Question 1

Lean Thinking

Accepted Answer

Lean thinking is an organizational approach, based on the view that non-value-added activities (waste) in products and services impedes customer value creation. It focuses on ways to organize human activities to effectively deliver value while reducing muda (waste), mura (unevenness) and muri (overburden).

Lean Thinking ideas emerged from studying Toyota Production System (TPS). It was found that if every employee is trained to identify wasted effort, steps and time in their own work and to work together as a team to improve processes by eliminating such waste, the resulting culture (basic thinking, mindset & assumptions) will deliver more value effectively while improving team work, their capability, and motivation.

Also see: Lean Waste, Lean Product Development, Kaizen, PDCA

Question 2

Lean Waste

Accepted Answer

Lean waste is a type of waste that relates to non-value added activities in processes, communication, information sharing, product features etc.

Any non-value add activities that a team undertakes, is a lean waste and such waste is detrimental to any organizaiton, as it creates delays in value creation and increases cost.

8 Types of Lean Wastes are:

Work-In-Progress, Inventory, Partially Done Work
Over Production, Extra Features
Extra Processing, Relearning
Transportation, Handoffs
Delays
Task Switching, Motion
Defects
Unused Talent

Also see: Lean Thinking

Question 3

Minimum Viable Product (MVP)

Accepted Answer

Minimum Viable Product is a version of a new product with just enough (minimum) features to be usable by early customers. If early adoptors can use our product to solve their core need, then they can provide feedback for future product development of the product.

MVP aims to validate key assumptions / hypothesis about the product idea and achieve most validated learning possible for the least amount of effort / investment.

The purpose of releasing an MVP could be:

MVP doesn't have to be dud. It can be Exceptional as well.

After validation of the idea through MVP, the Product is supposed to be improved incrementaly based on customer's feedback - each increment being more valuable than the previous verisons.

Question 4

Net Promoter Score (NPS)

Accepted Answer

Net Promoter Score is a customer loyalty metric used to gauge the likelihood of customers recommending a company's product or service to others.

Customers are asked to rate their willingness to refer the company or their product or service on a scale from 0 to 10.

Based on their responses, customers are classified into three categories: Promoters (score 9-10), Passives (score 7-8), and Detractors (score 0-6).

The NPS is calculated by subtracting the percentage of Detractors from the percentage of Promoters, yielding a score between -100 and 100.

Higher NPS score means the customers are very likely to spread positive word-of-mouth about the company's offerings to others and that can also lead to increased customer retention and business growth.

Question 5

OKRs

Accepted Answer

Objectives and Key Results (OKR) is a goal-setting framwork to establish focus towards delivering results that truely matter and to direct all initiatives toward measurable strategic outcomes.

OKRs are goal-setting metrics that are meant to be measurable, time-bound, achievable, relevant, and specific.

OKRs are expressed in a format that employees can easily understand. The use of OKRs allows all employees to focus on what’s most important to the company as a whole.

Question 6

One-Piece Flow

Accepted Answer

One-piece flow is a lean (manufacturing) practice, in which customers receive a valuable product that is produced from start to finish, per the customer's needs. Such a process limits work-in-progress, eliminates waste, excess processing, and over-production, which increases efficiency and lowers costs.

Due to reduced work in progress, the flow of the value increases, overhead costs go down, the inventory carrying costs signifiacntly reduces, the throughput increases.

Question 7

Open Space

Accepted Answer

Open Space is a democratic way to facilitate and organize meetings, conferences, and organizational work involving a large number of people with diverse backgrounds and interest.

Participants opt in to create and manage the agenda of discussions as it emerges to achieve strategic and complex objectives.

Harrison Owen an Open Space Evangelist describes the Four Principles and One Law which guide behavior of participants in Open space.

**The principles are: **

Whoever comes is the right people, which reminds people in the small groups that getting something done is not a matter of having 100,000 people and the chairman of the board. The fundamental requirement is people who care to do something. And by showing up, that essential care is demonstrated.
Whatever happens is the only thing that could have, keeps people focused on the here and now, and eliminates all of the could-have-beens, should-have-beens or might-have-beens. What is is the only thing there is at the moment.
Whenever it starts is the right time, alerts people to the fact that inspired performance and genuine creativity rarely, if ever, pay attention to the clock. They happen (or not) when they happen.
Lastly When it’s over it’s over. In a word, don’t waste time. Do what you have to do, and when its done, move on to something more useful.

The Law of Two Feet, which states simply, if at any time you find yourself in any situation where you are neither learning nor contributing – use you two feet and move to some place more to you liking. Such a place might be another group, or even outside into the sunshine. No matter what, don’t sit there feeling miserable

Question 8

Organizational Topologies

Accepted Answer

Organizational Topologies can serve as a valuable coaching tool for evaluating, tracking, and modifying organizational structure.

Through Org Topology Mapping, individuals and teams can take ownership of and advance their progress towards greater levels of adaptability, regardless of their current starting point

This approach can facilitate the development of a customer-centric, adaptable, and resilient organization better equipped to navigate change with confidence.

Question 9

Pareto Principle

Accepted Answer

The Pareto Principle states, for many events, roughly 80% of results (effects) come from 20% of the inputs (causes). Hence also knowns as 80/20 rule.

While the actual % would change based on situation and context, it is almost always true that:

a small proportion of the efforts (inputs) towards certain areas generate a larger proportion of results (outputs).

The Pareto Principle provides a useful framework for understanding complex systems and identifying key areas for focus / improvement.

When correctly used by the Scrum Teams, it can help order Product Backlog Items (PBIs) that would yield most value, identify which retrospective improvement idea to pursue among many, optimize resources, and improve overall ROI.

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https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/iBXIwUgCog/resources/wcEQPCNkBu/PP.png (PP)

Image source: Interaction Design Foundation

This 80-20 rule can be applied to many areas such as business, learning, finance, sales, marketing, customer service etc.

The Pareto Principle is named after Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto (1848-1923).

Question 10

PDCA

Accepted Answer

Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA) is an iterative problem solving framework developed around 1950s by Edward Deming.

PDCA is used to improve processes, products, and services, by improving upon quality, reliability, productivity, and effectiveness. PDCA is an improvement cycle, and is also known as dynamic improvement.

Plan: Involves gathering data, defining the issue, and identifying potential solutions.

The PDCA cycle is repeated until the desired improvement is achieved.

Question 11

Product Vision

Accepted Answer

Product Vision is a high-level, aspirational statement that articulates the long-term direction and purpose of a product. It provides a clear and inspiring picture of what the product is meant to accomplish, who it is intended for, and benefits it provides to the customers.

A well-defined product vision helps build a shared understanding, align teams, and provide clarity on the desired outcomes for the product.

The importance of Product Vision lies in its ability to inspire, motivate, and guide the product team throughout the product development cycle. It serves as a North Star, helping to keep the team focused on what truly matters and ensuring that everyone is working towards the same goals. It also helps to align stakeholders and customers around a shared vision for the product, which can improve communication, reduce conflicts, and increase the chances of success.

The Product Goal is a specific, relatively short-term, and measurable objective that helps the team make progress towards that vision. It guides the team to focus on delivering incremental value.

Examples of Product Vision:

The Amazon Kindle: "To provide customers with the best possible reading experience on a digital device." The Kindle's product vision is centered around delivering a superior reading experience that replicates the experience of reading a physical book as closely as possible, with features like a glare-free display, long battery life, and access to a vast library of e-books.
Google Maps: "To organize the world's geographic information and make it universally accessible and useful." Google Maps' product vision reflects its mission to provide users with accurate and detailed maps that help them navigate the world around them, with features like turn-by-turn directions, real-time traffic updates, and user-generated reviews.
Netflix: "To become the world's leading internet television network, offering a wide range of TV shows and movies to our members." Netflix's product vision centers around providing users with a vast library of high-quality streaming content that they can access anytime, anywhere, with features like personalized recommendations, ad-free viewing, and offline downloads.
Tesla Model S: "To accelerate the world's transition to sustainable energy by creating the safest, most compelling car ever produced." The Model S's product vision reflects Tesla's commitment to promoting clean energy and reducing carbon emissions, with features like a high-performance electric drivetrain, advanced safety features, and a sleek, futuristic design.

Question 12

Release Planning

Accepted Answer

Release Planning is the process of planning a product release, identifying the capabilities that need to be released, stakeholders and team members involved, budget and timelines.

In Scrum, every Sprint enables inspection and adaptation of progress toward a Product Goal. Every Sprint begins with Sprint Planning and results in at least one increment that is usable to customers.

Some teams release increments multiple times a sprint, other teams group features from more than a sprint before releasing to the customers.

Those releasing at least once a sprint, do not need seperate release planning besides the Sprint Planning that already exists.

Question 13

Return on Investment (ROI)

Accepted Answer

Return on Investment (ROI) is a ratio of the gains from an investment over the investment.

ROI = Gains / Investment

For Example: Implementing a set of features required an investment of $100K, and after implementing those features, the product generated additional $300K in profitability.

In this case the ROI = ($3,00,000 / $1,00,000) = 3.

Question 14

Scrum Board

Accepted Answer

Visualizing the work of the Scrum Team via a board (either virtual or physical) is a common practice used by Scrum Teams. The purpose of creating such a board is to create transparency of information.

While the Scrum Guide doesn't prescribe any specific practice or a board, it's valuable tool to enhance shared understanding and empiricism.

The Scrum Board may contain the list of everything that's needed in the product (a Product Backlog) and the work of the current sprint (Sprint Backlog).

Question 15

Scrum of Scrums (SoS)

Accepted Answer

A techinque to coordinate work and dependencies across multiple Scrum teams. A member from each team joins a short daily sync up to discsus dependencies, impediments and opportunities to collaborate among various teams.

See also: Self-Managing Teams

Question 17

Spike

Accepted Answer

Spike (concept originating from Extreme Programming) may be considered a type of a Product Backlog Item that is usually focused on research, exploration and investivation activity.

The purpose of a spike may be to explore the technical feasibility or create a quick proof of concept to gain better understanding about a particular requirement.

Since a Spike does not directly deliver stakeholder value, and due to unknown nature of the work involved, a spike should be subjected to a time-box.

The knowledge gained during this time-box (effort spent) should be presented at the Sprint Review and based on it the Product Owner may decide whether to puruse this feature / technology further or not. If the Product Owner decides to pursue it further, they may write a fresh Product Backlog Item and add it to the Product Backlog.

Also see: Product Backlog Item, User Story, Product Backlog Refinement

Question 18

Splitting User Stories

Accepted Answer

When a big Product Backlog Item (or a User Story) can not be implemented within one Sprint, it's best to split it in to multiple smaller (thin) slices. Then the team can pick up these smaller items one by one for implementation over number of Sprints.

Smaller Product Backlog Items are easier to implement, require less effort, less investment and allow to get early feedback, reducing risk and maximizing learning.

For Example: A brand new ecommerce portal requires ways to accept online payments. The Accept Online Payments Product Backlog Item is pretty big in itself. It can be splitted (sliced) in few ways as below:

"Accept Online Payments" can be split in to four pieces as below:

1a. "Accept Visa" can be split in to pieces further:

The PBI 1aa. can be further split based on APIs available from Visa.

Also see:

User Story, Product Backlog Item

Question 19

Spotify Engineering Culture

Accepted Answer

How Spotify (a music streaming company) built their engineering culture based on agile values, principles and techniques:

Part I:

Part II:

This video reflects Spotify's journey in progress, not the journey completed. Many teams blindly try to follow Spotify model and miserably fail at it, as the underlying context for every organization / team is different.

Question 20

Sprint Goal Success Rate

Accepted Answer

The Sprint Goal Success Rate is the percentage of sprints in which the team successfully achieves all the goals they set at the beginning of each sprint. It is a measure of the team's ability to stay focused and complete the planned work during the sprint.

A high success rate indicates that the team consistently meets its goals, while a lower rate indicates they need to analyze their performance and adapt their Sprint Planning and Execution.

However, too much focus on achieving Sprint Goal, may result in team under committing during Sprint Planning and also not being flexible when the customer needs change.

Question 21

Sprint Retrospective Action Item Completion

Accepted Answer

The Sprint Retrospective Action Item Completion measures how well the team follows through on the action items they identified and committed to during the sprint retrospective. It helps the team assess their responsiveness to improvement opportunities and their ability to make meaningful changes.

A higher completion rate indicates the team's dedication to continuous improvement.

Measuring this metric can be beneficial for new Scrum Teams; however, as they take ownership of continuous improvement and act on Retrospective Action Items, its significance decreases.

Question 22

Sprint Review Attendee Satisfaction

Accepted Answer

Sprint Review Attendee Satisfaction is a measure of how satisfied the stakeholders, and customers, are with the outcomes and demonstrations presented during the Sprint Review. It helps the team gauge whether their work aligns with the stakeholders' expectations and if improvements are needed.

Like a movie rating, it's not possible to get 10/10 rating from everyone. It's important to observe a pattern, rather than individual rating and make adaptations as needed.

Question 23

Story Mapping

Accepted Answer

User Story Mapping is a holistic visual representation of how all the user stories fit into the overall user experience.

A 2-Dimensional story map can help understand the sequence of activities of a system, identify gaps in the product backlog, and plan releases that deliver customer value.

The goal is not to create a raodmap, rather, change people’s mindset from gathering and writing detailed requirements to building shared understanding.

A sample User Story Map: (Source: Jeff Patton)

Question 24

Story Points Estimation

Accepted Answer

Story Points Estimation technique is based on relative sizing where the team members assume the effort + complexity + Risks (unknowns, penalties, missed opportunity, etc.) to come up a story point number usually based on the Fibonacci series. ( 0, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, .....)

Product Owner explains a product backlog item, the Developers offer story point estimation based on their current understanding of the work involved, they aggregate the story points offered by developers and based on consensus / average, define a stoy point number for each PBI.

Story Points Estimation technique was invented by Ron Jeffries around year 2000.

In 2019, Ron Jeffries updated his advice on the use of Story Points.