AFH 087: Why Agile Isn’t Working with John Cutler

John Cutler (@johncutlefish) joined Ryan Ripley (@ryanripley) to discuss his article “Why Agile Isn’t Working” and what we can do about it.

[featured-image single_newwindow=”false”]John Cutler[/featured-image]

John is a multiple hat-wearer. Product development nut. He loves wrangling complex problems and answering the why with qualitative and quantitative data. John blogs on Medium here. John is currently Senior Product Manager for Search and Relevance at Zendesk. He has a perspective that spans individual roles, domains, and products. John knows agile product management and frequently shares his knowledge on

In this episode you’ll discover:

  • Why Agile doesn’t work
  • Discussing principles and values instead of practices
  • How meeting the needs of others can ultimately help us meet our own needs
  • The impact of “promises in progress” in your organization

Links from the show:

How to support the show:

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Book of the Week:

[callout]In The Lean Startup, Eric Ries laid out the practices of successful startups – building a minimal viable product, customer-focused and scientific testing based on a build-measure-learn method of continuous innovation, and deciding whether to persevere or pivot. In The Startup Way, he turns his attention to an entirely new group of organizations: established enterprises like iconic multinationals GE and Toyota, tech titans like Amazon and Facebook, and the next generation of Silicon Valley upstarts like Airbnb and Twilio.
Click here to purchase on Amazon.[/callout]

[reminder]Which topic resonated with you? Please leave your thoughts in the comment section below.[/reminder]

Related Episode:

Want to hear another podcast about the life of an agile coach? — Listen to my conversation with Zach Bonaker, Diane Zajac-Woodie, and Amitai Schlair on episode 39. We discuss growing an agile practice and how coaches help create the environments where agile ideas can flourish.

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This podcast is brought to you by Audible. I have used Audible for years, and I love audiobooks. I have three to recommend:

  1. Agile and Lean Program Management by Johanna Rothman
  2. The Lean Startup by Eric Ries
  3. Rolling Rocks Downhill: The Fastest, Easiest, and Most Entertaining Way to Learn Agile and Lean by Clark Ching

All you need to do to get your free 30-day Audible trial is go to Audibletrial.com/agile. Choose one of the above books, or choose among more than 180,000 audio programs. It’s that easy. Go to Audibletrial.com/agile and get started today. Enjoy!

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ABOUT RYAN RIPLEY

ABOUT RYAN RIPLEY

A Professional Scrum Trainer with Scrum.org, Ryan Ripley has experience as a software developer, manager, director, and Scrum Master in multiple Fortune 500 companies.

Ryan is committed to helping teams break the cycle of “bad Scrum” so they can deliver valuable software that delights their customers. The host of "Agile for Humans," the top agile podcast on iTunes, Ryan lives in Indiana with his wife, Kristin, and three children.

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