Age of Product’s Food for Thought of April 9th, 2017—shared with 7,402 peers—celebrates the 11th Annual State of Agile Report by VersionOne, despite the fact that it reveals a most unsettling news about SAFe.

We ask whether a scrum master should aim for putting herself out of a job, or whether having more than one team at a time is sustainable. We also learn how to support the product owner (and the team) in slicing user stories in the right way.

On the product side, this issue is all about dual-track agile, product discovery, early adopters, and getting the minimum viable product right. Okay, one for the road: ever heard about clarity metrics? Gotcha… 😎

Lastly: We risk a glimpse at the dark side of product design with Uber’s behavioral psychology experiments. Thank you, Travis!

Agile & Scrum

(via Version One ): 11th Annual State of Agile Report VersionOne presents the latest edition of its free global survey on agile practices, the ‘11th Annual State of Agile Report’.

Eb : Should A Scrum Master Have A Goal To Make Themselves Unneeded? Ebenezer does not share the opinion that a scrum master should put herself – or himself – out of a job. What do you think?

Adrian Kerry : How many teams should a Scrum Master have? Adrian Kerry addresses the question how many teams a scrum master can or should handle.

Stephanie Ockerman : 6 Coaching Tips for Scrum Masters Stephanie Ockerman shares her top coaching tips for scrum masters: from what matters most to people to challenging them.

Christiaan Verwijs (via Medium ): 10 powerful strategies for breaking down User Stories in Scrum (with cheatsheet) Christiaan Verwijs explain why the break-down of work is necessary, and why we should break down user stories across functional — instead of technical — boundaries.

Join 402 Peers And Contribute to the Anonymous Poll ‘Scrum Master Salary Report 2017’

The purpose of this anonymous poll is to create a clear, data-backed benchmark that allows everyone in the agile community to get an understanding whether her or his compensation is adequate.

The report will cover Scrum Master as well as Agile Coaches, both employed and freelancing.

To generate an acceptable first report, we will need at least 500 answers. A larger sample would allow providing more detailed insights, though. At the moment, we already have 402 of 500 replies.

Participate in the ‘Scrum Master Salary Report 2017’ survey now…

Dual-Track Agile, Product & Lean

Jacob de Lichtenberg (via Mind The Product ): Dual-Track Agile: Why Messy Leads to Innovation Jacob de Lichtenberg explains dual-track Agile, an IT development methodology where figuring out what to build is as important as the building process.

Chris Jones (via svpg ): Product Discovery: Pitfalls and Anti-Patterns Chris Jones lists several anti-patterns on how teams misuse product discovery, and he provides guidance on fixing the problem.

(via InfoQ ): Putting the ‘V’ Back in MVP Ralf Jeffery explains the different types of MVP execution, why stakeholders struggle to support MVPs, and how successful teams practice MVP design and implementation.

(via Customer Development Labs ): Early Adopters Part 2: Who you should Interview Customer Development Labs shares who you should be interviewing, where, and how to find them, when you are looking for your early adopters.

Lloyd Tabb (via First Round Capital ): I’m Sorry, But Those Are Vanity Metrics Lloyd Tabb introduces the concept of clarity metrics. These are the hidden gears that drive growth. Use them to solidify your competitive advantage.

The Essential Read