Getting Started with Agile & Product Thinking
Understanding agile principles, practices, and mindset through curated resources - from concepts to application
Getting Started with Agile & Product Thinking
Around 2016-18, I was spending a lot of time on planes between the UK, Canada, and a weekend trip to Perth. I was working with tech teams and people kept talking about agile—sprints, standups, user stories, velocity.
The jargon was everywhere.
Worse, I'd see people use "we're doing agile" as an excuse to avoid work they didn't want to do or skip proper planning entirely. I needed to understand what people were actually talking about. Not the ceremonies, not the jargon—the underlying concepts.
I found a video on a flight that changed how I thought about both physical and software projects. Then, when a topic captures my interest, I tend to get into it—so I downloaded most of that channel and watched them on subsequent flights. That became the foundation.
There wasn't a single click moment. It was gradual building of skills. Understanding concepts was one thing. Applying them—learning when to iterate versus when to plan, when to ship incomplete work versus when to get it right first—that took years. Still does.
This pathway is what I wish I'd had when I started: the concepts without the jargon, the practical application without the methodology religion, and the honest acknowledgment that execution is harder than understanding.
Who This Is For
This pathway works for multiple audiences because the concepts are universal:
- People hearing agile jargon but not understanding concepts - You're in meetings where people say "sprint" and "MVP" and you're not sure what they actually mean
- Project managers transitioning to product thinking - You've managed waterfall projects and need to understand iterative delivery
- Tech people bridging business and operations - You understand systems but need to explain trade-offs and priorities to non-technical stakeholders
- Anyone who wants to ship and learn - You're tired of months of planning and want to understand how to deliver value incrementally
Some familiarity with software development lifecycle (SDLC) helps, but you can start from zero. The resources here explain concepts clearly without assuming prior knowledge.
What This Pathway Teaches
The core lesson: agile is about shipping and learning, not avoiding planning.
You'll understand:
- When to iterate versus when to plan thoroughly
- How to deliver value incrementally (building blocks of independent functionality)
- What makes a good MVP (hint: it's not a bad version of your product)
- How to recognize when you're over-planning versus genuinely managing risk
- The difference between agile and waterfall—and when each makes sense
You'll also learn what I'm still learning: how to catch yourself defaulting to comfort (more planning, complete requirements, perfect before shipping) when experimentation would teach you more.
The Reading Sequence
I didn't watch/read these in perfect order—when a topic captures my interest, I tend to dive in. But if I were guiding someone starting from scratch, this is the sequence I'd recommend.
1. What is Agile? Agile Explained... with a Train Set
Video by Development That Pays (10 minutes)
Why start here: Most agile explanations drown you in terminology. This one uses toy trains to show you the fundamental difference between planning everything upfront (waterfall) versus building in small iterations (agile). No jargon. Just concepts.
What you'll learn: The core distinction between waterfall and agile thinking. Why iterating teaches you things planning can't. How to explain agile to someone who's never heard of it.
My experience: I found this on a flight in 2016-18. It changed how I thought about both physical and software projects. After watching it, I downloaded most of the Development That Pays channel and watched them on subsequent flights. That channel became one of my go-to references for explaining software development concepts without buzzword overload.
When to watch it: First. Before anything else. 10 minutes that will give you the foundation for everything that follows.
2. Making Sense of MVP (Minimum Viable Product)
Video by Henrik Kniberg (8 minutes)
Why watch this second: People think MVP means "build a bad version of your product." It doesn't. MVP is about learning what matters before you build the real thing. This video explains it better than anything I've read.
What you'll learn: The difference between building incrementally (bad) and delivering value incrementally (good). The skateboard-to-car progression. Why "minimum" doesn't mean "low quality."
My experience: This video completely changed how I approach projects. The quality control system I built—Google Forms first, then Power Apps, then Power BI—that was this concept in action. Each version taught us what the next version should be. We wouldn't have gotten to the final system if we'd tried to design it perfectly from the start.
When to watch it: After the train set video. Now you understand agile concepts; this shows you how to apply them.
3. My Dad... The Agile Coach?!? + Agile vs Waterfall: Waterfall Wins!
Videos by Development That Pays (15 minutes total)
View My Dad... The Agile Coach →
View Agile vs Waterfall →
Why watch these third: The train set video taught you agile. The MVP video taught you iterative delivery. These videos teach you when NOT to use agile. That's just as important.
What you'll learn: When waterfall makes sense. When dependencies are real and sequential. When you can't iterate because the cost of getting it wrong is too high. How to recognize when you're using "proper planning" as an excuse versus when planning is genuinely necessary.
My experience: The factory move in 2014 was pure waterfall—you don't iterate factory floors. The database restructure had fixed dependencies that broke when we tried to be agile, so we pivoted to a rigid plan. Understanding when NOT to iterate has saved me from creating chaos more times than I can count.
When to watch them: After you understand agile and MVP. You need the context of what agile is before you can understand when it's wrong.
4. Agile Product Ownership in a Nutshell
Video by Henrik Kniberg (15 minutes)
Why watch this fourth: You now understand agile, MVP, and when waterfall makes sense. But who decides what to build? Who owns the trade-offs? That's product ownership, and it's critical whether you're building custom software or configuring enterprise systems.
What you'll learn: The product owner role. How to prioritize ruthlessly. How to bridge business and tech. Why someone needs to be empowered to say "yes, build this" or "no, that's not worth it" without endless discussion.
My experience: In 2014-15, after the factory move, I found myself naturally falling into this role. I could hold productive conversations with both operations (who understood the problems) and tech (who understood what was possible). Things got delivered because someone could make decisions about what was worth building.
When to watch it: After understanding the mechanics of agile. Product ownership is how you make agile work in practice.
5. Escaping the Build Trap
Book by Melissa Perri
Why read this fifth: The videos taught you concepts. [[Escaping the Build Trap - How Effective Product Management Creates Real Value]] teaches you how to think like a product person. It's about outcome-focused product management—building the right things, not just building things right.
What you'll learn: How to transition from output-focused (we shipped X features) to outcome-focused (we achieved Y business results). How product management differs from project management. Why "build vs buy" is often the wrong question—the real question is "what outcome are we trying to achieve?"
My experience: I read this in October 2025 when working with AI was changing my entire concept of build versus buy. The book articulated something I'd been feeling but couldn't express: we were optimizing for output (features shipped) when we should have been optimizing for outcomes (problems solved).
When to read it: After the videos. You need the foundation of agile and product ownership before this book will make full sense.
6. The Leader's Guide
Book by Eric Ries
Why read this last: [[The Leader's Guide]] is about implementing lean startup principles in established organizations. It's the bridge between "I understand these concepts" and "how do I actually make this work in my company?"
What you'll learn: How to run experiments in large organizations. How to measure what matters. How to build the case for iterative delivery when everyone wants detailed plans. How to maintain momentum when results aren't immediate.
My experience: I read this in April 2021 during the medical manufacturing scale-up. We were building modular halls, running 24/7, and the lean principles helped us think about experimentation at scale. The book gave me language to explain what we were doing and why it worked.
When to read it: After Escaping the Build Trap. You understand product thinking; this teaches you organizational change.
The Journey in Practice
These resources provide the concepts. Here's what it looks like when you actually apply them:
Understanding Concepts vs. Applying Them
- Learning Agile on Planes and Shop Floors - My journey from jargon confusion to gradual skill building
MVP in Action
- Minimum Viable Product - Learning Over Building - The quality control system (Google Forms → Power Apps → Power BI) and the customer onboarding form (email PDF first, database later)
When Waterfall Is Right
- When You Can't Iterate - The factory move, database restructure, and banking integration—when dependencies force sequential delivery
Product Ownership
- Bridging the Gap: Learning Product Ownership - Finding the role between tech and operations, developing ownership in others
Making Work Visible
- Making Work Visible - The Five Thieves of Time - Too much WIP, unknown dependencies, unplanned work—the patterns that steal capacity
Building Blocks of Independent Functionality
- Replacing the Ship While Sailing It - Delivering business value whilst systematically improving architecture—each phase delivering something useful whilst building foundation for the next
These posts aren't supplements—they're the pathway in action. They show what happens when you try to apply agile concepts in real organizations with real constraints.
What You'll Learn
By the end of this pathway, you'll understand:
- The difference between agile and waterfall—and when each makes sense
- How to build MVPs that teach you what to build next
- What product ownership actually means (and how it differs from project management)
- How to recognize when you're over-planning versus genuinely managing risk
- Why making work visible matters more than you think
- How to deliver building blocks of independent functionality that add up to transformation
You'll be able to:
- Explain agile concepts without jargon
- Make trade-off decisions about what to build and when
- Recognize when to iterate versus when to plan thoroughly
- Ship incomplete work that delivers value (and know when not to)
- Bridge conversations between technical and non-technical stakeholders
What This Pathway Won't Teach You
This isn't about agile ceremonies or specific methodologies (Scrum, Kanban, SAFe). It won't teach you how to run a sprint or write user stories to a particular format. Those are mechanics you can learn anywhere.
It also won't tell you agile is always right. Some of the most valuable lessons here are about when NOT to iterate—when dependencies are real, when risks are high, when planning is genuinely necessary.
This is about concepts and mindset, not methodology compliance.
Prerequisites
Some familiarity with software development lifecycle (SDLC) helps but isn't required. The resources explain concepts clearly. If you've worked in or around software teams, you'll have enough context.
The real prerequisite: willingness to challenge how you currently work. If you're comfortable with how projects run now, this pathway might feel uncomfortable. That's the point.
Estimated time investment: 1-2 months if you're actively applying concepts. Watching the videos takes maybe 1-2 hours. Reading the books takes 15-20 hours. Building the skills takes longer.
Next steps: Start with What is Agile?. Watch it slowly. Think about a current project. Would iterating teach you more than planning? Then move to Making Sense of MVP and start experimenting.
A note on iteration: I've been working with these concepts for nearly a decade. I still catch myself over-planning when experimentation would teach me more. The concepts are simple. The execution is not. That's normal.