

Product Agility
Ben Maynard
Less Method. More Meaning.The world of Product Discovery and Creation is becoming increasingly challenging due to mistakes and missed opportunities that are prevalent in agile teams, large-scale Scrum and all other agile frameworks. History has shown that when organisations try and scale their product development to more than one cross-functional team, mistakes are made that cut short many chances of getting all possible benefits.The route of this for many is the need for more attention paid to the incredible advancements in Product Management driven by hordes of professional Product People who prove that making their customers happier is not a pipe dream but a hard and fast reality.This podcast exists to explore all topics related to Product and Agility and Coaching. How do you marry the agile principles with Product discovery?Is it really possible to have hundreds of cross-functional teams (or Product Teams) all working from an effectively prioritised single Product Backlog and a dedicated Product Owner?How can you embrace continuous improvement and empirical process control for your product, people and processes?Ever wondered how to overcome the problems people face when trying to scale the Product Owner role and how it relates to Product Management and Product Teams?Baffled by how to define a product in such a way that enables Feature Teams (aka Product Teams) and why doing wrong means you will only ever be stuck with technical teams? Scrum Teams are not compatible with modern product management techniques.Want to know what Product Focus means and how the right focus makes creating a shippable product less painful?Need to get your head around how to blend modern product management techniques with Sprint Planning and Sprint Reviews to achieve Product Increments that cover the entire product?This podcast's original focus was on Scaling Scrum vs Single-Team Scrum and how organisations can reap the benefits of Scrum when working on a larger product but still keeping a single product backlog. We found many Product People liked what we said, and then the penny dropped. This isn't a podcast about scaling Scrum or the limitations of single-team Scrum.This podcast is for Product People & agile advocates who coach or get their hands dirty with Product creation.We promise there is no Taboo topic that we will not explore on your behalf. We aim to transcend the conversations about a single team, Daily Scrums, Scrum Masters and the double-diamond and bring everyone together into responsible teams dedicated to working on the entire product to make their customers happier and their lives more fulfilling.Come and join us on our improvement towards perfection, and give us your feedback (we have a strong customer focus, too), and who knows, perhaps we will discover the magic wand that we can wave over all the broken agile and sudo-products to create a more resilient and adaptable future by bringing the worlds of Product, Agility and coaching together.This podcast has the conversations and insights you need.
Episodes
Mentioned books

May 30, 2022 • 48min
Karim Harbott (6 Enablers of Business Agility Author), Certified LeSS Trainer Interview
Send us a textHow has Karim Harbott been so immensely successful?Is it his charm, his looks or his ridiculously in-depth knowledge of all things agility?Well, you can be the judge. In this episode, Karim Harbott, author of the Six Enablers of Business Agility and host Ben Maynard chat about what matters most to them about Large Scale Scrum, why scaling agile is such a challenge and how they have been successful in doing so in the past.So if you want to:Learn more about what it takes to become a Large Scale Scrum (LeSS) trainerDiscover why Agility and Efficiency are an OR not an ANDIs it more rewarding, in Karim's opinion, to do things the hard way or the easy wayUnderstand why agile transformations are like trying to bend 100-year-old trees with your bare handsFind out what Karim's 2 favourite Large Scale Scrum (LeSS) Adoptions are (well one was LeSS Like but we will let him off)Learn what Karim think's should have been more popular in the agile worldDiscover what provoked Karim to write his book, The 6 Enablers of Business Agility Stuff that was spoken aboutKarim's LeSS Case Study - TomCommerceSpecification by Example - Here at LeSS.WorksThis is Bas and Craig's First LeSS Book, the once Karim read and learnt LeSS from - Scaling Lean & Agile Development Thinking and Organizational Tools for Large-Scale ScrumThis is their second book, the one Ben read and learnt LeSS from - Practices for Scaling Lean & Agile Development: Large, Multisite, and Offshore Product Development with Large-Scale ScrumFor completeness, here is the third boHost Bio Ben is a seasoned expert in product agility coaching, unleashing the potential of people and products. With over a decade of experience, his focus now is product-led growth & agility in organisations of all sizes. Stay up-to-date with us on our social media📱! Ben Maynard 🔗 https://www.linkedin.com/in/benmaynard-sheev/ 🐦 https://x.com/BenWMaynard 💻 https://sheev.co.uk/ Product Agility Podcast 🔗 https://www.linkedin.com/company/productagilitypod/ 💻 https://productagilitypod.co.uk/ 🖇️ https://linktr.ee/productagility Listen & Share On Spotify & iTunes Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/0lkwAYJzVSuk5zfJ1vIDZq?si=4c691fb12f124a56 iTunes - https://apple.co/3YvTX8p Want to come on the podcast? Want to be a guest or have a guest request? Let us know here https://bit.ly/49osN80

May 25, 2022 • 3min
Professional Coach Vs. Agile Coach
Send us a textThe role of the Agile Coach is complicated when compared to that of a professional coach. Thie episode is short (like this description) and in it, I dispel some myths and give you what you need to concisely explain the difference. Host Bio Ben is a seasoned expert in product agility coaching, unleashing the potential of people and products. With over a decade of experience, his focus now is product-led growth & agility in organisations of all sizes. Stay up-to-date with us on our social media📱! Ben Maynard 🔗 https://www.linkedin.com/in/benmaynard-sheev/ 🐦 https://x.com/BenWMaynard 💻 https://sheev.co.uk/ Product Agility Podcast 🔗 https://www.linkedin.com/company/productagilitypod/ 💻 https://productagilitypod.co.uk/ 🖇️ https://linktr.ee/productagility Listen & Share On Spotify & iTunes Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/0lkwAYJzVSuk5zfJ1vIDZq?si=4c691fb12f124a56 iTunes - https://apple.co/3YvTX8p Want to come on the podcast? Want to be a guest or have a guest request? Let us know here https://bit.ly/49osN80

May 23, 2022 • 20min
Nisha Joshi - Inductive vs Deductive Reasoning (and why Ben hates a lot of books)
Send us a textThere is so much in the agile world (and beyond) that is hinged upon ideas that someone has had that are then followed by them looking for evidence that they are correct.Confirmation bias anyone?!In order to be able to identify the proven from the good idea that needs testing this podcast gives you a detailed explanation of the differences between Inductive and Deductive reasoning and why it is a critical topic to understand for anyone that used the word "experiment" in their agile world. It is not as ominous as it seems!!Host Bio Ben is a seasoned expert in product agility coaching, unleashing the potential of people and products. With over a decade of experience, his focus now is product-led growth & agility in organisations of all sizes. Stay up-to-date with us on our social media📱! Ben Maynard 🔗 https://www.linkedin.com/in/benmaynard-sheev/ 🐦 https://x.com/BenWMaynard 💻 https://sheev.co.uk/ Product Agility Podcast 🔗 https://www.linkedin.com/company/productagilitypod/ 💻 https://productagilitypod.co.uk/ 🖇️ https://linktr.ee/productagility Listen & Share On Spotify & iTunes Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/0lkwAYJzVSuk5zfJ1vIDZq?si=4c691fb12f124a56 iTunes - https://apple.co/3YvTX8p Want to come on the podcast? Want to be a guest or have a guest request? Let us know here https://bit.ly/49osN80

May 18, 2022 • 4min
Organisational Systems and Realtionships
Send us a textHost Bio Ben is a seasoned expert in product agility coaching, unleashing the potential of people and products. With over a decade of experience, his focus now is product-led growth & agility in organisations of all sizes. Stay up-to-date with us on our social media📱! Ben Maynard 🔗 https://www.linkedin.com/in/benmaynard-sheev/ 🐦 https://x.com/BenWMaynard 💻 https://sheev.co.uk/ Product Agility Podcast 🔗 https://www.linkedin.com/company/productagilitypod/ 💻 https://productagilitypod.co.uk/ 🖇️ https://linktr.ee/productagility Listen & Share On Spotify & iTunes Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/0lkwAYJzVSuk5zfJ1vIDZq?si=4c691fb12f124a56 iTunes - https://apple.co/3YvTX8p Want to come on the podcast? Want to be a guest or have a guest request? Let us know here https://bit.ly/49osN80

May 16, 2022 • 22min
Nisha Joshi - Disco Krankies and Starting Small
Send us a text⚠️⚠️THIS PODCAST COMES WITH A WARNING⚠️⚠️It's not because we explain "Why to start small when beginning a transformation journey"Oh No (I feel that I should have edited it a bit more really)So what you get is (for the first little while)🎯Ben's run-in with one member of a UK 1980s Comedy Duo🎯Nisha & Diana Ross🎯Barry White's dubious lyrics - "We got it together didn't we?, We've definitely got our thing together, don't we baby?, Isn't that nice?"Nice? Is that the best you had Barry?!🎯Short runways 🛬THEN you get the agile gold:🎯Why transformation blueprints (📘) are rubbish and belong in the 🗑️🎯How you can test the organisational fitness for agility🎯Why mimicking starting conditions is cool🎯What makes teams slower when making changes (small and large)🎯What's the sales pitch for starting small?Stuff that was mentionedBen's delivery space podcast episode on SAFe Vs LeSSChain Reaction by Diane RossEveryones a Winner by Hot ChocolateFirst My Last My Everything by Barry WhiteHost Bio Ben is a seasoned expert in product agility coaching, unleashing the potential of people and products. With over a decade of experience, his focus now is product-led growth & agility in organisations of all sizes. Stay up-to-date with us on our social media📱! Ben Maynard 🔗 https://www.linkedin.com/in/benmaynard-sheev/ 🐦 https://x.com/BenWMaynard 💻 https://sheev.co.uk/ Product Agility Podcast 🔗 https://www.linkedin.com/company/productagilitypod/ 💻 https://productagilitypod.co.uk/ 🖇️ https://linktr.ee/productagility Listen & Share On Spotify & iTunes Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/0lkwAYJzVSuk5zfJ1vIDZq?si=4c691fb12f124a56 iTunes - https://apple.co/3YvTX8p Want to come on the podcast? Want to be a guest or have a guest request? Let us know here https://bit.ly/49osN80

May 9, 2022 • 26min
Nisha Joshi, how can we determine a clients agile readiness?
Send us a textNisha Joshi and I have been friends for a while and that chemistry seeps out of this podcast by the bucket load (IMO)We went straight in there with a meaty (or non-meat substitute) question "how do we determine a client's readiness for agile", not to blow our trumpet but we smashed it. So if you want to find out:🎺What Nisha's Arnold Schwarzenegger impression sounds like🎺Did a Certified LeSS Basics course give Nisha the tools for surviving the pandemic🎺What can we learn about those that we help that will help us to help them?🎺What are the questions you should seek to be answered?🎺If you are assessing readiness, why? For you or for them?🎺What happens when there isn't a readiness fit?🎺If you are coaching a team or forming any partnership, why we should avoid thanking each other.🎺How to use the Scheinder culture model🎺 What's an easy way to find out what people's values are?Stuff I said I would put in the show notes:PropensityThe Value Cards I mentionedThe Schneider Culture ModelStay up-to-date with us on our social medias!Ben Maynard - https://www.linkedin.com/in/benmaynard-sheevNisha Joshi - https://www.linkedin.com/in/nishajoshi1 LeSS Matters Website - https://www.lessmatters.co.uk LeSS Matters LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/less-matters-community/?viewAsMember=true LeSS Matters Twitter - https://twitter.com/LeSSMattersComm Host Bio Ben is a seasoned expert in product agility coaching, unleashing the potential of people and products. With over a decade of experience, his focus now is product-led growth & agility in organisations of all sizes. Stay up-to-date with us on our social media📱! Ben Maynard 🔗 https://www.linkedin.com/in/benmaynard-sheev/ 🐦 https://x.com/BenWMaynard 💻 https://sheev.co.uk/ Product Agility Podcast 🔗 https://www.linkedin.com/company/productagilitypod/ 💻 https://productagilitypod.co.uk/ 🖇️ https://linktr.ee/productagility Listen & Share On Spotify & iTunes Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/0lkwAYJzVSuk5zfJ1vIDZq?si=4c691fb12f124a56 iTunes - https://apple.co/3YvTX8p Want to come on the podcast? Want to be a guest or have a guest request? Let us know here https://bit.ly/49osN80

May 6, 2022 • 8min
Communities Matter In LeSS
Send us a textHost Bio Ben is a seasoned expert in product agility coaching, unleashing the potential of people and products. With over a decade of experience, his focus now is product-led growth & agility in organisations of all sizes. Stay up-to-date with us on our social media📱! Ben Maynard 🔗 https://www.linkedin.com/in/benmaynard-sheev/ 🐦 https://x.com/BenWMaynard 💻 https://sheev.co.uk/ Product Agility Podcast 🔗 https://www.linkedin.com/company/productagilitypod/ 💻 https://productagilitypod.co.uk/ 🖇️ https://linktr.ee/productagility Listen & Share On Spotify & iTunes Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/0lkwAYJzVSuk5zfJ1vIDZq?si=4c691fb12f124a56 iTunes - https://apple.co/3YvTX8p Want to come on the podcast? Want to be a guest or have a guest request? Let us know here https://bit.ly/49osN80

May 4, 2022 • 5min
Why go from Projects to Products?
Send us a textHost Bio Ben is a seasoned expert in product agility coaching, unleashing the potential of people and products. With over a decade of experience, his focus now is product-led growth & agility in organisations of all sizes. Stay up-to-date with us on our social media📱! Ben Maynard 🔗 https://www.linkedin.com/in/benmaynard-sheev/ 🐦 https://x.com/BenWMaynard 💻 https://sheev.co.uk/ Product Agility Podcast 🔗 https://www.linkedin.com/company/productagilitypod/ 💻 https://productagilitypod.co.uk/ 🖇️ https://linktr.ee/productagility Listen & Share On Spotify & iTunes Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/0lkwAYJzVSuk5zfJ1vIDZq?si=4c691fb12f124a56 iTunes - https://apple.co/3YvTX8p Want to come on the podcast? Want to be a guest or have a guest request? Let us know here https://bit.ly/49osN80

Apr 27, 2022 • 5min
What does the term Product Really Mean?
Send us a textProducts here, products there, products are seemingly everywhere. And this is part of the problem.SAFe (The Scale Agile Framework) would seem to imply that a Product could be anything because there is no limit of the number of Product Owners you can have (well one per team, but you get the sentiment). This is wrong and its a problem if you really want to be able to adapt quickly and cheaply.In this episode I want to explain a meaningful way of perceiving a Product, one which doesn't over empower teams, slow you down and quite simply, break ScrumHost Bio Ben is a seasoned expert in product agility coaching, unleashing the potential of people and products. With over a decade of experience, his focus now is product-led growth & agility in organisations of all sizes. Stay up-to-date with us on our social media📱! Ben Maynard 🔗 https://www.linkedin.com/in/benmaynard-sheev/ 🐦 https://x.com/BenWMaynard 💻 https://sheev.co.uk/ Product Agility Podcast 🔗 https://www.linkedin.com/company/productagilitypod/ 💻 https://productagilitypod.co.uk/ 🖇️ https://linktr.ee/productagility Listen & Share On Spotify & iTunes Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/0lkwAYJzVSuk5zfJ1vIDZq?si=4c691fb12f124a56 iTunes - https://apple.co/3YvTX8p Want to come on the podcast? Want to be a guest or have a guest request? Let us know here https://bit.ly/49osN80

Apr 20, 2022 • 5min
The Role of a Manager in a LeSS Environment
Send us a textIn an ideal world, a company would make the transition to #agile and we would all embrace flat structures and embody the roles as defined in the #scrum and #LeSS framework.But organisations don't transform overnight. The traditional style of management and project management has been around for over 100 years and it is deeply entrenched in most organisations.As much as we would love companies to embrace the 21st century style of working, the truth is that we have to integrate the old with the new in order to make progress in our quest for true Business Agility.So, where do managers fit into the equation?The #scrumguide doesn't make mention of line management nor does it make clear what role managers play in nurturing and developing a #scrum environment.And yet, managers exist in many of the organisations we work with, and they have a valuable if not crucial role to play in creating environments where people can excel and thrive.#LeSS expert and certified #coach, Ben Maynard, walks us through the role of a manager in a Large Scale Scrum environment.Ben has deep experience and expertise in #LeSS environments has been and has worked with both teams and managers to ensure successful and productive #LeSS adoptions around the world.Ben understands the enthusiasm with which #scrum is adopted and balances that dogmatic approach with a far more pragmatic approach to integrating traditional and #scrum working environments.In this short video, he shares his thoughts and recommendations for empowering managers to play a crucial role in helping teams to create and develop products and features that truly delight customers.#agile Host Bio Ben is a seasoned expert in product agility coaching, unleashing the potential of people and products. With over a decade of experience, his focus now is product-led growth & agility in organisations of all sizes. Stay up-to-date with us on our social media📱! Ben Maynard 🔗 https://www.linkedin.com/in/benmaynard-sheev/ 🐦 https://x.com/BenWMaynard 💻 https://sheev.co.uk/ Product Agility Podcast 🔗 https://www.linkedin.com/company/productagilitypod/ 💻 https://productagilitypod.co.uk/ 🖇️ https://linktr.ee/productagility Listen & Share On Spotify & iTunes Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/0lkwAYJzVSuk5zfJ1vIDZq?si=4c691fb12f124a56 iTunes - https://apple.co/3YvTX8p Want to come on the podcast? Want to be a guest or have a guest request? Let us know here https://bit.ly/49osN80