortieren, aber auch so miteinander zu verknüpfen, dass ein roter Faden entsteht? Dafür gibt es natürlich einige Methoden und Tools, aber wie setzt man diese richtig ein und wie schafft man es, Zusammenhänge sichtbar zu machen? Unser Gast ist Olaf Bublitz, der viel Erfahrung mit visuellen Methoden in der Produktentwicklung mitbringt. Wir sprechen über einen Werkzeugkoffer, der Product Ownern helfen kann, Übersicht zu gewinnen, Entscheidungen zu unterstützen, komplexe Zusammenhänge schneller zu erfassen, aber auch Zusammenarbeit sichtbar zu machen. Und wir schauen uns an, wie man diesen visuellen Werkzeugkoffer strukturieren kann, nicht nur punktuell, sondern entlang des gesamten Entwicklungsprozesses.

Die fünf Scrum Werte stehen etwas unscheinbar im Scrum Guide – nur ein kurzer Absatz, gefühlt kaum mehr als eine Randnotiz. Und doch bilden sie die Grundlage dafür, dass iteratives Arbeiten, gemäß des Prinzips empirischer Prozesssteuerung, in Scrum überhaupt möglich ist. In dieser Folge sprechen Oliver und Tim darüber, wie Product Owner diese Scrum Werte im Alltag konkret leben können. Nicht abstrakt und theoretisch, sondern ganz praktisch – im Spannungsfeld von Verantwortung, Kommunikation und Produktführung. Viele Teams und Organisationen arbeiten mit Scrum, ohne die Bedeutung der Scrum Werte wirklich zu reflektieren. Dabei hängt vieles genau davon ab: Wie offen gehen wir mit Feedback um? Wie mutig sprechen wir Konflikte an? Wie sehr helfen uns Fokus, Commitment und Respekt dabei, Klarheit zu schaffen und wirkungsvoll zusammenzuarbeiten? Tim und Oliver nehmen sich alle fünf Scrum Werte vor – Commitment, Fokus, Mut, Offenheit und Respekt – und beleuchten sie aus der Sicht eines Product Owners. Sie zeigen, dass es nicht um perfekte Haltung oder moralische Überlegenheit geht – sondern um gelebte Verantwortung. Und um die Wirkung, die entsteht, wenn ein Product Owner diese Werte nicht nur benennt, sondern im täglichen Handeln sichtbar macht. Ob in der Priorisierung, im Stakeholder-Dialog oder im Sprint Review: Die Scrum Werte zeigen sich überall. Wer als Product Owner mutig ist, kann klare Entscheidungen treffen, statt es allen recht machen zu wollen. Wer respektvoll kommuniziert, schafft Vertrauen – gerade auch in schwierigen Situationen. Und wer offen bleibt, kann Feedback wirklich annehmen, ohne die eigene Position zu verlieren. Oft stehen diese Werte in Spannung zueinander – oder im Widerspruch zu dem, was das Umfeld verlangt. Hierzu hatten wir ja auch gerade die tolle Episode mit Johannes Schartau ("Strukturen, die Produktentwicklung behindern – und was ihr dagegen tun könnt"). Gerade unter Druck fällt es schwer, Respekt zu zeigen, mutig zu bleiben oder sich zu fokussieren. Und genau deshalb braucht es Reflexion. Ein klares Gespür dafür, welchen Wert ich in meinem Kontext gerade besonders stärken will. Und die Bereitschaft, kleine Schritte zu gehen, statt alles auf einmal verändern zu wollen. Diese Folge ist eine Einladung, den Scrum Werten mehr Raum zu geben – nicht als Theorie, sondern als Kompass im Alltag. Wer sie ernst nimmt, stärkt nicht nur die eigene Wirksamkeit als Product Owner, sondern auch das Vertrauen im Team und in die eigene Produktverantwortung. Folgende weiteren Episoden wurden im Gespräch genannt: - Klarheit als Superpower für Produktmenschen - Sei dein eigenes Produkt! – Weiterentwicklung für Product Owner Wie wirken die Scrum Werte in deinem Alltag als Product Owner? Welche erlebst du als besonders hilfreich – und wo wird es herausfordernd? Wir sind gespannt auf deine Erfahrungen, Perspektiven und Fragen. Komm mit uns ins Gespräch und lass uns gemeinsam weiterdenken. Hinterlasse gerne einen Kommentar unterm Blog-Artikels oder auf unserer Produktwerker LinkedIn-Seite.

“Mental fitness is like going to the gym—but for your mind.”In this insightful episode, Jim welcomes René de Leijer—Agile Coach, Scrum Master, and co-creator of The Inner Game—to explore what it truly means to help people, teams, and organizations grow. René shares his philosophy on being “strategically lazy,” the importance of psychological safety, and how embracing your inner saboteurs can lead to personal and team transformation.More on The Inner GameThe website: https://www.playtheinnergame.com/LinkedIn page: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/98064137/admin/dashboard/Connect with René on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/renedeleijer/Join the Online Scrum Master Summit: Claim your free ticket for the Online Scrum Master SummitCheck out our sponsor:www.xebia.comwww.scrummatch.comwww.wiserbees.comwww.masteringagility.orgHosted by Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

In der heutigen Folge lernst du Marc Seiderer, Product Owner der RIS-API, aus der Konzernleitung der Deutschen Bahn kennen. Gemeinsam sprechen wir über den modularen Baukasten der Reisendeninformation und wie dieser die Brücke zwischen komplexen Datenquellen und konkretem Kundennutzen schlägt – Du erfährst unter anderem: • Warum Reisendeninformation jeden betrifft – egal ob Bahnmitarbeiter:in oder Fahrgast • Wie die RIS-API als flexibler Baukasten eine verlässliche, konsistente und abnehmergerechte Datenversorgung ermöglicht • Der technische Unterbau: Microservices, MQTT, JSON, JAVA, Prometheus/Grafana • Agile Zusammenarbeit in sechs Teams – und eine Kultur, die durch Leidenschaft, Vielfalt und Zusammenhalt geprägt ist • Warum Marc heute mit voller Überzeugung für die DB arbeitet – obwohl das früher für ihn undenkbar war Mehr dazu im Interview. Jobs: Wenn auch du eine verlässliche, konsistente und abnehmergerechte Datenversorgung ermöglichen willst, dann schaue jetzt vorbei auf db.jobs. Links zur Folge: https://mobilitaetgestalten.deutschebahn.com/portfolio/reisendeninteraktion/reisendeninformation/ri-daten-services# Get in touch. Gast: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marc-seiderer-2bbb84105/ Mein LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jan-g%C3%B6tze-178516a6/ Erfahre mehr über die IT-Welt bei der Deutschen Bahn: https://db.jobs/de-de/dein-einstieg/akademische-professionals/it

Stuart Tipples: The Ghost Product Owner vs. The Storytelling Master Read the full Show Notes and search through the world's largest audio library on Agile and Scrum directly on the Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast website: http://bit.ly/SMTP_ShowNotes. The Great Product Owner: The Storytelling Master Stuart describes an exceptional Product Owner who worked with an API team on what could have been a dry, unsexy product. This PO excelled by maintaining clear availability through established office hours, showing up consistently for the team, and avoiding micromanagement. The standout quality was their ability to tell compelling stories that created clarity and got the team onboard with the vision. Through storytelling, this PO helped the team communicate the value of their work, transforming a potentially mundane product into something meaningful and engaging for both the team and stakeholders. The Bad Product Owner: The Ghost with the Most Stuart encountered a problematic Product Owner working with a customer-portal team dealing with edge cases, legacy systems, and messy code. This PO earned the nickname "The Ghost with the Most" because they were never available when needed. They would miss sprint planning sessions, delay or skip backlog refinement entirely, and leave team members to fill the gap while juggling their own responsibilities. Stuart learned to address this directly by outlining how the PO's behavior affected the team and delivery, asking "Can I help you?" The PO initially reacted defensively but eventually admitted they weren't happy in the role. Self-reflection Question: How effectively does your Product Owner use storytelling to create clarity and help the team understand the value of their work? [Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast Recommends]

In this thought-provoking episode, Jim sits down with Tobias -Tobi- Mende, engineering leadership consultant and speaker at the upcoming Online Scrum Master Summit from June 17-19 to explore the real challenges of decision-making in agile teams. Drawing from 15+ years of experience, Tobi shares how poor visibility, lack of strategy, and fear of failure hold teams back—and how we can fix it.If you're a Scrum Master, team lead, or product manager frustrated by indecision, vague priorities, or never-ending meetings—this episode is for you. Tobi delivers tactical ways to empower teams, improve clarity, and reintroduce confidence into team decisions—without falling into top-down traps or analysis paralysis.

Laura Kendrick and Cort Sharp hijack the mic to share what it’s really like behind the scenes at Mountain Goat. From Zoom bloopers to unexpected team bonding, they unpack how a fully remote team built a thriving, human-centered workplace. Overview In this special takeover episode, Laura Kendrick and Cort Sharp pull back the curtain on what goes into running hundreds of Scrum and Product Owner classes virtually—and why Mountain Goat's remote team still feels so close-knit. With stories of early tech headaches, Slack banter, hilarious costume moments, and the quiet rituals that keep the team connected, they explore how remote work can actually foster strong relationships and top-tier collaboration. If you’ve ever wondered how to make a distributed team work (or just want a peek at some Zoom-era growing pains), this one’s for you. References and resources mentioned in the show: Laura Kendrick Cort Sharp #61: The Complex Factors in The Office Vs. Remote Debate with Scott Dunn #147: The Power of Quiet Influence with Casey Sinnema Run a Daily Scrum Your Team Will Love Subscribe to the Agile Mentors Podcast Join the Agile Mentors Community Want to get involved? This show is designed for you, and we’d love your input. Enjoyed what you heard today? Please leave a rating and a review. It really helps, and we read every single one. Got an Agile subject you’d like us to discuss or a question that needs an answer? Share your thoughts with us at podcast@mountaingoatsoftware.com This episode’s presenters are: Cort Sharp is the Scrum Master of the producing team and the Agile Mentors Community Manager. In addition to his love for Agile, Cort is also a serious swimmer and has been coaching swimmers for five years. Laura Kendrick is the producer of the Agile Mentors Podcast and a seasoned Scrum Master who keeps virtual classes running smoothly. Outside the podcast, she helps clients apply Scrum techniques to their marketing and business strategy, bringing structure and momentum to big, creative ideas. Auto-generated Transcript: Laura Kendrick (00:00) Welcome in Agile Mentors. As you may have noticed, I am not Brian Milner. I am Laura Kendrick, and this is Cort Sharp. And if you have taken a class with us at Mountain Goat in the last five years, there is a good chance that you have met one or actually both of us. Cort Sharp (00:19) I think it's like 90 % chance, 95 % honestly. We've been in so many of these classes. Laura Kendrick (00:26) Definitely, and oftentimes together too with one of us TAing, one of us producing, sometimes one of us teaching court. Cort Sharp (00:33) once in a while, once in a while. Yeah. Laura Kendrick (00:37) So we thought we would come on over here and hijack the podcast to share a little bit about some of the insights that we have gained from doing about a billion, maybe a little exaggeration. Cort Sharp (00:49) Roughly. Roughly. We've done roughly a billion classes with Mountain Goat. Yes. Laura Kendrick (00:56) We have seen a lot in the certifying of Scrum Masters and product owners and advanced product owners and Scrum Masters and all of the evolution of the classes that we have done. We actually hold quite a bit of insight into what is happening in this world. And so we thought we would come in, steal the podcast, and share a little bit of what we have seen, learned, observed, and really just kind of Honestly, some of the laughs and fun that we've had along the way. Cort Sharp (01:25) Also, I think, I don't know, just your intro right there is talking about, hey, we've seen the evolution of these classes. That just got my brain going of like, remember the first class that we did? Way like 2020. I mean, I was in my parents' basement with really terrible internet. It was a struggle. Laura Kendrick (01:40) Yeah. Cort Sharp (01:49) But we were working on like Miro boards or mural. One of the two, forget which, which tool it was, but that was, yeah, that was before team home. And then we got to see the first version of team home. We helped do a little testing with it. And then we've seen it grow all the way into this awesome tool that we have nowadays. And I don't know, just, just to me, I think it's cool to see how we've been iterating and be part of that process of the iteration process, um, to develop these classes and these courses into. Laura Kendrick (01:52) Mm-hmm. Mural. Yep. Mm-hmm. Cort Sharp (02:20) the truly awesomeness that they are today. Personally, I'd rather take a virtual class than an in-person class with Mountain Goat at this point. Laura Kendrick (02:27) It's funny that you say that because I notice actually the iteration of the experience like outside of the tech piece because you know, that's where my brain goes. Here's the difference between court and I. I'm noticing the interactions. But I've noticed, mean how people are interacting a little bit differently in the online space, how even our team interacts, like all of those things has become so much more sophisticated and amazing and Cort Sharp (02:39) Yeah, just a bit. Laura Kendrick (02:54) I mean, honestly, we sometimes talk on our team between like the producing and TA team where like I've referred to it as a perfect game if we don't need anything from the outside team, which occasionally we need a lot of support from the outside team, but we've we've got this down at this point. And it is it's become those first classes. I remember them being super stressful, like, my gosh, the breakout rooms and all the things and just being like, I mean, you couldn't do. Cort Sharp (03:17) Yes. Laura Kendrick (03:21) It was almost like learning how to drive where you felt like if you turned the radio knob up, you might actually turn the whole car. And it was like, so much anxiety. Cort Sharp (03:31) I mean, but we just didn't know Zoom then. Zoom didn't even know itself then, right? What Zoom is, ⁓ for those of you who don't know, we host all of our virtual classes on Zoom. And learning that platform, like I'd used it once maybe for some just, yeah, here's Zoom exists in one of my college classes. That was about it. But yeah, totally. was like, man, what does this button do? Hopefully it doesn't end the meeting and kick everyone out. Laura Kendrick (03:34) Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That's so true. Yeah, no kidding. But you know what's really interesting too, though, is that it's been over five years now for both of us being part of the Mountain Goat team. And we all work remotely. And other than you and Mike for a little while being right down the road from each other, none of us had any actual interpersonal interaction with each other outside of Zoom email and Slack and the occasional, know, fretted text message of like, are you late? Where are you? Cort Sharp (03:58) Absolutely, yeah, totally. Yeah. Laura Kendrick (04:26) But other than that it like we truly were of and still are a fully remote team and the crazy thing about it is we have at this point once gotten together as a full team in person and it was such an interesting experience being having been fully remote and then being in person and in particular the team that is live on the classes Cort Sharp (04:39) Yep. Yep. Laura Kendrick (04:51) It was a very different interaction because we have this time built into our classes where the team gets on the Zoom call 30 minutes earlier than the students do. And we get this time to just honestly have like water cooler chat and like friend chat or occasionally see Mike get on and you can't hear him, but you can see that he is quite angry at his very elaborate tech system that is not working correctly. Cort Sharp (05:14) you That does happen. Yes, it does. ⁓ Laura Kendrick (05:21) these moments, I feel like they really bonded us together. Because when we got together in person, it was old friends. wasn't even fast friends. It was old friends. And the banter even that goes on in Slack is fun and engaging and not rigid and confining. Cort Sharp (05:31) Yeah. Yes, absolutely. I agree with that. I mean, I'm just thinking back to like the first time because that was the first time I met you in person. aside from being like, wow, she's a lot shorter than I thought she would be. Laura Kendrick (05:47) Mm-hmm. shorter. By the way, court is like 6-4. Cort Sharp (05:55) Yeah, yeah. Not that you're short. But I've just always ever seen like, the profile like the profile picture. That's all that it's really ever been. So I'm like, yeah, you're like, what I would consider normal height, which you totally are. But in my mind, I was like, yeah, it's weird seeing, you know, your legs. That's funny. ⁓ Laura Kendrick (06:14) We digress. Cort Sharp (06:15) But aside from that, was like we've known each other for three, four, four years because we've had that time to get to know each other. We've had that time to talk about just life events, what's going on, where we live, what's happening, what the deal is going on with life. Because we've been very intentional about having that time with that. The 30 minutes before each class were originally very much so used to take care of any tech problems. As the years have gone by, we've for the most part figured out the tech problems. Sometimes, you know, we'll change something out. Laura Kendrick (06:48) Except, hold on, except last week in Lance's class, we were talking about his dog and suddenly it looked as though Lance in his entire room did a cartwheel because the camera just fell. This is not a small camera. Cort Sharp (07:02) It said, nope, I'm out. ⁓ man. Laura Kendrick (07:06) So we still occasionally have the tech problem. Cort Sharp (07:09) Yes we do, yes we do. That's why we still do the 30 vimits. Laura Kendrick (07:14) The crazy thing about that is that when we landed at this in-person meeting, there were members of the team that at that time, and I in particular had never had any interaction with. so like other than the odd email or Slack message, so it was like really knew their name, but didn't really work with them up until that moment. And it was really interesting because at one point, the way that the leadership team had mentioned of like, well, if you need somebody to step in and talk to Mike for you, if you're not comfortable. And I remember looking at court and being like, Mike's the one I'm most comfortable with in this room because of that 30 minutes. I feel like I know Mike. I feel like we have an actual interpersonal relationship where I have no problem speaking up and saying the things that I need to. And that has made like those little water cooler times, those little Cort Sharp (07:54) Yeah. Laura Kendrick (08:06) bantery questions, them asking about my kids or hobbies or whatever. And just knowing those things made a huge difference in our team functioning. The communication across time zones was so much better and easier and safer. Cort Sharp (08:24) Absolutely. We were talking a little bit before we were recording about just people who want pure in-person no matter what. I think at this point, I will always push back on that and say, you might not get that quote unquote collaboration time that's naturally built in, but if you're intentional about it and you provide the space and provide the resources, Laura Kendrick (08:32) Hmm. Cort Sharp (08:50) And also, kind of push people along, have some, I don't know, working agreements or something of, hey, our cameras are on whenever we're talking with each other, unless something like drastic is going on or something's happening, right? Which I think we're going to get into in a little bit, but it's massive. It's crazy. Laura Kendrick (09:03) That's huge. Yeah, I mean, it is. I think we can definitely speak to that in our own experience because we've had, of course, there are moments where people don't have cameras. There are moments where people have bad connections and we'll encourage them in class, like turn off your camera, save your bandwidth. But there are also moments where we are doing private classes for companies. In particular, we've done some with companies that work with like Department of Defense. So there's like real security. issues there and so they don't turn their cameras on. Their cameras are totally disabled on their computers. And it is, I have to say those classes are some of the most like energy draining classes I'm ever present in because I'll be there with the trainer and I feel like I have to give all this emotional feedback because when you are talking to a black screen, that's, it's really hard to just. Cort Sharp (09:47) Hmm. Laura Kendrick (09:58) survive that because you're not getting any feedback from anyone. So you don't know what's happening and you're constantly questioning and the kind of banter in your own mind is like, God, is it landing? Is it not? And you're just not getting any of that physical feedback. So I feel like when I'm on a class with a trainer like that, I feel like I have to be like, that's funny. I'm like, yeah, good point. Cort Sharp (10:19) Yeah, you're kidding. Laura Kendrick (10:21) I'm tired Cort Sharp (10:22) You No, I get that. And I've had some pretty similar experiences too. I might not be as in tune with the emotional side as stated earlier. So I might not help the trainers out nearly as much as I probably should. But I do think cameras on just can make all the difference. And again, situations where it's just not possible. Absolutely understand that. One of our trainers, Lance, he Laura Kendrick (10:39) Mm-hmm. Cort Sharp (10:47) He always likes to throw out the phrase, look, let's approach everything with grace, patience, and mercy. So I like, which I really appreciate, and I like that he throws that out there. But I think that's a good thing to keep in mind of like, know, even though you have the company policy, you have the working agreement, whatever it is that says, look, camera's on all the time, sometimes it's just not possible. Sometimes it just doesn't happen. I recently had to figure out internet in the middle of nowhere, because that's where I live now. Laura Kendrick (10:52) Mm. No. Cort Sharp (11:15) And I was worried for a while that I wouldn't be able to put my camera on. But, you know, if if they came down to that, I know that it would be, hey, you know, it's a it's a unique situation. It's something different. And we're going to do we're going to work the best that we can with it and try to figure out maybe you can turn your camera on for any time you're talking or just any time you have something to say or, you know, if you're agreeing with something, you could briefly turn your camera on to show like, yeah, I'm nodding. I'm agreeing. I'm doing whatever. Right. But Laura Kendrick (11:45) Honestly, I think recently I had a very busy day and we communicate in back channels, of course through email, but also we use Slack as a team. And so I sent a direct message to court about something and I just like, I sent it in a voice? No. And court's response was, didn't know you could do that in Slack. But in those moments, I think there are other ways of doing it too, where you can bring the humanity out, where it's not just words. Cort Sharp (12:01) Yeah. Laura Kendrick (12:09) So often I'm actually thinking about there was one time that you and I were talking about something and I misread it as like, I like kicked something, like some hornet's nest in there. Like you were upset with me, but you were like, no, that was not my intention. And it's an amazing thing that that's only happened once in five years. There was that subtle nuanced miscommunication of I thought I had offended in some way and I hadn't. Cort Sharp (12:18) So. Yeah. Laura Kendrick (12:34) Just keeping that in mind though, in written word, tone is interpreted because probably what happened is I like offended my kid or my partner and was bringing that into the conversation with court. And it had nothing to do with what was actually happening, but adding in those personal things of your face, your voice, those things really do help move that human connection, which enables the teamwork that we've seen at Mountain Go. Cort Sharp (12:42) Yep. Yep. Mm-hmm. Laura Kendrick (13:00) I mean, it's amazing the way this team functions and it is not perfect. There are definitely communications missteps. There are definitely like, oops, forgot to leave that piece out of the information packet. It happens. It happens to everybody, but we're able to recover really quickly or even it's a safe enough space to be able to speak up and say, I think I got left out on this. And it's responded to in a really gracious and amazing way. Cort Sharp (13:26) It absolutely is. I mean, Mountain Goat's been remote for longer than the COVID stuff, the pandemic stuff happened. Laura Kendrick (13:33) Yeah. Well, Lisa's been with them for what, 10 years? I think it was nearly 10 years when we started, maybe 15. And Hunter's around the same. So yeah, they've been spread for a long time. Cort Sharp (13:42) Something like that, Uh-huh. ⁓ I know that they had an office space and that office space changed just in case people wanted to like come in, come to the office. I think at one point, one of them was in Colorado, which is kind of funny because several people live on the West coast. And then it's like, okay, yeah, come on, come on, swing by the... Colorado office on just a random Tuesday. Yeah, fly in, have fun. I don't know. Yeah, why not? I don't know what the deal was or what it was like, but they've been fully remote. And I think with the kind of runway that they've had leading up until the time where everyone had to be fully remote has really benefited Mountain Go in a lot of ways, because a lot of those early, like, how do we work remote? How do we do this? Laura Kendrick (14:09) I'd do that. Yeah, let's do it. Cort Sharp (14:31) kind of was ironed out, but back to your, your point to just like, it's, it's incredible how much support there is. It's incredible how much, how well communication again, it's not perfect, but how well we're able to communicate with each other and how well we're able to just say, yeah, let's, let's hop on a call real quick or here. I think most of us have like personal phone numbers. We, we use that as a very much so last resort type deal. Laura Kendrick (14:57) Yeah. Cort Sharp (14:59) But even then, it's nice to just have those open lines of communication and know that those are always available, but also know that people are kind of in our corner all the time too. And I think you have a pretty good story about this one. Something happened in a class a few years ago. Laura Kendrick (15:09) Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yeah. It was early on we had, it was a non-Mike class. So it was one of the other instructors and there was a student who was just challenging. And in the end, it didn't go well in the moment, to put it, just to kind of like not go into grave detail about it. But Mike wasn't there, right? And so The thing that was interesting though is the first piece of communication that came from Mike, which was before that class even broke, right? Because it was one of those things of like, we have to share. As a team, we can't hide it. We have to share that something happened in class that was less than ideal. And so we did. And the immediate response from Mike was in support of the team. And later on, he did go and review the tape of the, because the classes are recorded, not for this purpose. They're recorded actually so that the students get a recording of the class afterwards and can return to what, you know, all the things that they learned because it's a lot to take in in two days. But in this one instance, it was beneficial in this way because Mike could actually see rather than taking people's words, what happened. And I think the important thing is not even what happened after, but what happened in the moment. that he instantaneously was like, I've got you. Like no matter how this goes, we're a team and I'm gonna support you as well. And that was actually, that was pretty early on for me. And it was in a moment where I didn't know Mike that well yet. And it was actually this very solidifying moment for me that was like, I'm in the right place. Like I am part of this team, not just a minion or an employee. Like they care about all of us. Cort Sharp (16:48) Mm-hmm. Laura Kendrick (16:56) and we're in this together, even if it turns out that we're in some form of trouble, it's still going to be thoughtfully managed and handled rather than just the kind of lashing out that can happen in so many environments. Cort Sharp (17:12) Right. And, and that experience, cause I think we were all included on that email. Like I, I wasn't in the class when it happened, but I do remember getting that email and it just was a clear communication from kind of head honcho Mike, right? A top dog saying, yeah, no, we, we got your back. on, we're on the same team. We're all working towards the same goal. And when I, when I read the email, I was like, wow, that was an eventful class. but. Laura Kendrick (17:26) Mm-hmm. us. Cort Sharp (17:38) My second thought, my second thought was, huh, this very similar to what you were saying of like, wow, this is a great place to be. This is a great company to work for. These are great people to be working with and alongside. ⁓ but also like, I know so many people whose managers, whose higher ups would say, Nope, you're in the wrong. You should have done better. Your toast, blah, blah, blah, blah. Like putting all the blame on you. Absolutely. Yeah. Yeah. Laura Kendrick (17:52) Mm-hmm. Yeah. The knee jerk. Yeah. Yeah. Cort Sharp (18:07) And it just, makes me think all the time of like one really blessed, like very fortunate to be here, very fortunate to work with mountain goat. but also people don't quit jobs. They quit managers. They quit leadership more often than not. And, not that I'm talking about quitting mountain goat, but, neither, neither of us are throwing that out there right now, but just like, Laura Kendrick (18:20) Mmm. Yeah. No, but interestingly in five years, I've not seen anybody quit. I mean, we've had people kind of go down separate paths, but nobody has been throwing their hands up and been like, I'm done. I can't be in this. There have been people who have taken other opportunities that they needed to take for their own businesses. But yeah, nobody's quit. In five years, no one has quit, which speaks volumes to the culture that is created in an environment where Cort Sharp (18:37) Mm-hmm. Laura Kendrick (18:57) And I also want to be clear that that response from Mike also, it wasn't disparaging to the other party either. It was simply a, like, it just let us know that I see you and this, you were in a hard moment in the moment and you had to react like a human being and you as a team, I've got your back and this is, you know, great. And to be fair to that was like in the heat of COVID. Cort Sharp (19:24) Yes, yeah It was yeah Laura Kendrick (19:27) good times. But there's also been a lot of fun that's happened in class too, which is, I think that makes a big difference. Like where we are, I don't want to say allowed because I don't think that's right, but like part of the culture is to have fun. Like Mike is a pretty funny guy. Brian's a pretty funny guy. Like honestly, the whole team is quite humorous and it's, we're allowed to like make these really fun things and Cort Sharp (19:48) Yes. Laura Kendrick (19:52) in response to like when we see them in class, like, we foster those two and it becomes this really fun working environment, not only for us, for our students. You brought up one that I had totally forgotten about with the costume. That was good. Cort Sharp (20:06) ⁓ yeah, I, I, yeah, I'll, I'll get into the costume thing, but I think the word you're looking for instead of allowed is enabled. Like we're, we're enabled to have fun. We're encouraged. Absolutely. Yeah. A hundred percent. If you ever hung out with Mike or, or taking a class with him, you've probably heard some funny stories. Laura Kendrick (20:13) Yeah, Encouraged, in fact. And my gosh, the one class too where Mike was asked how long they'd have access to like the videos and stuff. my gosh, Mike ended the class and it was a super engaged Chipper class. Everyone was laughing and Mike brought it down. Cause he did his usual thing where he talked about, what does he say? You have access as long as the internet exists and I'm alive. And then he went into great detail. great detailed speculation about what will happen once he's not alive. It went on for like five minutes. Cort Sharp (20:58) Yeah, where where he's like, yeah, you know, my kids will probably be like, what's this? What's this old website that dad's still hosting? Guess we'll we'll close that up 10 years down the line or whatever. Laura Kendrick (21:09) Dumbfounded. It was so good. But anyhow. Cort Sharp (21:13) man. But there was, I don't even remember why this happened in the class. don't think it was around like Halloween time or something. think the person, actually, I think the person does this to go to like local children's hospitals or local hospitals and just visit. But I get on and I'm normally the PM producer. So I normally hop on in the afternoon. And I took over from Laura and Laura Kendrick (21:22) No, it wasn't. think so. Cort Sharp (21:39) Laura was like, yeah, you know, pretty normal class. This happens, whatever. We're good. And I hop on and people start turning their cameras on. And then all of a sudden there's this dude in a Captain America costume. Like what? He's got the mask. He's got the, the, the uniform. He's got the shield and everything. And I was like, what is happening? What is going on? Come to find out he was telling his story. Laura Kendrick (21:50) Like full on math. Cort Sharp (22:04) Yeah, I do this. This is cool. And Mike was like, that'd be awesome to see. He went out, put it on and took the rest of the classes Captain America. So we have certified Captain America. Laura Kendrick (22:12) Awesome. We've had, there was the guy who was put on like a crazy hat for the first session and then came back for session two with a different crazy hat. And then other people started wearing crazy hats. And by the end of it, like by the final session, almost the entire class was sitting there with some like their kids stuff on their heads. it was. Cort Sharp (22:34) You Laura Kendrick (22:36) But was this one, like it stands out of the billion classes we've done. It stands out in our minds as these really fun moments. I remember the class where it was a private class, so it was for a company or team. And there were, it took me until the very end to, it was early on, so it took me until the very end to get up the gumption. There were five mics in the class. And finally I was like, I'm just gonna put them all in the same room and see if anybody notices. Cort Sharp (22:36) People just... Yes. Didn't they notice like right away, they all came back and they're like, team Mike is back in action or something, right? Laura Kendrick (23:04) I don't think they said anything, but they did. The instructor went into the room and like, yeah, they noticed. Good. My passive aggressive humor worked. Cort Sharp (23:10) Hehehehehe It's fun. It's all good. But it's also like going back to us being able to do this before I figured out kind of my background situation, I would always put up virtual backgrounds and I would just change your background every time and see if people noticed. And it wasn't, it was a lot of Disney. Yes. Laura Kendrick (23:23) Mm-hmm. Disney. That's the thing though. That also, that kind of stuff built a little bit of a relationship as well. like it was, court was always going to have something for Disney. I had one that I would, when I finally found the one I liked, I kept that one for a long time. And Mike would occasionally, when I wasn't in a class, he would send me a screenshot of somebody via email and be like, somebody's in your house with you. Cause they would have the same background. Cort Sharp (23:52) Yeah! Laura Kendrick (23:56) those little tiny things make the relationships and make the team function and make us giggle. So I'd be like out with my kids and see an email and be like, oh no, Mike, what does he need? And then click in and be like, you know, actually more often than not, it would probably be like, am I missing class? See, I'd be like, oh, that's funny. But you know, it builds that relationship. And I think it's why this remote working has worked so well for us. And I'm totally with you where I, when people are Cort Sharp (24:13) You Yeah. Laura Kendrick (24:26) railing against it because of my experience. like, you're crazy. This is great. Cort Sharp (24:31) Exactly. I'm like, how can you not want to just chill out, hang out in your home, chat with some people, get some work done, and like, you're good. Who despises that? Who doesn't like that? don't know. It's, Exactly, yeah. But I do think it does, it comes down to being intentional with it. We were talking about that 30 minutes before that used to be primarily tech troubleshooting. Laura Kendrick (24:47) I know, you get to do things on your own time too. Cort Sharp (25:01) but has since kind of evolved into, okay, so everything, like, I don't know about you, but the vast majority of time, unless a camera's fallen, the vast majority of time, it's, all right, does everything look good? Yeah? Cool. Sure does. Whoever I'm working with, awesome. So, what'd you do this weekend? how was this? ⁓ sorry, sorry that the Avs lost to the Dallas Stars. Yeah, I'm sorry too. Stuff like that, right? Where it's just, Laura Kendrick (25:19) Yeah. It's water cooler talk. Cort Sharp (25:29) It's fun, but we're very intentional with having that time to do that. And I think if you're not intentional in setting up that time, whether if you're working remote hybrid, you're not going to get it. And it's not just going to naturally happen because it is so much more difficult to produce. it's impossible for it to just kind of naturally pop up without taking away from some other intentional time. so I think in, in this this world that we're living in where there is the option to work remotely and there is this really big push to go back in person. I'm saying stick with remote, take your 15, 15 minute daily standup, and turn it into, you know, say, Hey, I'll be on 10, 15 minutes early. If anyone wants to come hang out, come chat. And make it worth it. Make it a valuable time because that is the time to connect and that is the time to say, yeah, cool. How are the kids? How was your weekend? Did you grill up some good hot dogs during this last weekend? What'd you do? Like, what was going on? ⁓ Build up that stuff. Laura Kendrick (26:23) Yeah. We also have Slack channels too, that are like that. Like there's a Slack channel for our team that's just movies, books and TV shows. That people, it'll get active at certain times and it'll be totally dead for a while and nobody's cultivating it. It's simply that somebody will pop in like, I just watched this and it's great. And they've set up also like the automatic bots, cause Mike's a big fan of James Bond. So like if somebody mentions James Bond, the Slack bot will say something quippy and it- Cort Sharp (26:39) Yeah. ⁓ Laura Kendrick (26:58) But it adds that little, like, little bit of humor, little bit of humanness to even though, like, the people that we have time to interact with like that is the team that's in class. So I don't, I mean, it wasn't until we were in person that I met our CTO. He was kind of an enigma, you know? Cort Sharp (27:10) Yeah. Mm-hmm. He was just in the background. Things just magically showed up digitally. Laura Kendrick (27:23) It was in my email and my Slack sometimes, but it creates that thing of like, now I know things about Hunter. Yes, of course it was because we were in person. I heard lots of stories and all that fun stuff. But also I know about like some of his like TV watching stuff. I know occasionally like what his wife likes to watch because sometimes he'll like pepper in something that, she dragged me into this and not my cup of tea. But it's those little bitty things that you start to learn about the people. Cort Sharp (27:39) Mm-hmm. Laura Kendrick (27:50) that makes them human and gives that space. And I also, think it's important to have it be a little bit of white space. so often we talk about cultivating the conversation and like, can you have icebreakers and get people engaged? And yes, those things are so important, but when it's with a team, you need to do those things, but you also need to create the empty space where maybe you have that daily standup or that... weekly meeting or monthly meeting, whatever that is for your team. And maybe at the end of it, it's just leaving the call going and allowing people to just talk. I mean, we did that as a producer team that we would have a meeting as producers that would be very structured and then kind of the official meeting would end. And there would be times where as a team we'd be on that Zoom. I'm like, thank goodness nobody needs this channel. Cause like we'd be in there for like two and a half hours. Cort Sharp (28:26) Yeah. Yeah. Laura Kendrick (28:42) just talking. And of course, it wasn't, you know, it wasn't billing time. It wasn't, you know, it was just us being friends and hearing each other and sometimes ranting and complaining and doing the things of like, this part was hard and like, yeah, well, people need the space to do that and feel seen and heard. And the only place they're going to get that is in the white space. Cort Sharp (29:01) Yep. Exactly. Yep. And where my head went when you were talking about the white space, I love where you just went to because that's absolutely very true. But where my mind went was the newest kind of Slack channel that that's been set up, which is the artificial intelligence. Yeah. Where we just we just it's cool because I'm interested in AI. I think everyone's interested in AI right now. Things are things are going in all sorts of wild directions with it. There's there's all sorts of possibilities that we can do with it. Laura Kendrick (29:17) ⁓ Yeah, that one's Yeah. Cort Sharp (29:32) And Hunter just threw out, who wants in? If you want in, cool, I'll get you in. If not, and you're not interested in AI, let me know when you are, because it'll be at some point, I was going to say. It's just another full group one. Yeah, we just. Laura Kendrick (29:39) Yeah. Pretty sure the whole team's in there. But it is fun. Like Hunter and Mike do deep dives and Brian too. And I'm like, wow, I just get to swim in that pool. It's really Cort Sharp (29:50) Yes. Yeah, yeah. You just kind of get a glean from what's posted in there and say, oh yeah, I am really interested in the automation side of AI. I want to do, I think I threw in there one time, like this whole GitHub repository that has just from zero to hero AI, here's a two week crash course. And I've been working my way through that. It's taken a lot longer than two weeks for me. I've been working my way through that. And it's opened my eyes to say, okay, now this awesome thing, think Mike just threw in there something about someone using it at Disney, I think it was, and how they were using it at Disney to propose, here's a cool way that we can use AI to help our proposals go faster or help our marketing campaigns go faster or whatever it is. And just learning and seeing and... Laura Kendrick (30:38) Yeah. Cort Sharp (30:44) growing together as a team as well and having that space of, yeah, you know, here's what here, here are these articles that I'm reading. Here's the ones that stuck out to me. And to have that space, I think also is, is really interesting to me too, not just because I like learning, but it's also like, I feel like, okay, I can talk with Mike about AI. I can talk with Hunter about AI. I can talk with whoever about it. And we're all relatively on the same page because we're all relatively getting the same information. Laura Kendrick (31:14) Yeah, yeah. I feel like having the Slack channel has been really helpful and all the white space and even honestly the in-person event, there was white space built into that too. There was definitely a lot of structured meetings because of course when you are bringing everyone in from all over the country and actually the world, have a team member who is in the UK too. Cort Sharp (31:26) yeah. Laura Kendrick (31:37) flying a great distance and being in a space together, it's got to be structured. You have to make that worth the time and effort and investment. But also there were dinners, there were shows that happened, there was fun built into it, and there were options of not just like, I'm forcing you to go to this, but like, here's a choice. Would you like to do this or that? And those things have made a huge difference in breeding the like belongingness. Cort Sharp (31:55) Mm-hmm. Laura Kendrick (32:05) and the feeling like we are actually a team. And even though there are definitely times where the frustrations arise, of course, I mean, who doesn't have frustrations, but it's a space where they can be vocalized, they can be talked through, and it's all due to that togetherness that we have, that connectedness that has been built through, honestly, Cort Sharp (32:05) Yeah. Mm-hmm. Laura Kendrick (32:30) just being in these like casual fun spaces is where that comes from in my opinion. Cort Sharp (32:36) Yeah, I agree with that. Just having the space to talk about whatever. But I think it's all rooted in communication, right? So in various methods of communicating and various ways of communicating too, where it's not just exclusively Slack, email, written text, we have that space there. But we do still run into some communication problems, right? There's... Laura Kendrick (32:41) Yeah. For sure, for sure. Cort Sharp (32:58) there's all sorts of communication problems that we're gonna run into because especially we are text-based heavy, but we're not exclusively text-based. But I think you were talking about a story where Mike was late one time or Mike's late story about communication and what was going on with that. Laura Kendrick (33:12) he tells it in class. He tells a story in class with that. It's one of his examples that he will pull into fairly frequently with an experience with a team where somebody was always late to the daily standup and they realized that it had to do with the fact that they had to drop their kid off at school. And so it was that simple communication shift of asking instead of assuming, asking which... They've put into practice too, like I recall early on hearing like, do you prefer to be communicated with? And like we've had these conversations that court and I have a tendency to be more slack people. But Brian has stated that for him, like when he's teaching slack is like his emergency line. And so like knowing that I'm not going to send him something through slack unless I desperately need him to see it when I can land it in his email versus Lisa and Laura are much more Cort Sharp (33:43) yeah. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Laura Kendrick (34:04) they're going to be in the email. Like that's just where they live and they are less likely to be in Slack. So it's just knowing those things have also helped us build the right kind of streams of communication. I'm pretty sure Hunter is everywhere all at once. Like he's omnipresent. You can get him anywhere. I know it. I'm in New York and he's in California. I'm pretty sure if I whispered his name, he's hearing it right now. Cort Sharp (34:06) Right. my gosh. He's the enigma. He's the enigma everywhere. I was gonna say, I'm surprised he hasn't popped into this. We've said his name three times. It's, he just knows everything and he's always got everything coming through and no matter what you need, he's any message away. Slack, email, could be carry your pigeon. I don't know, something like that, right? Laura Kendrick (34:43) Yeah, his next Halloween costume needs to be Beetlejuice, so I'm sending that to him. my goodness. But I think at the end of the day, the practices that have been put into place that you may have felt in our classes too, have helped really grow this team into what it is. There's a lot of strength here. There's a lot of fun here, but there's a lot of hard work here too. And a lot of, there have been hard moments where we've all just kind of put our heads down together and moved through the hard moments as a team with a lot of support and a lot of. Cort Sharp (35:12) Mm-hmm. Laura Kendrick (35:15) Just trying to be in it and be like kind of move things where it needs to go. I don't know what the right word is as a team. It's redundant. Cort Sharp (35:22) I think it. Yeah. But I think that that does show in our classes a lot, right? You and I have both taken a class outside of the mountain goat sphere, ⁓ and I'm not I'm not dogging on anyone. I'm not trying to talk down on anyone. But I got out of that class. I was like, man, we are light years ahead of that. Laura Kendrick (35:30) Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Cort Sharp (35:49) that kind of interaction and that kind of experience. was the information that I got out of that class was awesome, superb. It was great. But just the amount of energy and effort and time that has been invested into these Mountain Goat courses, it's far and away just, it shows. And it shows how much of a level up it is to take a class with Mountain Goat. And I do think partly, you know, I'm boosting my own ego here. But I do think partly it is because we are surrounded with some awesome people and we have some awesome people working together and awesome support on every call, every class that you take with us, right? You don't have to, like the instructor can focus on just instructing. And we, more often than not, we are typically in charge of everything else. Make sure that any tech problems, any issues, anything that's going on, right? Yeah. Laura Kendrick (36:32) Yeah. Yeah. I remember the early days. Like you just brought up a memory that apparently I had stored in the trauma bank. I remember the early days though being, because I would often, because I'm on the East Coast, court is in mountain times. So, often I would be the early person just because it's easier for me. was mid morning for me. we would start class and it would be just, especially honestly when like people were figuring out Zoom and all this stuff, it was... stressful. Like they were just, it was just question, question, question, problem, problem, problem. And we would get to the first breakout and I would send everyone away and the instructor would be like, that was great. And I'm like, was, you know, just totally frazzled. But the point was, is no one else felt that. And it was, I was in my Slack and working with the team, working with Hunter, things fixed, working with Lisa, making sure the person was in the right place. Cort Sharp (37:20) Yeah, glad. Mm-hmm. Laura Kendrick (37:33) and doing all these things. And though that has died down because we've all gotten very good at our job and the systems in place are amazing at this point, it still is like, that's the whole point. We worked as a team so that the instructor could deliver an amazing class and be present with his students. And we could be here or her, because we do have hers too, I should say. They're students. And we were here taking care of the things that needed to be taken care of, which was, yeah. Cort Sharp (37:54) Yes. Laura Kendrick (38:00) Though I had forgotten about that. Thanks for that. Cort Sharp (38:02) Yeah, sure. Yeah, it's gotten easy, right? ⁓ Laura Kendrick (38:04) Yeah, it does. But that's at the end of the day, that's how a good team is. I think that we can kind of end it with this thing of Mike has created this environment and it definitely comes from him. Like it's is rooted in the founder for us because we're a small team, small but mighty. But he it's rooted in his like engine of creativity, efficiency, and just love of innovation. And that has kind of Cort Sharp (38:18) Mm-hmm. Laura Kendrick (38:34) folding that in with seeing all the people as humans, and with flaws and different talents and all those things and human interaction is messy and folding all of that in has actually been what has bred these amazing class experiences for our students and also this rewarding and fantastic team experience for the people behind the scenes as well. And I think the lesson Cort Sharp (38:39) Yes. Yep. Laura Kendrick (38:59) comes from that, that if we can fold those things in together and make space for humans to be humans and also have this amazing expectation of creativity and innovation, then it's all going to happen. Cort Sharp (39:06) Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Yeah, absolutely. I 100 % agree with that. I mean, it does come down to Mike and Mike is a fantastic leader. It's awesome. I also want to raise Mike, but. Laura Kendrick (39:28) Nice. Not passive aggressive at all. On that note. Cort Sharp (39:29) Yeah, you know. No. I'm just joking, right? We're able to have fun. We're able to joke around. But it does come down to leadership, right? And I think that's true on any team. And we have just we've been so fortunate to be able to experience it firsthand and go through this awesome transformation from being in person to fully remote, even in the class teaching stuff. And it's been really, really fun. really, really enjoyable. I, you know, you don't love every day. There are jobs, right? It's a job. But I'm not gonna lie. I'm not gonna lie. It has been fun. It has been enjoyable. But I don't look back on it and be like, wow, these last five years were just all terrible. No, it's we've had great leadership. We've had great interactions with with everyone. And I think Laura Kendrick (40:05) You should have just left it at really, really fun and enjoyable. Mic drop, goodbye. Cort Sharp (40:28) It's just come down to the people that we're working with and the people that we're engaging with consistently. And our leadership, Mike, has fostered an environment very, very well that is around fun, around communication, around enabling us to grow, to learn, to try new things, to move forward. And I really feel bad for companies who don't have that kind of leadership. that's, it's a tough spot to be in, but, I'm really, we're really blessed and really fortunate to, to be able to work here. And I hope this, this little peek behind the curtain, kind of encourages you to you, the listener, guess, whoever, whoever's out there to take a, take a little step back and say, okay, what, what am I doing as a leader within my sphere of influence to help my team be a little more human and embrace the humanity side of stuff? Not just pushing for more, we need more, more productivity, more AI, more everything, right? Yeah. Use AI, make it a tool, but just remember you're, building stuff for, for people. You're working with people all the time. And I think that's something that Mike has never forgotten and never will forget and never will let fall to the wayside that we're all people and we're all here working with each other. Laura Kendrick (41:43) Yeah. Couldn't agree more. Well, on that amazing note, thank you, Cort, for joining me in this hijacking of the podcast, the Agile Mentors podcast. And we're going to turn it back over to Brian, who's going to walk you right on out. Cort Sharp (41:54) Happy to.

Join Jim McDonald and Jeff Steadman on Identity at the Center as they sit down with Kristina Yasuda, Product Owner, and Dr. Torsten Lodderstedt, Project Lead for the German EUDI Wallet project. Recorded at EIC 2025, this episode delves into the ambitious European Union initiative to create a digital identity wallet for all its citizens.Kristina and Torsten discuss the vision behind the EUDI Wallet, the political will driving it, and the funding making it a reality. They explore the challenges and complexities of aligning multiple parties, standardizing technical specifications, and the goal of digitizing everything from government-issued IDs to driving licenses and ePrescriptions.Learn about the Federal Agency for Breakthrough Innovation (SPRIN-D), the importance of a transparent and collaborative development process, and how Germany aims to provide a secure, privacy-preserving, and interoperable digital wallet ecosystem. The discussion also touches on digital sovereignty, the role of platform providers like Google and Apple, the aggressive timelines, and the potential global impact of this initiative.Find out how the EUDI Wallet aims to put users in the driver's seat, ensure non-discriminatory access, and foster a flourishing digital economy in Europe.Chapters00:00 Introduction: Vision, Political Will, and Funding00:50 Blockchain vs Federated Identity: Bridging the Gap01:47 Welcome to the Identity of the Center Podcast03:18 Meet the Guests: German EUDI Wallet Project03:42 Christina's Journey into Identity06:05 Torsten's Background in Identity08:31 The EUDI Wallet Project: Scope and Goals12:19 Challenges and Opportunities in Digital Identity15:38 Production and Adoption of Digital Wallets20:53 Digital Sovereignty and Interoperability26:16 Government's Role in Digital Identity26:54 Certification and Recognition of Wallet Providers27:21 Cultural Differences in Government-Provided IDs27:53 Challenges and Timelines for Digital Wallet Implementation28:25 Legal Obligations and Compliance29:10 Public vs. Private Sector in Digital Identity30:13 Barriers to Widespread Adoption31:26 Complexities of Wallet-Based Systems33:23 Global Interoperability and Standards33:59 Technical Specifications and Convergence36:05 Multi-Step Process for Implementation38:26 Transition Period and Global Considerations42:49 Digital Driver's License and Real-World Applications46:17 Final Thoughts and Future Outlook46:23 Fun and Lighthearted EndingConnect with Kristina: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristinayasudaConnect with Dr. Torsten: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-torsten-lodderstedt/Connect with us on LinkedIn:Jim McDonald: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jimmcdonaldpmp/Jeff Steadman: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffsteadman/Visit the show on the web at http://idacpodcast.comKeywords:EUDI Wallet, Digital Identity, European Union, Germany, Kristina Yasuda, Torsten Lodderstedt, Identity Management, Self-Sovereign Identity (SSI), Digital Sovereignty, Interoperability, Technical Standards, OpenID, Verified Credentials, Federal Agency for Breakthrough Innovation, Sprint, EIC 2025, Government Issued ID, Digital Transformation, Privacy, Security, User Control, Mobile Driver's License, IDAC, Identity at the Center, Jeff Steadman, Jim McDonald#EUDIWallet #DigitalIdentity #EuropeanUnion #Germany #KristinaYasuda #TorstenLodderstedt #IdentityManagement #SelfSovereignIdentity #SSI #DigitalSovereignty #Interoperability #OpenID #VerifiedCredentials #EIC2025 #GovernmentID #DigitalTransformation #Privacy #Security #UserControl #MobileDriverLicense #IDAC #IdentityAtTheCenter #JeffSteadman #JimMcDonald #DigitalWallet #EU

In deze nieuwsaflevering praten we je bij over alle ontwikkelingen rond het Efteling Grand Hotel, met speciale aandacht voor de restaurants in het hotel. Daarnaast staan we stil bij het laatste nieuws over Danse Macabre en het Efteling Wonder Hotel en is er natuurlijk weer tijd voor een onderhoudsupdate en een paar toffe vragen van luisteraars! Show notes Premium dining bij Restaurant-Bar Mystique (https://www.efteling.com/nl/blog/nieuws/premium-dining-bij-restaurant-bar-mystique) Van sterrenzaak naar pretpark: Teun brengt haute cuisine naar de Efteling (https://www.omroepbrabant.nl/nieuws/4701831/van-sterrenzaak-naar-pretpark-teun-brengt-haute-cuisine-naar-de-efteling) Restaurant-Bar Mystique in het Efteling Grand Hotel (https://www.efteling.com/nl/grand-hotel/eten-en-drinken/mystique) Grand hotels: reality & illusion – Elaine Denby (https://www.bol.com/nl/nl/p/grand-hotels/666764435/) Chaos in de Efteling: honderden fans bij allerlaatste show Virginie en Otto Charlatan (https://www.looopings.nl/weblog/29133/Chaos-in-de-Efteling-honderden-fans-aanwezig-bij-allerlaatste-show-Virginie-en-Otto-Charlatan.html) Bijzondere Efteling-foto's: onderhoudsbeurt bij De Zes Zwanen (https://www.looopings.nl/weblog/29077/Bijzondere-Efteling-fotos-onderhoudsbeurt-bij-De-Zes-Zwanen.html) Gevonden kittens in Efteling wonen nu bij hun redder: ‘Een sprookje' (https://www.omroepbrabant.nl/nieuws/4701671/gevonden-kittens-in-efteling-wonen-nu-bij-hun-redder-een-sprookje) Product Owner Podcast – Luister naar de Product Owner podcast (https://productowner.nl/podcast/) Zes Losse Tanden Podcast: Met Eftelingvlogger Niels Kooyman (https://open.spotify.com/episode/2dUIG8cH2YCOeCFr13Dr94) Davy Jansen voorgedragen als burgemeester (https://www.loonopzand.nl/nieuwsoverzicht/artikel/davy-jansen-voorgedragen-als-burgemeester) Loon op Zand dicht de gaten, komende jaren toch zwarte cijfers (https://www.bd.nl/loon-op-zand/loon-op-zand-dicht-de-gaten-komende-jaren-toch-zwarte-cijfers~ae804813/) Toeristenbelasting per gemeente 2025 (https://www.bungalowparkoverzicht.nl/nieuws/toeristenbelasting-2025/) Bricks of Wonder – Creatieve LEGO-projecten en inspiratie (https://bricksofwonder.com/) Daar Wil Je Naartoe Podcast: Mascha Taminiau over Walibi Holland (https://open.spotify.com/episode/0vdgkeYL577pPOsvj2T7nS?si=pBSeO5WmSgiJ3Csjs-6onw) • • De lange 19de eeuw – Geschiedenis voor herbeginners (https://www.geschiedenisvoorherbeginners.be/series/De%20lange%2019de%20eeuw)

Viele Product Owner:innen spüren es – aber können es oft nicht genau benennen: Irgendetwas in der Organisation steht der Produktarbeit im Weg. In dieser Folge spricht Oliver mit Johannes Schartau über genau solche Strukturen, die Produktentwicklung behindern und was man konkret tun kann, wenn man mittendrin steckt. Johannes bringt viel Erfahrung aus der agilen Organisationsentwicklung mit und zeigt, wie tief verwurzelte Muster in Unternehmen verhindern, dass Teams wirksam arbeiten können. Wenn Product Owner:innen formal die Verantwortung für ein Produkt tragen, aber faktisch keine Entscheidungen treffen dürfen, ist das kein individuelles Problem – sondern ein strukturelles. Viele Organisationen sind immer noch stark auf Vorhersagbarkeit, Projektplanung und Output optimiert. Dabei braucht erfolgreiche Produktentwicklung genau das Gegenteil: Spielräume, Feedbackschleifen und Entscheidungsfreiheit. Diese strukturellen Blockaden haben viele Gesichter. Budgetprozesse, die nur einmal im Jahr laufen. Matrixorganisationen, die Verantwortlichkeit aufteilen, bis nichts mehr übrig bleibt. Zentralisierte Funktionen wie UX oder Architektur, die nicht Teil der Teams sind. Oder Zielsysteme, die auf Umsatz und Liefertermine setzen – aber keine Verbindung zur tatsächlichen Wirkung im Markt haben. All das bremst die Produktentwicklung nicht nur aus, es entkoppelt Teams von dem, was eigentlich zählt: Nutzerverhalten, Marktveränderung, echte Wertschöpfung. Johannes und Oliver diskutieren, was Produktmenschen tun können, wenn sie sich in genau solchen Situationen wiederfinden. Sie zeigen, wie man den eigenen Handlungsspielraum erkennt, nutzt – und erweitert. Oft geht es dabei nicht um große Transformationen, sondern um kleine Schritte: klare Erwartungen klären, eigene Ziele greifbar machen, Verbündete finden, Hypothesen testen. Wer zum Beispiel aufzeigt, wie viel Zeit durch fehlende UX-Kapazität verloren geht, führt keine Ideologiedebatte – sondern eine einfache Kosten-Nutzen-Rechnung. Klar ist: Strukturen, die Produktentwicklung behindern, verschwinden nicht von allein. Doch sie lassen sich verändern, wenn Produktverantwortliche mit einem klaren Blick, systemischem Verständnis und viel Pragmatismus agieren. Es hilft, mit den bestehenden Regeln zu arbeiten, statt sich außerhalb davon zu stellen. Wer zeigt, welchen Wert eine kleine Veränderung bringt, wird gehört. Und wer konkrete Bitten formuliert – anstatt nur Frust zu teilen – bekommt eher Unterstützung. Diese Folge ist ein realistischer Blick auf das, was viele spüren, aber selten so offen benennen. Und sie macht Mut, Verantwortung zu übernehmen, ohne sich selbst zu überfordern. Denn Veränderung beginnt oft nicht mit einem neuen Organigramm – sondern mit einem gut gesetzten Gespräch.

Joel Bancroft-Connors: The No-Scroll Bar Rule—Empowering PO's Through Constraints Read the full Show Notes and search through the world's largest audio library on Agile and Scrum directly on the Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast website: http://bit.ly/SMTP_ShowNotes. The Great Product Owner: The Collaborative Innovator Joel describes an exceptional Product Owner scenario at a large insurance organization where complementary skills created magic. Working with two different people - a business expert who understood insurance but lacked development knowledge, and a designer with user experience expertise - Joel suggested the designer take on the Product Owner role while collaborating closely with the business person.  This collaboration between complementary skills produced outstanding results. The great Product Owner understood that their role wasn't to control every detail but to unleash developer creativity by providing problems and context rather than prescriptive solutions. Joel's approach of "give the developers a problem and a canvas" allowed the team to innovate while staying focused on customer needs. This Product Owner fostered innovation rather than preventing it, demonstrating how effective collaboration can transform product development. The Bad Product Owner: The Business Analyst That Couldn't Let Go Joel identifies a problematic anti-pattern: the Business Analyst who transitions to Product Owner but can't abandon their documentation-heavy approach. While Business Analysts can make excellent Product Owners with proper support, those who insist on documenting everything create communication bottlenecks and slow down delivery. This creates a "telephone game" effect between the BA/PO and developers. Joel encountered one such individual who would declare "the developers can't do that" without giving them the opportunity to explore solutions. Following his "no-scroll bar rule" for documentation, Joel emphasizes that Product Owners should provide just enough information to enable developer creativity, not overwhelming detail that stifles innovation. When the problematic BA was replaced with someone who understood customers and trusted developers, the team's innovation flourished. In this segment, we refer to the book Liftoff, by Larsen and Nies. Self-reflection Question: Are you enabling developer innovation by providing problems and context, or are you stifling creativity with excessive documentation and control? [Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast Recommends]

En este episodio contamos con Marta Bachiller Product Owner en SwissRe.En esta entrevista nos cuenta su experiencia, y cómo encontró su hueco dentro de la ciberseguridad.LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marta-bachiller-velasco-1a488563/______________________________________________

In einigen Organisationen fehlt der Scrum Master – und oft übernimmt dann einfach die Product Ownerin oder der Product Owner diese Rolle gleich mit. Eine Doppelrolle, die auf den ersten Blick pragmatisch wirkt, aber in der Praxis große Risiken birgt. In dieser Folge sprechen Tim und Oliver offen darüber, was passiert, wenn die Verantwortung für Produkt und Team-Entwicklung in einer Person vereint ist – und warum das langfristig fast nie gut ausgeht. Viele Teams arbeiten ohne Scrum Master, weil die Rolle im Unternehmen noch nicht etabliert ist, keine passende Person gefunden wurde oder weil das Budget gekürzt wurde. Und es werden gefühlt immer mehr. Was dann oft folgt: Die Product Ownerin übernimmt einfach mit – lädt zu Events ein, moderiert Retrospektiven, erklärt Prozesse, arbeitet an der Team-Motivation. Klingt erstmal lösungsorientiert. Aber genau darin liegt das Problem. Eine funktionierende Produktentwicklung - vor allen in Scrum - lebt davon, dass Rollen klar getrennt sind. Die PO-Rolle fokussiert auf Wert, Wirkung, Nutzer:innen und Geschäftserfolg. Die Scrum Master-Verantwortlichkeit hingegen kümmert sich um Rahmenbedingungen, Prozessqualität und die Lern-Entwicklung des Teams. Wer beides gleichzeitig macht, verliert Fokus. Statt Marktchancen zu analysieren, steckt man in Moderation fest. Statt Stakeholder zu führen, erklärt man zum dritten Mal das Framework Scrum. Und am Ende leidet beides: das Produkt und das Team. Noch kritischer wird es, wenn in der Doppelrolle Interessenkonflikte auftreten. Wie soll eine Person gleichzeitig Coach sein und gleichzeitig Druck machen, weil ein Release ansteht? Wie kann man Konflikte moderieren, in denen man selbst Partei ist? Und wie wirkt das auf ein Team, das sich ohnehin fragt, ob es wirklich mitgestalten darf – oder doch nur Vorgaben bekommt? Gerade dort, wo Teams anfangen, echte Ownership zu übernehmen, blockiert die Doppelrolle oft ungewollt genau diesen Prozess. Das größte Risiko: Man gewöhnt sich daran. Alle tun so, als wäre das normal. Die Organisation spart sich eine Rolle, das Team freut sich über weniger Abstimmung, und die PO reibt sich auf. Diese Form der organisatorischen Schuld muss sichtbar gemacht werden. Es braucht Transparenz – und klare Absprachen, wie lange diese Übergangslösung trägt. Wer die Doppelrolle stillschweigend hinnimmt, macht es der Organisation zu leicht, nichts zu verändern. Die Folge zeigt, wie man trotz der Doppelrolle handlungsfähig bleibt – zumindest vorübergehend. Klare Rollensignale helfen. Externe Moderation entlastet. Reflektion im Team schafft Verständnis. Und vor allem: Man muss reden – mit dem Team, mit Vorgesetzten, mit anderen POs. Denn aus der Überforderung heraus entsteht keine gute Produktentwicklung. Wenn du selbst in der Doppelrolle steckst oder jemanden kennst, der dort gerade kämpft: Diese Folge hilft, die Situation klarer zu sehen – und erste Schritte raus aus dem Dilemma zu finden. Damit Verantwortung wieder dort landen kann, wo sie hingehört.

"The people stuff is hard. It always is"Get ready for a powerful conversation on Mastering Agility where hosts Jim and Sander sit down with Martijn Versteeg — tech entrepreneur, leadership facilitator, and former rowing coach.We dive deep into the real challenges of leadership, change resistance, and personal growth.From building peer groups for tech leaders across Europe to handling brilliant jerks in teams, Martijn shares practical tools, models, and stories you can immediately apply.

Гость выпуска — Кирилл Островский, продакт и основатель стартапов. После опыта в крупных компаниях и стартап-экосистеме США он переехал в Остин, где открыл бизнес по ремонту деревянных террас и запустил DeepDetekt — продукт для распознавания дипфейков.Мы обсудили, почему он ушел с топовой позиции в корпорации, как запускал и перезапускал стартап в США, с какими вызовами столкнулся и как искал рынок. Поговорили про попытку создать продукт для проведения discovery calls, про фандрайзинг, ошибки на этапе кастдева и что в итоге привело к закрытию бизнеса. Разобрали, каково это — строить несколько проектов одновременно, и какие выводы он сделал, уходя в локальный офлайн-бизнес и работу с AI.Кирилл Островский (Kirill Ostrovskii) - ex Project Director Mail.ru, Product Owner в Сбере и Альфа банке. LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kirillostrovskii/ Платформы для поиска и найма местных специалистов для выполнения различных бытовых и профессиональных услуг в США:Taskrabbit - https://www.taskrabbit.com/Thumbtack - https://www.thumbtack.com/Angi - https://www.angi.com***Записывайтесь на карьерную консультацию (резюме, LinkedIn, карьерная стратегия, поиск работы в США): https://annanaumova.comКоучинг (синдром самозванца, прокрастинация, неуверенность в себе, страхи, лень) https://annanaumova.notion.site/3f6ea5ce89694c93afb1156df3c903abОнлайн курс "Идеальное резюме и поиск работы в США":https://go.mbastrategy.com/resumecoursemainГайд "Идеальное американское резюме":https://go.mbastrategy.com/usresumeГайд "Как оформить профиль в LinkedIn, чтобы рекрутеры не смогли пройти мимо": https://go.mbastrategy.com/linkedinguideМой Telegram-канал: https://t.me/prodcastUSAМой Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/prodcast.us/Prodcast в соцсетях и на всех подкаст платформахhttps://linktr.ee/prodcastUS⏰ Timecodes ⏰00:00 Начало9:14 Сколько можно заработать на ремонте террас в Техасе?14:35 Сколько ты уже заработал?16:50 Как продавать американцу?28:08 Где и как ты ищешь клиентов?32:20 Как американцы реагируют на то, что ты русский?37:39 Какие требования к основателю бизнеса по ремонту, сотрудникам и организации?40:17 Как планируешь расширяться?47:39 Насколько сложно заниматься таким бизнесом?55:42 Расскажи про Deep Detect - что это? Как это работает? 1:01:12 Как выглядит команда?1:03:16 Как монетизируетесь? Какие планы у стартапа?1:10:06 Что можешь пожелать тем, кто планирует переезжать в США или уже в США и хочет открыть свой бизнес?

We're talking about either the terrifying or totally mundane new world of "vibe coding" - using AI to generate code without deep technical expertise. Joining Product Manager Brian Orlando and Enterprise Business Agility Coach Om Patel for this podcast, we're happy to welcome back to the podcast Lenar Mukhamadiev, CEO of iDelsoft (https://idelsoft.com)!Listen as we discuss how this trend is changing product development, software engineering careers, and business innovation. Stick around while we argue over resistance, how vibe coding enables faster market testing and many more points, including:Accelerating time-to-market for new ideasEvolving role of professional developersUnderstanding business problems is more valuable than codingEmergence of "product engineers," or notA future where everyone is a software creator#AIinTech #ProductDevelopment #FutureOfWork= = = = = = = = = = = =YouTubeSubscribe on YouTubeAppleSpotify= = = = = = = = = = = =Toronto Is My Beat (Music Sample)By Whitewolf (Source: https://ccmixter.org/files/whitewolf225/60181)CC BY 4.0 DEED (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/deed.en)

Wenn in Produktteams das Verständnis fehlt, reden Menschen oft aneinander vorbei. Und manchmal reichen ein Stift und ein Flipchart, um das zu ändern. Olaf Bublitz kennt diese Situationen gut. Als erfahrener Agilist, Berater und Mitautor des neuen Buchs Visual Product Ownership setzt er sich seit Jahren dafür ein, visuelle Methoden in der Produktentwicklung gezielter und wirkungsvoller einzusetzen. In dieser Folge spricht er mit Tim über die Kraft der Visualisierung. Nicht als Deko oder hübsches Extra, sondern als echte Unterstützung für Klarheit, Zusammenarbeit und Entscheidungsfindung. Denn visuelle Methoden in der Produktentwicklung helfen dabei, komplexe Zusammenhänge sichtbar zu machen – über alle Ebenen hinweg: von der Strategie bis zur operativen Umsetzung. Olaf versteht unter visuellen Methoden nicht nur Zeichnungen oder Sketchnotes. Für ihn beginnt visuelles Arbeiten schon mit einem Canvas, einem Taskboard oder einer Map. Sobald Informationen so aufbereitet sind, dass man sie auf einen Blick erfassen und besprechen kann, entsteht ein gemeinsamer Fokus. Und genau darum geht es in der Produktentwicklung: Orientierung schaffen und Diskussion ermöglichen – ohne sich in Textwüsten zu verlieren. Viele der Methoden, die Olaf beschreibt, helfen dabei, Perspektiven nebeneinander sichtbar zu machen. Ob Eventstorming, Story Mapping oder Strategy Maps: Sie bringen Teams ins Gespräch – und lassen Unterschiede, Lücken oder Missverständnisse frühzeitig erkennen. Genau das ist der eigentliche Mehrwert. Denn visuelle Methoden in der Produktentwicklung machen nicht nur Dinge sichtbar. Sie machen Zusammenarbeit möglich. Es geht nicht darum, möglichst viele Methoden zu nutzen, sondern diese passenden auszuwählen – je nach Kontext, Ziel und Team. In seinem Buch fasst Olaf über 50 bewährte Methoden zusammen und stellt sie in sogenannten Strings dar: sinnvolle Verbindungen von Methoden entlang typischer Fragestellungen in der Produktentwicklung. So entstehen keine isolierten Visualisierungen, sondern ein durchgängiger visueller Arbeitsraum. Besonders spannend wird es, wenn Teams ihre gesamte Produktarbeit sichtbar machen – etwa in Form eines sogenannten "Obeya"-Raums. Olaf beschreibt, wie visuelle Methoden in der Produktentwicklung dabei helfen, verschiedene Ebenen miteinander zu verbinden: Ziele, Kennzahlen, Roadmaps, Backlogs, Abhängigkeiten. Alles sichtbar, strukturiert und zugänglich – ob physisch im Raum oder digital auf einem Miro-Board. Was zählt, ist der gemeinsame Blick. Die Folge ist eine Einladung: Visualisierung nicht als Stilmittel zu sehen, sondern als praktisches Werkzeug. Wer damit beginnt, kleine Elemente sichtbar zu machen – ein Ablauf, eine Idee, ein Engpass – schafft einen Einstieg. Und wer als Produktteam konsequent mit visuellen Methoden arbeitet, verändert nicht nur die Art, wie Entscheidungen getroffen werden. Sondern auch die Qualität der Zusammenarbeit. Frühere Folgen die zum Thema gut passen bzw. in der Episode genannt wurden: - Visual Leadership für Product Owner mit Sabina Lammert - Klarheit als Superpower für Produktmenschen mit Arne Kittler - Event Storming: Verständnis für komplexe Produkte schaffen mit Jürgen Meurer - Nutze Story Mapping, um mit Stakeholdern über Outcome zu sprechen - Wardley Mapping - Produktstrategie wie ein Schachspiel mit Florian Meyer - Impact Mapping - was zahlt wirklich auf unser Business Ziel ein? mit Büşra Coşkuner - Assumption Mapping Wer mit Olaf Bublitz in Kontakt treten möchte, erreicht ihn gut über sein LinkedIn-Profil. Die Website zum Buch findet ihr unter: visual-productownership.de. Welche visuellen Methoden nutzt ihr in der Produktentwicklung – und was funktioniert bei euch besonders gut? Wir Produktwerker freuen uns, wenn du deine Tipps und Erfahrungen aus der Praxis mit den anderen Hörerinnen und Hörern teilen möchtest. Hinterlasse gerne einen Kommentar unterm Blog-Artikels oder auf unserer Produktwerker LinkedIn-Seite.

Deniz Ari: Why Great Product Owners Listen—Communication Lessons from Product Ownership Extremes The Great Product Owner: The Power of Clear Communication Deniz describes a truly exemplary Product Owner who excelled through outstanding communication skills. This PO was an exceptional listener who maintained openness throughout all interactions. They ensured the team thoroughly understood requirements and priorities, always clearly articulating the rationale behind decisions. With a well-defined product vision and transparent prioritization process, this PO successfully bridged the gap between the development team and clients. Deniz emphasizes how this clear communication style naturally fostered team motivation, as everyone understood not just what they were building, but why it mattered. The Bad Product Owner: The Tyrant PO Deniz shares a challenging experience with a problematic Product Owner during what initially appeared to be a straightforward public sector migration project with adequate budget and timeline. Despite these favorable conditions, the situation deteriorated when the PO began pushing the team to work overtime, overstepping boundaries by questioning architectural decisions, and inappropriately assuming Scrum Master responsibilities. Described as a "tyrant" or "despot," this PO exhibited extremely poor communication skills and preferred dictating rather than collaborating. When Deniz attempted to address these issues, the situation became so toxic that it affected Deniz's health, ultimately leading to their decision to leave the project. The PO subsequently claimed no Scrum Master was needed. Deniz reflects that sometimes the best option is to recognize when a situation cannot be changed and to move on. Self-reflection Question: What boundaries would you establish with a dominant Product Owner, and at what point would you decide that the situation cannot be improved? [The Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast Recommends]

Deniz Ari: Why Your Process Changes Are Failing—The Stakeholder Alignment Problem Read the full Show Notes and search through the world's largest audio library on Agile and Scrum directly on the Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast website: http://bit.ly/SMTP_ShowNotes. Deniz explores the challenges of implementing change in organizations, emphasizing that change is always a long and difficult process requiring patience and trust. Drawing on the Change Curve concept, Deniz shares a personal experience trying to improve project visibility by cleaning up backlogs in JIRA for 10 in-flight projects. Despite good intentions, Deniz found themselves as the only person using the tool, with team members and Product Owners using different systems that better suited their specific needs—POs wanting only high-level items while the development team needed to split items into smaller tasks. Through this experience, Deniz learned the crucial importance of having all stakeholders (Product Owners, development teams, and managers) aligned on using the same tool, and understanding the unique perspectives of each group before implementing process changes. In this episode, we refer to the Change Curve.  Self-reflection Question: What changes have you attempted to implement that failed because you didn't fully understand the different needs and perspectives of all stakeholders involved? [The Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast Recommends]

Do you want to hear a story about stifling growth and creativity through the lens of one developer's personal story?You're in luck! Join Product Manager Brian Orlando and Enterprise Business Agility Coach Om Patel as they watch and react to Theo's YouTube video: "Being a good engineer kinda sucks," April 28, 2025.It's a tale about the tension between excelling at your craft versus navigating organizational politics and dysfunction. That's right, today, we're talking about themes of career development, team dynamics, and leadership, so feel free to stick around for our thoughts on these and:The sustainability trap of overworking to meet unrealistic expectationsHow organizational politics can punish innovation and excellenceThe importance of product sense vs. documentation-driven developmentFinding and nurturing relationships with like-minded professionals#Leadership #ProductManagement #CareerDevelopment #TechCareersLINKS= = = = = = = = = = = =YouTubeAppleSpotifyREFERENCES= = = = = = = = = = = =Check Out Theo's Video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3VuM1GCadt4...and his YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@t3dotgg...and his website: https://t3.gg/MUSIC= = = = = = = = = = = =Toronto Is My Beat (Music Sample)By Whitewolf (Source: https://ccmixter.org/files/whitewolf225/60181)CC BY 4.0 DEED (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/deed.en)

Deniz Ari: Security Team Breakdown—The Devastating Impact of Poor Product Ownership Read the full Show Notes and search through the world's largest audio library on Agile and Scrum directly on the Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast website: http://bit.ly/SMTP_ShowNotes. Deniz shares the story of a security project with a team of eight experienced, senior engineers working on mission-critical systems. Despite initial motivation and clear architectural solutions, the team soon exhibited signs of negative behavior including complaints and criticism. The root cause traced back to frequent Product Owner changes—several within less than a year—and poor client management. Instead of shielding the team, the PO directly transferred stress from clients to the team, demanded overtime, and created unnecessary tension by bringing unfiltered conflicts to the team and requesting excessive details. Deniz emphasizes the importance of avoiding unnecessary tensions, being more political when necessary to protect the team, and being mindful of tone in written communications. Self-reflection Question: In what ways might you be failing to set proper boundaries in your role, and how could establishing clearer limits improve both your effectiveness and your team's performance? Featured Book of the Week: Boundaries by Henrik Cloud Deniz recommends "Boundaries" by Henrik Cloud, a book about human relationships and personal limitations. The book addresses crucial questions: Does your life feel out of control? Do you keep saying yes to everyone? Are you taking responsibility for others' feelings and problems? Have you forgotten your own limitations? Deniz explains how this book helped them learn to say "no" while still considering others' realities and feelings, and understanding why we often struggle with setting boundaries. Deniz highlights that being a Scrum Master involves much more than just processes and methods—it requires healthy personal boundaries. [Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast Recommends]

Simina Fodor: Why the 'Why' Matters—Product Owner Communication Lessons Read the full Show Notes and search through the world's largest audio library on Agile and Scrum directly on the Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast website: http://bit.ly/SMTP_ShowNotes. The Great Product Owner: Transparency and Customer Focus This exemplary Product Owner shaped Simina's entire view of product management and even inspired her to consider a future transition to that role. Despite not having a traditional product background (coming instead from support), this PO demonstrated exceptional openness to both giving and receiving feedback. They consistently explained the logic behind decisions, sharing the "why" that motivated their priorities. What truly set them apart was bringing customer perspectives and use cases directly to the team, helping developers understand the features through the lens of personas and user scenarios. The PO's transparency extended to their own professional journey, openly sharing how they grew into the role, which created an atmosphere of continuous learning and development. The Bad Product Owner: The Ghost Commander This experienced Product Owner approached the role with a command-and-control mindset carried over from previous Project Management experience, believing that backlog grooming was "beneath them." Essentially a ghost to the team, they avoided retrospectives while issuing constantly shifting priorities with little explanation or logic. The PO would issue commands and demand immediate responses without considering consequences, creating a toxic environment that threatened to destroy team morale. Simina recommends coaching such Product Owners on agile mindset principles and seeking leadership support when necessary to prevent team deterioration. Self-reflection Question: How can you effectively bridge the gap between command-and-control Product Owners and teams seeking more transparency and collaboration? [Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast Recommends]

Simina Fodor: The Courage to Question—Signs of a Healthy Agile Team Read the full Show Notes and search through the world's largest audio library on Agile and Scrum directly on the Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast website: http://bit.ly/SMTP_ShowNotes. For Simina, Scrum Master success goes far beyond facilitation skills – it's about what happens when you're not in the room. True success means creating a self-sustaining team that maintains healthy practices even in your absence. Simina looks for indicators like: Do team members feel safe raising concerns regularly? Can they push back with the Product Owner and offer suggestions? Do they proactively ask for the "why" behind requests instead of blindly following directions? She emphasizes that successful teams raise dependencies early in the sprint, have the courage to plan work with other teams, and handle integrations independently. The ultimate test of Scrum Master effectiveness is whether the team continues to thrive even when you step away for a few days. Self-reflection Question: What specific behaviors would indicate that your team has reached a level of self-sustainability that would allow you to step back? Featured Retrospective Format for the Week: Start/Stop/Continue Simina advocates for the simplicity of the Start/Stop/Continue retrospective format. After experimenting with numerous complex approaches, she found that sometimes the most straightforward formats yield the best results. This classic structure cuts through noise and focuses teams on what truly matters: what new practices they should begin, what isn't working and should stop, and what's effective and should continue. Simina appreciates how this format's simplicity makes it accessible and easy to follow, allowing teams to concentrate on meaningful conversation rather than getting lost in complicated retrospective mechanics. [Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast Recommends]

BONUS: Nesrine Changuel shares how to create emotionally connected, delightful products! In this BONUS episode, we explore the concept of product delight with Nesrine Changuel. Nesrine shares insights from her extensive experience at companies like Skype, Spotify, Google Meet, and Chrome to help us understand how to create lovable tech experiences that drive user loyalty and differentiation. We explore the Delight Grid Framework she created, and discuss the importance of emotional connection in product design. We also touch on practical ways to incorporate delight into everyday product decisions. The Essence of Delight in Products "Creating emotional connection between users and products... What I'm usually vocal about is that it's not enough to solve functional needs if you want to create sustainable growth, and more particularly if you want to have your users love the product and create habits using your product." Nesrine explains that while most companies know how to solve functional problems, truly delightful products go beyond functionality to create emotional connections with users. This connection comes from anticipating user needs and surprising them on both functional and emotional levels. She emphasizes that delight emerges when users experience both joy and surprise simultaneously, which is key to exceeding expectations and building brand loyalty. Moving Beyond User Complaints "Most features that are built in products are coming from users' complaints... What I'm trying to be clear about is that if you want to build an emotional connection, it's about opening up a little bit more of your source of opportunities." Many teams focus primarily on addressing user complaints, which puts them in a reactive position. Nesrine encourages organizations to anticipate user needs by engaging with users in comfortable environments before problems arise. She suggests looking beyond direct feature requests and investigating how users feel while using the product, how they experience the journey, and what emotions arise during the experience. This proactive approach opens new opportunities for creating delightful experiences that users may not explicitly request. In this segment we refer to the KANO model for categorizing product features. Understanding Emotional Demotivators: The Zoom Fatigue Example "I tried to interview many users and realized that, of course, with the fact that we all moved into video conferencing, some demotivators started to surface like boredom, low interaction, overwhelm. There was a term that started to show up at the time - it's called zoom fatigue." Nesrine shares how her team at Google Meet tackled emotional demotivators by first deeply understanding them. By investigating "Zoom fatigue," they discovered through Stanford research that one major cause was the fatigue from constantly seeing yourself on screen. This insight led them to develop the "minimize self view" feature, allowing users to broadcast their video without seeing themselves. This example demonstrates how understanding emotional pain points can lead to features that create delight by addressing unspoken needs. The Delight Grid Framework "We want to delight the users, but because we don't know how, we end up only doing performers or hygiene features." Nesrine introduces her Delight Grid Framework, which helps product teams balance functional and emotional needs. The framework begins by identifying emotional motivators through empathetic user research. These motivators are then placed in a grid alongside functional needs to classify features as: Low Delight: Features that only solve functional needs Surface Delight: Features that only address emotional needs (like celebratory animations) Deep Delight: Features that solve both functional needs and emotional motivators She emphasizes that the most successful products prioritize deep delight features, which create lasting emotional connections while solving real problems. Detecting Opportunities Through User Journey Mapping "I use customer journey maps... One of the elements is feelings... If you do the exercise very well and put the feeling element into your journey map, you can draw a line showing peak moments and valley moments - these are pivotal moments for connecting with users at the emotional level." Nesrine advocates for using customer journey maps to identify emotional highs and lows throughout the user experience. By focusing on these "pivotal moments," teams can find opportunities to amplify positive emotions or transform negative ones into delightful experiences. She encourages teams to celebrate positive emotional peaks with users and find ways to turn valleys into more positive experiences. Real-World Example: Restaurant QR Code Payment "The waiter came with a note, and on the note, there is a QR code... What a relief that experience was! I've been very, very surprised, and they turned that moment of frustration and fear into something super fun." Nesrine shares a delightful dining experience where a restaurant transformed the typically frustrating moment of splitting the bill by providing a QR code that led to an app where diners could easily select what they ordered and pay individually. This example illustrates how identifying emotional pain points (bill-splitting anxiety) and addressing them can turn a negative experience into a memorable, delightful one that creates loyal customers. Creating a Culture of Delight Across Teams "It's very important to have the same language. If the marketing team believes in emotional connection, and the designer believes in emotional connection, and then suddenly engineers and PMs don't even know what you're talking about, that creates a gap." For delight to become central to product development, Nesrine emphasizes the importance of creating a shared language and understanding across all teams. This shared vision ensures everyone from designers to engineers is aligned on the goal of creating emotionally connected experiences, allowing for better collaboration and more cohesive product development. Recommended Reading Nesrine refers us to Emotional Design by Don Norman Designing for emotion, by Aaron Walter And Dan Olsen's The Lean Product Playbook About Nesrine Changuel Nesrine Changuel is a product leader, coach, and author with over a decade of experience at Skype, Spotify, Google Meet, and Chrome. She specializes in designing emotionally connected, delightful products. Her book, Delight, introduces a framework for creating lovable tech experiences that drive user loyalty and differentiation. You can link with Nesrine Changuel on LinkedIn and follow Nesrine's website.

Carmen Jurado: Beyond the Backlog—How Great Product Owners Embrace Team Collaboration The Great Product Owner: Standing with the Team  Carmen shares that the best Product Owners she's encountered are those who stand with their teams. Drawing from her own recent experience as a Product Owner, she emphasizes the importance of being there for your team, recognizing that they make you look good. Great Product Owners understand that achievements are team efforts, not individual accomplishments. Carmen also highlights that exemplary Product Owners have a deep understanding of the goals, values, and principles of Agile methodologies, allowing them to better support their teams and leverage agile practices effectively. In this segment we refer to the book Generative AI in a Nutshell. The Bad Product Owner: The Novice Who Does Everything Carmen describes a common anti-pattern she encountered: the inexperienced Product Owner who attempts to handle everything independently. This particular PO was preparing reviews and planning sessions alone, feeling that these events wouldn't happen otherwise. The team wasn't engaged, and the backlog had ballooned to over 300 items. Carmen helped this PO sort through the backlog to start with a clean slate and conducted a stakeholder mapping session to manage difficult stakeholders, particularly a CFO who was treating the PO as merely a scribe. They also worked to involve the team in Scrum events, reducing the burden on the PO. Carmen emphasizes the importance of keeping the team updated on process changes and the value of having a PO who can openly discuss their challenges. Self-reflection Question: As a Scrum Master, how can you help both experienced and novice Product Owners find the right balance between taking ownership and enabling team participation? [Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast Recommends]

In this episode of the Scrum.org Community Podcast – Value Delivered Series, host Dave West is joined by Carmit Ophir, Senior Director at StoreDot, and Professional Scrum Trainer Michal Epstein to explore how StoreDot leveraged Professional Scrum to tackle the complex challenges of developing ultra-fast-charging batteries for electric vehicles.Faced with low collaboration and siloed teams of chemists, engineers, and system experts, StoreDot turned to Scrum to foster transparency, cross-functional teamwork, and faster feedback loops. The results? Accelerated innovation, milestones delivered ahead of schedule, and a cultural shift driven by leadership support and a commitment to continuous improvement.Whether you're navigating R&D in a highly technical space or looking to drive transformation in your organization, this conversation is full of insights and practical advice. Key Takeaways:Why R&D teams can embrace agilityThe importance of leadership support in Scrum adoptionHow a culture of feedback and experimentation accelerates value delivery Tune in to hear how StoreDot is literally charging ahead with Scrum.

In dieser Folge sprechen wir mit Ulrich Voigt und Alexander Odendahl von der Sparkasse KölnBonn über ein Thema, das strategisch kaum relevanter sein könnte: Künstliche Intelligenz im Banking. Uli Vogt ist Vorstandsvorsitzender der Sparkasse KölnBonn und einer der Treiber für Zukunftsthemen innerhalb der Sparkassen-Finanzgruppe. Alexander Odendahl verantwortet als Product Owner den Bereich generative KI und bringt langjährige Erfahrung aus Data Analytics und digitaler Innovation mit. Gemeinsam geben sie einen offenen Einblick: Wie erste Prototypen zu konkreten Projekten wurden Warum KI nur dann funktioniert, wenn auch Veränderung mitgedacht wird Wieso sie sich für einen kollaborativen KI-Ansatz entschieden haben Und welche Rolle der „Führerschein für KI“ im Unternehmen spielt Wir sprechen über reale Use Cases – von smarter Dokumentenerkennung über Mehrsprachigkeit bis hin zur Einbindung in bestehende Prozesse. Außerdem geht's um Zusammenarbeit mit der FI, Austausch mit Hochschulen und warum der Mensch trotz KI weiter im Zentrum bleibt. Zum Abschluss teilen die beiden, was sie persönlich an KI fasziniert – und warum bei ihnen Leuchti und Doki nicht im Kindergarten, sondern in der IT arbeiten. Viel Spaß beim Hören! Viel Spaß beim Hören! Fragen, Anregungen und Feedback sehr gerne an mail@plaudertaschen-podcast.de Euer Plaudertaschen-Team Dieser Podcast wird präsentiert von: => S Broker AG & Co. KG - Innovative und bedarfsorientierte Lösungen „as a Service“ für das Wertpapiergeschäft der Sparkassen. => GuideCom AG - Unsere Heimat ist die Sparkassen-Finanzgruppe, denn seit mehr als 20 Jahren dürfen wir nahezu alle Sparkassen und Verbundpartner als Digitalisierungsexperte begleiten. Mit der GuideCom Sales & Service Cloud bieten wir den Finanzinstituten eine integrierte, datengetriebene Plattform für den Firmenkundenvertrieb. Durch einen starken Fokus auf Kundenzentrierung, Kollaboration und Automatisierung ist sie die Grundlage für eine zukunftsorientierte, erfolgreiche Zusammenarbeit. => Sparkassen Consulting GmbH - Wir. Beraten. Sparkassen. Folge direkt herunterladen

Chris Sims: The Empathy Advantage, How Great POs Connect Teams with Users Read the full Show Notes and search through the world's largest audio library on Agile and Scrum directly on the Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast website: http://bit.ly/SMTP_ShowNotes. The Great Product Owner: Deep Market Knowledge Creates Team Empathy Brad exemplifies a truly effective Product Owner through his exceptional understanding of end users and customers in the investment management space. What sets Brad apart is not just his deep domain knowledge, but his established relationships with gatekeepers at customer organizations. These connections provide valuable insights that inform product decisions. Most importantly, Brad regularly spends time with the development team, helping them empathize with stakeholders and understand the real-world impact of their work. His user stories consistently focus on actual users and why the requested features matter, creating clear context for developers and fostering meaningful connections between technical work and business outcomes. The Bad Product Owner: The Disempowered Proxy Problem Chris identifies a common anti-pattern: the disempowered proxy Product Owner. This situation occurs when someone performs the day-to-day PO responsibilities for the team, but lacks true authority to make decisions. Instead, an unseen "real PO" holds ultimate control and can swoop in at any time to change priorities or requirements. This arrangement quickly erodes team trust as they realize the proxy must continually defer decisions, creating delays and uncertainty. Chris suggests either empowering the proxy with more decision-making authority while keeping stakeholders appropriately involved, or having the higher-level PO commit to spending sufficient time with the team to fulfill the true Product Owner role themselves. Self-reflection Question: How might you identify and address power imbalances in the Product Owner role within your organization? [Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast Recommends]

Chris Sims: Middle Management, The Forgotten Layer in Agile Transformations Read the full Show Notes and search through the world's largest audio library on Agile and Scrum directly on the Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast website: http://bit.ly/SMTP_ShowNotes. Chris Sims recounts his experience with a rapidly growing startup that decided to adopt Scrum to address slowing delivery. When a VP championed the initiative, Chris provided training that generated excitement at the team level. However, they overlooked a critical component: the middle management layer. As teams embraced Scrum, they found themselves caught between multiple sources of direction—their direct managers, project managers, and newly established Product Owners with backlogs. This created confusion as middle managers, who weren't included in the transformation discussions, continued operating in their traditional ways. The result was teams appearing busy yet delivering slowly. Chris emphasizes the importance of considering how management roles evolve during agile transformations, deliberately redefining job descriptions, and helping managers find ways to bring value in the new structure rather than undermining it unintentionally. Self-reflection Question: In your organization's agile transformation, how are you addressing the needs and concerns of middle managers whose roles might be significantly impacted? [Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast Recommends]

Richard Brenner: Hypothesis-Driven Product Ownership, The Experimental Mindset Read the full Show Notes and search through the world's largest audio library on Agile and Scrum directly on the Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast website: http://bit.ly/SMTP_ShowNotes. The Great Product Owner: The Experimenter Richard describes great Product Owners as "experimenters" who understand that everything they do is a hypothesis requiring validation. The best POs establish feedback loops early, actively engage with users and clients, and approach product development with a scientific mindset. Richard shares an experience working with a "coaching PO" who excelled at involving everyone in defining what needed to be done.  This PO was inspiring and helped the team participate in both building and decision-making processes. Richard emphasizes that the relationship between PO and team must be a true partnership—not hierarchical—for success to occur. Great POs facilitate team involvement rather than dictating direction, creating an environment where collaborative problem-solving thrives. In this segment, we refer to the Role Expectation Matrix Retrospective, and the Product Owner Sprint Checklist, a hands-on coaching tool for anyone interested in helping PO's prepare and lead successful Sprints with their teams. The Bad Product Owner: The Tech Visionary Disconnected from Users Richard recounts working with a high-level sponsor, a medical doctor interested in technology, who hired multiple development teams (up to four Scrum teams) to build a product. While technically knowledgeable, this PO had very concrete ideas about both the technology and solution based on assumptions about client needs.  The team developed impressive technology, including a domain-specific language (DSL), and felt they were performing well—until they delivered to actual clients. Only then did they discover users couldn't effectively use the software, requiring a complete rethinking of the UX concept. This experience taught Richard the critical distinction between the customer (the sponsor/PO) and the actual end users, demonstrating how even technically sophisticated Product Owners can miss essential user needs without proper validation. Self-reflection Question: How might you help Product Owners in your organization balance their vision with the practical realities of user needs and feedback? [Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast Recommends]

Richard Brenner: Contracting for Success,  Establishing Clear Agile Coaching Outcomes Read the full Show Notes and search through the world's largest audio library on Agile and Scrum directly on the Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast website: http://bit.ly/SMTP_ShowNotes. Richard reflects on his evolution in defining success as a Scrum Master and Agile Coach. Initially, he believed that if his team was successful, he was successful—but soon realized this perspective was incomplete. Top management wanted tangible evidence of coaching impact, which became problematic without clearly defined metrics. Richard now advocates for establishing a coaching agreement at the beginning of any engagement, with both management and teams defining what success looks like for the coach. He emphasizes the importance of dual-sided accountability as a natural outcome of proper contracting, using metrics that matter to the organization such as flow metrics and outcome metrics to demonstrate coaching value. Self-reflection Question: How are you measuring your own success as a coach or Scrum Master, and have you created explicit agreements with both teams and management about what success looks like? Featured Retrospective Format for the Week: Solution Focused Retrospective Richard recommends the Solution Focused Retrospective from the book "Solution Focused Coaching for Agile Teams." While traditional retrospective formats from books like "Agile Retrospectives" typically open a topic and dig deeply into the problem space, the solution-focused approach suggests spending only a short time discussing problems before pivoting to designing the desired future state. This format focuses on identifying the next step and emphasizing what positive outcomes the team wants to achieve, rather than dwelling on what's wrong. Richard values this approach for its ability to maintain a positive, forward-thinking mindset within teams. [Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast Recommends]

Richard Brenner: When Individual Performance Metrics Block Agile Transformation Read the full Show Notes and search through the world's largest audio library on Agile and Scrum directly on the Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast website: http://bit.ly/SMTP_ShowNotes. Richard shares an experience of implementing Agile methods in a large organization that initially showed promising signs with management "pull" for change. The transformation began well with cross-functional teams created through self-selection workshops. However, unexpected resistance emerged during the kick-off day, particularly from a line manager and his team. When investigating the source of this resistance, Richard discovered that the company's bonus structure was tied to individual performance metrics, fundamentally conflicting with Agile's team-oriented approach.  This insight led to developing a pilot for a team-focused performance management system. After three months, the team held a retrospective with all stakeholders, where management demonstrated remarkable leadership by empowering teams to redesign their structure when the initial setup wasn't working. This flexibility allowed even the most vocal critics to become part of the solution. Self-reflection Question: In what ways might your organization's reward structures be unintentionally blocking successful Agile adoption? [Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast Recommends]

Scrum Fails When Product Owners Think They Are The BossI'm afraid that everyone interprets it differently, and that's the source of problems. For me, the word owner is misleading. As a Product Owner, you own nothing, though you may think you do.How to connect with AgileDad:- [website] https://www.agiledad.com/- [instagram] https://www.instagram.com/agile_coach/- [facebook] https://www.facebook.com/RealAgileDad/- [Linkedin] https://www.linkedin.com/in/leehenson/

Richard Brenner: How Small Signs of Cynicism Can Destroy Agile Team Cohesion Read the full Show Notes and search through the world's largest audio library on Agile and Scrum directly on the Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast website: http://bit.ly/SMTP_ShowNotes. Richard shares a powerful story about how team dysfunction often starts with small steps. During a joint retrospective with three agile teams, Richard witnessed a moment where a team member made a cynical comment toward a manager who was attempting to participate. This revealed a damaged relationship between management and the team, creating tension that Richard initially chose to ignore. Looking back, he would now immediately address such comments and tackle the "elephant in the room." Richard explains how seemingly minor behaviors like cynicism or passive-destructive actions (such as consistently being late to stand-ups) can significantly impact team health. He recommends establishing conflict resolution protocols early and using impact feedback without judgment to address these issues before they escalate. In this segment, we refer to Lysa Adkins' conflict resolution protocol.  Self-reflection Question: What small signs of dysfunction might you be overlooking in your team that could develop into larger problems? Featured Book of the Week: Solution Focused Coaching for Agile Teams Richard recommends "Solution Focused Coaching for Agile Teams" by Ralph and Veronika. This book describes the solution-focused approach to many common situations that Agile coaches face in their work. Richard values this resource for its practical guidance on addressing challenges through a positive, solution-oriented perspective rather than dwelling on problems. [Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast Recommends]

Richard Brenner: Skipping the Vision, How Not to Introduce Kanban Read the full Show Notes and search through the world's largest audio library on Agile and Scrum directly on the Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast website: http://bit.ly/SMTP_ShowNotes. Richard shares an important learning experience from introducing Kanban to teams using a top-down approach. Without clearly articulating why the change was needed, team members questioned what they were doing wrong that necessitated change. Richard found himself unable to connect the organizational vision to the methodology shift, leading to resistance. He emphasizes the importance of first understanding the problem before applying Scrum or Kanban, defining what success looks like, and involving people early in the change process. Richard also recommends thorough contracting with client organizations to assess their current state and understand who is trying to change what, and why. In this episode, we refer to Kotter's book Leading Change. Self-reflection Question: How might your change initiatives be improved by spending more time defining the "why" before introducing new methodologies? [Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast Recommends]

Product Owners vs. Product Managers vs. Project ManagersWhile you are knee-deep looking for your next role, I've seen endless variations of “product” roles. Specifically, the terms Product Owner (PO), Product Manager (PM), and Project Manager (PjM) seem to be used interchangeably, or even used to describe the same person. Yet, some teams have all three within each individual squad.So, what's the difference between these three roles? And why do we need all three in the first place?How to connect with AgileDad:- [website] https://www.agiledad.com/- [instagram] https://www.instagram.com/agile_coach/- [facebook] https://www.facebook.com/RealAgileDad/- [Linkedin] https://www.linkedin.com/in/leehenson/

BONUS: Keeping Backlogs Lean With The Now-Next-Later-Never Roadmap Framework with Kent McDonald In this BONUS episode, we explore the art of backlog management with product management expert Kent McDonald. As someone with decades of experience in software product development, Kent shares practical strategies for keeping backlogs lean, meaningful, and focused on outcomes that truly matter. Learn how to escape the trap of bloated backlogs and implement a Now-Next-Later-Never approach that will transform your product management practice. The Problem with Bloated Backlogs "Some teams use backlogs as 'long term storage' devices." Product backlogs often become unwieldy and difficult to manage because teams view them as a permanent repository for every idea that comes along. Kent explains that this "storage mentality" is one of the primary reasons backlogs grow out of control. Another common mistake is diving in too early and splitting items before they're actually ready to be worked on, which multiplies the backlog size unnecessarily. These practices lead to confusion, lost focus, and ultimately decrease a team's ability to deliver value efficiently. The Now-Next-Later-Never Roadmap Framework "You want to group things together on roughly categories of when you will attack it." Kent walks us through the practical implementation of a Now-Next-Later-Never roadmap approach that keeps things manageable. This framework provides a simple but powerful way to organize initiatives based on their priority and timing. Instead of maintaining an endless list of requirements, teams can group work into these four buckets, making it easier to communicate priorities both internally and with stakeholders. Kent emphasizes that these roadmap items should be described in terms of outcomes rather than features, helping everyone stay focused on the value being delivered rather than specific implementations. For more on the origin of the Now-Next-Later roadmap practice, see this article by Janna Bastow. Making "Now" Work in Practice "We only split items in the 'now' column." When implementing the Now-Next-Later-Never approach, the "Now" column is where the magic happens. Kent advises: Only split items that are in the "Now" column into actionable tasks Express roadmap items in terms of outcomes or customer problems to solve Limit the number of items in the "Now" column to maintain focus List outcomes rather than detailed features to avoid having a large number of items Kent explains that the "Later" and "Never" columns serve an important purpose in setting expectations with stakeholders about what won't be worked on immediately or at all. Managing the Movement Between Roadmap Categories "Items can move back and forth, to facilitate expectation setting." The Now-Next-Later-Never roadmap isn't static. Kent provides practical advice on how to manage the flow of items between categories: Revisit the roadmap regularly, ideally monthly Consider reviewing the roadmap during sprint review sessions Use this format when communicating with stakeholders for clearer expectation setting Hold strong on the "Now" items to maintain focus and avoid constant reprioritization This approach creates a dynamic but controlled environment where priorities can evolve without creating chaos or confusion. Dealing with Backlog Bloat "Create a 'museum', a set of items you can look at, but don't look at every day." For teams struggling with already-bloated backlogs, Kent offers bold but effective advice: Create a "museum" for items you want to preserve but don't need to see daily Consider deleting your old backlog and starting fresh Begin by asking: "What are the main outcomes we're trying to achieve?" Focus on getting to a smaller set of bigger items, then sequence them appropriately These approaches help teams overcome the fear of "losing" work while refocusing on what truly matters. Maintaining a Lean Backlog "Backlog items don't age well." Kent's team maintains an impressively lean backlog of just 23 items across three brand websites. He shares the routines and guardrails that prevent backlog bloat from creeping back in: Create a filter to control what gets into the backlog in the first place Keep the Product Owner just slightly ahead of the development team Avoid the anti-pattern of trying to keep all developers busy all the time Remember that backlog items don't age well and lose relevance over time These practices ensure the team stays focused on delivering current value rather than managing an ever-growing list of aging requirements. About Kent McDonald With decades in software product development, Kent is a go-to expert in product management, and agile strategy. He is a seasoned consultant and author of three books on agility, he helps teams cut through clutter to focus on what truly matters. When not optimizing workflows, he's exploring National Parks (52/63) or grooving to some jazz tunes. You can link with Kent McDonald on LinkedIn, or follow Kent McDonaldn on Substack.

Zvonimir Durcevic: How Feedback Transforms Product Owners Read the full Show Notes and search through the world's largest audio library on Agile and Scrum directly on the Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast website: http://bit.ly/SMTP_ShowNotes. The Great Product Owner: Embracing Feedback and Adapting Over Time  Zvonimir shares his experience with a Product Owner who demonstrated exceptional growth over a two-year period. What made this PO stand out was their willingness to receive feedback from the team and adjust their behavior accordingly. When the team expressed difficulty accessing the PO for questions and early feedback, the PO responded by rearranging their schedule to sit near the team part-time. Zvone emphasizes how these incremental changes, driven by openness to feedback, transformed this person into an exemplary Product Owner. The key insight: great Product Owners honor past practices while embracing necessary changes for the future. Self-reflection Question: How might your willingness (or reluctance) to accept feedback be affecting your development as a Product Owner? The Bad Product Owner: The Reluctant Subject Matter Expert In this segment, Zvonimir describes working with a Subject Matter Expert who was assigned the Product Owner role despite not wanting the responsibility. While this person excelled at documenting requirements from their extensive knowledge, they resisted taking on core PO duties. The organization assigned them the role but didn't push for proper adoption of responsibilities. Consequently, the team and Scrum Master were forced to assume PO duties to fill the gap. Although this arrangement functioned temporarily thanks to the team's capabilities and the SME's knowledge, it created an unsustainable situation where role accountability was unclear. [Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast Recommends]

Our guest on this episode of Data Driven Finance is Gretchen Rodriguez, Head of Product for Payments at TD Bank. She approaches products with an entrepreneur's mindset and has designed and launched products in fintech, e-commerce, cybersecurity, and identity & trust. Gretchen spent time as Product Owner at eBay, serves on a couple of boards, and is a product adviser to Med Fem Wellness. We talk about emerging payments and the ecosystems that support it. Topics covered include: The way we pay for products and services is changing. Consumer behaviors around how they make and want to make online payments. The ideal end game for payments from a consumer's point of view. The obstacles still in the way of seamless, superior payment systems. How can we accomplish the interconnectivity required for improved payment experiences? The opportunities open banking offers for opening and funding accounts. Additional benefits of connectivity for business account holders. The payment enhancements that are being explored today. A warning for the banks allowing themselves to fall behind.

We're excited to welcome Oeystein Kjoersvik to AI Uncovered. Oeystein leads the Generative AI program within the Quality Assurance team at Merck, where he focuses on developing AI tools and applying a quality-first approach to ensure safe, effective use of AI in GxP-regulated environments.In this episode, Tim and Oeystein delve into the challenges of adopting AI in regulated settings, the complexity of validating GenAI tools, and the transition from traditional processes to AI-augmented systems. They also explore Oeystein's work with the IMPALA Consortium and the importance of cross-industry collaboration to identify and scale high-value use cases for Generative AI.Before his current role, Oeystein served as a Product Owner in Analytics at Merck IT, building analytics platforms and integrating data science across systems. He also contributed as a Machine Learning Subject Matter Expert to TransCelerate's Intelligent Automation Group, advancing AI applications in pharmacovigilance.Oeystein brings a rare blend of technical expertise and regulatory insight. He's passionate about helping teams adopt AI responsibly and transparently—ensuring innovation aligns with quality across the pharmaceutical landscape.Welcome to AI Uncovered, a podcast for technology enthusiasts that explores the intersection of generative AI, machine learning, and innovation across regulated industries. With the AI software market projected to reach $14 trillion by 2030, each episode features compelling conversations with an innovator exploring the impact of generative AI, LLMs, and other rapidly evolving technologies across their organization. Hosted by Executive VP of Product at Yseop, Tim Martin leads a global team and uses his expertise to manage the wonderful world of product.

Marina Lazovic: Leadership Skills Make the Difference for Product Owners Read the full Show Notes and search through the world's largest audio library on Agile and Scrum directly on the Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast website: http://bit.ly/SMTP_ShowNotes. The Great Product Owner: The PO as a Leader Marina identifies that while product skills are important, it's leadership abilities that truly distinguish exceptional Product Owners. Great POs demonstrate strong empathy and lead by example, creating an environment where the team feels supported. Marina emphasizes the importance of availability – outstanding Product Owners make themselves accessible to their teams when needed, establishing a presence that goes beyond just attending ceremonies. This leadership through presence and support fosters trust, enabling teams to approach challenges with confidence knowing their PO has their back. The Bad Product Owner: The PO Who Did Not Understand Their Team Marina describes a problematic pattern where Product Owners fail to understand their team's strengths and weaknesses. These POs lack awareness of team composition – not recognizing the balance between senior and junior members or understanding their specific challenges. This blindness leads to unrealistic expectations about what the team can accomplish in a sprint. Marina suggests addressing this by establishing regular sync meetings with the PO to discuss team dynamics and challenges. By helping Product Owners understand team composition, Scrum Masters can bridge this knowledge gap and foster more realistic planning and expectations. Self-reflection Question: How might you help a Product Owner better understand the unique composition and capabilities of your team without creating an adversarial dynamic? About Marina Lazovic Marina is a Scrum Master and Kanban Trainer from Belgrade, Serbia, with nearly a decade in the IT industry. Though not from a technical background, she is passionate about helping development teams and organizations optimize processes and build great products using Agile. She thrives on driving efficiency and fostering collaboration. You can link with Marina Lazovic on LinkedIn.

How do we build trustworthy AI systems? What steps can organizations take to protect AI from attacks? And what role do we play in shaping a secure AI future?As AI becomes more advanced, it raises an important question—can we truly trust AI agents to act responsibly? Digital trust is essential to ensuring AI systems are accurate, ethical, transparent, secure, and accountable. But as AI evolves, so do the risks.In this episode of the FIT4PRIVACY Podcast, host Punit Bhatia speaks with Rani Kumar Rajah, founder of Secura.AI, about the growing challenges of AI security and governance. They discuss the new risks AI agents bring, such as data breaches, model theft, model poisoning, and the ability of AI to remember sensitive data—threats that go beyond traditional cybersecurity concerns.Securing AI requires a holistic approach, including strong risk management, security measures, compliance strategies, and asset protection. But AI safety isn't just a responsibility for businesses—individuals must also increase their AI awareness to understand both the opportunities and risks that AI presents.Tune in now to Episode 135 of FIT4Privacy Podcast and learn how to build digital trust in AI!

Marina Lazovic: How to Introduce Data-driven Decision Making to Skeptical Agile Teams Read the full Show Notes and search through the world's largest audio library on Agile and Scrum directly on the Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast website: http://bit.ly/SMTP_ShowNotes. Marina describes her experience introducing data-driven decision making to help teams improve their processes. Starting with basic metrics like velocity, she gradually expanded to more sophisticated data points such as how long items remain in specific workflow states. She emphasizes the importance of introducing these concepts naturally into daily work and using the data to spark meaningful conversations with both the team and Product Owner. By examining why items were stuck and for how long, the team uncovered underlying issues they could address. Marina also explains how she used historical data to inform sprint planning, making estimates more realistic. Her approach focused on simplicity—introducing one data point at a time, avoiding jargon, encouraging teams to discover problems themselves, and empowering them to develop their own solutions rather than imposing answers. Self-reflection Question: What single data point could you start tracking that might reveal the most important improvement opportunity for your team? About Marina Lazovic Marina is a Scrum Master and Kanban Trainer from Belgrade, Serbia, with nearly a decade in the IT industry. Though not from a technical background, she is passionate about helping development teams and organizations optimize processes and build great products using Agile. She thrives on driving efficiency and fostering collaboration. You can link with Marina Lazovic on LinkedIn.

Product Manager Brian Orlando and Enterprise Business Agility Coach Om Patel are listening and reacting to Melissa Perri on Lenny's Podcast as she makes claims about product management, agile, frameworks, and why most companies struggle with product management. We discuss many of her claims, including:Product Management has nothing to do with the Manifesto for Agile Software DevelopmentScrum is only for Large OrganizationsLarge Organizations Lack Infrastructure to support Product ManagementRigid Processes Can Crash Your Entire Company...and many, many more!Whether you're in a startup or enterprise, Silicon Valley or your average FinTech, this discussion offers practical insights on balancing process with customer-centricity.#ProductManagement #AgileLeadership #TeamDevelopmentTags: product management, agile coaching, scrum, kanban, product strategy, team development, organizational design, product owner, product manager, safe framework, agile transformation, continuous delivery, silicon valley, enterprise agileReferences:Lenny's Podcast with Melissa Perri, https://youtu.be/wbi9chsAHp4Marteen Dalmijn's newsletter about Waternet: https://mdalmijn.com/p/how-a-digital-transformation-canAA199 - W. Edwards Deming's Profound Knowledge for Transforming OrganizationsAA187 - The Future of AI, According to Big Tech= = = = = = = = = = = =YouTubehttps://youtu.be/c0htPyVTKeESubscribe on YouTubehttps://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8XUSoJPxGPI8EtuUAHOb6g?sub_confirmation=1Applehttps://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/agile-podcast/id1568557596Spotifyhttps://open.spotify.com/show/362QvYORmtZRKAeTAE57v3= = = = = = = = = = = =Toronto Is My Beat (Music Sample)By Whitewolf (Source: https://ccmixter.org/files/whitewolf225/60181)CC BY 4.0 DEED (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/deed.en)

Marina Lazovic: How Limiting Work-in-Progress Saved a Struggling Agile Team Read the full Show Notes and search through the world's largest audio library on Agile and Scrum directly on the Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast website: http://bit.ly/SMTP_ShowNotes. Marina shares the story of a small team of three developers who were struggling with multiple challenges. The team was primarily working on front-end fixes but faced persistent environment issues that kept breaking their work. Under pressure from a Product Owner pushing for delivery, the team fell into the trap of working on too many things simultaneously, resulting in items staying perpetually "in progress" and never reaching "done." As the situation deteriorated, the PO began micromanaging the team in attempts to unblock work. Marina explains how she helped the team understand the value of limiting work-in-progress (WIP), even when initially both developers and the PO were resistant to the idea. Through experimentation over several sprints, they discovered that limiting WIP actually increased their completion rate rather than reducing it. Self-reflection Question: What work-in-progress limits might benefit your current team, and how could you experiment with implementing them in a way that addresses stakeholder concerns? Featured Book of the Week: The Five Dysfunctions of a Team Marina recommends "The Five Dysfunctions of a Team" as an essential read for Scrum Masters. She describes it as a book filled with valuable lessons and examples that she could easily identify in her workplace. Marina finds particular value in sharing the concepts with her teams and using the book as a framework to discuss dysfunction patterns they might be experiencing. The practical examples provided in the book serve as excellent conversation starters to help teams recognize and address their own challenges. About Marina Lazovic Marina is a Scrum Master and Kanban Trainer from Belgrade, Serbia, with nearly a decade in the IT industry. Though not from a technical background, she is passionate about helping development teams and organizations optimize processes and build great products using Agile. She thrives on driving efficiency and fostering collaboration. You can link with Marina Lazovic on LinkedIn.

Karen Suarez: Decision Authority, The Make-or-Break Factor for Product Owners Read the full Show Notes and search through the world's largest audio library on Agile and Scrum directly on the Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast website: http://bit.ly/SMTP_ShowNotes. The Great Product Owner: Clear Vision That Inspires Action Karen describes an exemplary Product Owner who deeply understood both their product and market. This PO maintained a perfect balance of being firm in their vision while remaining open and curious to input. What made this PO particularly effective was their ability to communicate a clear, compelling vision that motivated the team. They defined key results in ways that were easily understood and actionable for team members. Most importantly, they trusted the development team with solution design rather than prescribing how features should be implemented, creating an environment where the team felt both guided and empowered. The Bad Product Owner: Committee Decisions and Never-Ending Backlogs Karen identifies two common anti-patterns in the Product Owner role. The first is when the PO isn't truly empowered to make decisions because the company hesitates to give this responsibility to a single person. In these cases, the PO becomes merely a proxy for a committee, with solutions predetermined elsewhere. The second anti-pattern is the PO who cannot say "no," allowing backlogs to grow unmanageably large. Karen once worked with a team that had accumulated 5,000 backlog items! Her solution was to use data to demonstrate why such expansive backlogs are counterproductive, create filtered views showing only the highest-priority items, and eventually make it acceptable to delete irrelevant backlog items altogether. Self-reflection Question: In your organization, does the Product Owner have true decision-making authority, or are they operating as a proxy for committee decisions? About Karen Suarez  Karen is a dedicated Scrum Master with a long experience driving agile transformations and fostering high-performing teams. She is passionate about continuous learning, and excels in aligning agile practices with organizational innovation. You can link with Karen Suarez on LinkedIn.

Karen Suarez: When a Scrum Master Needs to Hire a Manager, An Organizational Design Story Read the full Show Notes and search through the world's largest audio library on Agile and Scrum directly on the Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast website: http://bit.ly/SMTP_ShowNotes. Karen shares her experience as the first Scrum Master in a company where development, QA, product, and deployment were all separate departments, resulting in a cycle time exceeding six weeks. She strategically approached transformation by first identifying interested individuals in other departments who were already collaborating with the development team. Karen formalized the Product Owner role by cultivating a relationship with someone from the product department who showed interest in working closely with the team. She created regular collaboration routines between QA and development, and gradually involved the deployment team by inviting them to demos and having developers learn deployment skills. When faced with trust issues between deployment and development teams, Karen recognized the need for leadership support and built a case for hiring a manager who could help bridge these departments, acknowledging that some organizational challenges require sponsorship beyond the Scrum Master role. Self-reflection Question: In your organization, what departmental silos might be increasing cycle time, and who could be your allies in breaking down these barriers? About Karen Suarez  Karen is a dedicated Scrum Master with a long experience driving agile transformations and fostering high-performing teams. She is passionate about continuous learning, and excels in aligning agile practices with organizational innovation. You can link with Karen Suarez on LinkedIn.

Karen Suarez: How to Design Communication Channels to Protect Agile Team Focus, and Avoid Interruptions Read the full Show Notes and search through the world's largest audio library on Agile and Scrum directly on the Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast website: http://bit.ly/SMTP_ShowNotes. As a first-time Scrum Master managing a team of 15-20 people, Karen focused primarily on protecting them from constant interruptions in their open office space. However, she soon realized this approach was creating barriers between the team and stakeholders. Karen developed strategies to balance protection with accessibility by establishing "office hours" when the team could be interrupted, creating dedicated communication channels (like Slack) to collect stakeholder questions, and always including the Product Owner when change requests came in. This balanced approach maintained team focus while keeping communication lines open. In this segment, we refer to the Coach Your Product Owner e-course, available to all who need to support their product owners with understanding, and adopting an Agile way of working. Self-reflection Question: How might creating structured interruption times help your team maintain focus while still remaining accessible to stakeholders? Featured Book of the Week: The Scrum Guide Karen recommends repeatedly reading The Scrum Guide throughout your Agile journey. She finds she learns something new with each reading as her interpretation evolves with experience. Karen also highlights "Inspired: How to Create Tech Products Customers Love" by Marty Cagan, which helped her better understand the Product Owner role and gave her practical tools to support POs in their responsibilities. About Karen Suarez  Karen is a dedicated Scrum Master with a long experience driving agile transformations and fostering high-performing teams. She is passionate about continuous learning, and excels in aligning agile practices with organizational innovation. You can link with Karen Suarez on LinkedIn.

Anuj Ojha: Helping PO's Move Beyond User Story Templates to True Customer Understanding Read the full Show Notes and search through the world's largest audio library on Agile and Scrum directly on the Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast website: http://bit.ly/SMTP_ShowNotes. The Great Product Owner: The Vision Setter Who Empowers Teams In this segment, Anuj describes an exemplary Product Owner who mastered the art of inclusive product development. This PO excelled at bringing everyone together to discuss the product and potential solutions, while maintaining a clear focus on the vision and problem space. Rather than dictating solutions, they created an environment where team members could freely explore solutions while the PO remained available for questions and guidance. Their success came from building strong relationships with stakeholders and customers, and effectively using the Eisenhower matrix to prioritize work. The Bad Product Owner: The Requirements Translator Anuj discusses common anti-patterns he's observed in Product Owners, particularly those who may have previously been project managers. A crucial issue arises when POs create user stories without first understanding the customer and their journey with the product. Some POs become mere translators, rigidly adhering to story templates instead of truly understanding customer needs. The key to improvement lies in helping POs learn to engage directly with customers, focus on problem exploration rather than immediate solutions, and collaborate with the whole team in solution discussions. Self-reflection Question: How can you help your Product Owner move from being a requirements translator to becoming a true value maximizer? [The Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast Recommends]