In February 2001, the Agile Manifesto was born because building working software was a nightmare for many companies. Something had to change, and the manifesto addressed that very well. Although the Agile Manifesto is still relevant to building working software, our current challenge is another. Today, many companies can build working software, but they fail to deliver value. My philosophy is:

Building features cannot ensure value.

Being Agile is not enough to deliver value.

Until teams can focus on producing value, useless software is the outcome.

I believe it’s time to create a Product Manifesto! We cannot keep building features…

Why do companies hire highly qualified professionals? The answer should be straightforward, but what happens, in reality, is complex. I’ve observed many talented people trapped in the business world from doing what they are capable of. The reasons are endless, but some common ones are:

• Unskilled managers limit talents by telling them what to do.
• Complex processes and bureaucracy impede talents from doing what should be done.
• Obsession for certainty blocks talents from discovering what could work better for the company’s business.
• Unwillingness to embrace the unknown leads to sub-optimal incremental improvements.

I feel like many companies trap people instead…

It’s impossible to ignore how well known Scrum is. For years, Scrum was the first choice among Agile frameworks for most companies worldwide; only a few would challenge it. But recently, something changed, organizations are losing trust in Scrum. After failing to get meaningful results, many places are replacing Scrum with SAFe, Kanban, or other frameworks.

Beyond unsatisfied organizations, experienced professionals are reluctant to work with Scrum. Many people even feel embarrassed to be called as a Product Owner or a Scrum Master. The market is shifting in a new direction, will there still be space for Scrum?

Companies want…

Why do some companies can continuously innovate while others cannot? Sometimes luck plays a role; it can be that “accidentally” a product or service goes viral, but after competition comes, the company will struggle to survive if they solely depend on luck. Innovation doesn’t have to rely on pure luck. Companies can thrive once they have the focus on the right place.

If you want to know how companies can sustain long-lasting success, Clayton Christensen got you covered. He wrote the book Competing Against Luck: The Story of Innovation and Customer Choice. …

After three years working as a Product Owner, something happened: recruiters would approach me for job interviews almost every week. Honestly, I felt good about it. I felt seen by the world, and I was excited about it. Yet, my excitement didn’t last long as I failed most of the interviews.

I consider myself lucky because I rarely had to apply for a job. Most of the time, someone approached me, and I reflected on whether it was worth giving it a try or not. In 2016, I was tired of my job, and I longed for a change. That’s…

After eight years in the corporate world, I felt I needed a radical change. That’s when I exchanged certainty for uncertainty. In 2016, I got my first job in a start-up, little I knew what was ahead of me. My first start-up experience embodied the most intense period of my life and the first moment I could be a real Product Owner.

Start-ups bring endless learning opportunities. To thrive, they have to prove an idea can become a real business, yet the time is limited, and you get to run. That’s why it’s an environment where taking risks is part…

For years developers annoyed me with tech debt issues. I was irritated because anything I’d bring to a refinement session, I’d hear something related to tech debt, and developers were frustrated because they didn’t feel heard. Sometimes they urged me to allow them to focus on that. I learned if you don’t treat tech debt seriously, developers will slowly become demotivated.

A great Product Owner listens to the team.

Building a scalable product requires a strategy. It’s impossible to keep a product maintainable if the only thing you do is adding more features to it. …

I love being a Product Owner. Wearing this hat motivates and drives me to break through my limits. Yet, I had never dreamed of working in this role. How I ended up in this position is a matter of coincidences and risk-taking. I learned that the journey is what matters the most. A long time ago, a close friend told me:

“Whatever you pursue, it will always run from you. Whatever belongs to you, it will always come to you.”

Somehow I still believe in it. …