Arguing Agile: Product Management, Business Leadership, & Org Design
...arguing about agile software development so that you don't have to!
We're arguing about agile software development so that you don't have to!
The Arguing Agile Podcast is where a Product Manager (Brian Orlando) and an Enterprise Agile Coach (Om Patel) sit down with other professionals in and around the agile software development space to have real, unscripted, and authentic conversations.
AI Product Management: Rediscovering Old Ideas (Lenny’s Summit 2026 Review) | AA275
Silicon Valley’s top product leaders rediscovered R&D & strategy, and we're once again giving you the notes. Product Manager Brian Orlando watched all 11 Lenny & Friends Summit 2026 talks so you don't have to! In part 2 of this podcast, Brian brings the clips, comments, and discoveries to Enterprise Business...
Even Anthropic Still Needs PMs: Lenny’s Summit 2026 Review | AA274
Silicon Valley’s top product leaders rediscovered strategy, and we're here to give you the notes. Product Manager Brian Orlando watched all 11 Lenny & Friends Summit 2026 talks so you don't have to! In this podcast, Brian brings the clips, comments, and discoveries of each talk to Enterprise Business Agility...
I Left My Job and 99% of My Network Ghosted Me | AA273
Every coworker said 'call me anytime.' Then I left the job and 99% of them vanished. Brian opens with the story of a paid coach who went silent the moment the invoices stopped, and the two hosts argue over whether work relationships were ever real. By the end you'll have a three-bucket test you can run today...
Forced Ranking: The Bell Curve Was Installed, Not Discovered | AA272
Your work's forced ranking bell curve wasn't discovered in experiments with people. It was installed via fiat. ...and forced ranking pays people to hide bad news. Product Manager Brian and Enterprise Business Coach Om tear apart the forced ranking system GE made famous, Microsoft ran for a decade, and that E...
The Last Roadmap: Roadmaps ARE Dead... but You Never Really Had One. | AA271
Someone just told you AI made roadmaps obsolete... and they're about to sell you the replacement! Product Manager Brian and Enterprise Business Agility Leader Om put "the Last Roadmap" pitch next to the Agile Manifesto and find a 25-year-old argument wearing new labels. In reality, the roadmap that 'died' is...
Good at an Unfunded Job? Now You're Doing It Forever | AA270
Your company cut the Scrum Master role and called it self-organization. Fantastic... Where did the coordination work go? We'll bet it landed on someone who doesn't get paid to do it. Product Manager Brian Orlando and Enterprise Business Agility Leader Om Patel argue through what happens when organizations de...
If You're Asking When to Kill a Feature, You Already Lost | AA269
If you're asking when to kill a feature, you already lost. Product Manager Brian Orlando and Enterprise Business Agility Leader Om Patel break down why the "should we kill this feature" is really a trap, why the data won't save you, and why the CEO's pet project survives on rank - not merit. Our promise to y...
Blaming People: It's Cheaper Than Fixing the System (Molly Graham's Waterline Model) | AA268
Most "people problems" are structural problems wearing a human face mask. Product Manager Brian and Enterprise Business Agility Leader Om dissect Molly Graham's Waterline Model! Listen or watch as we debate whether this framework is the most actionable restatement of systems thinking in decades or just Demin...
Your Mentor Can't Get You Promoted (And Never Could) | AA267
The best mentor you've ever had can't get you promoted. Not won't - can't. Product Manager Brian and Business Agility Coach Om draw a hard line between mentors and sponsors, showing why advice never reaches the room where promotions actually happen. Listen or watch to learn how to audit your current sponsor ...
Your Job Description Is A Lie (Who Actually Makes Decisions) | AA266
Your job description was written to get you hired, not help you know if a decision is your to make. That gap between what's on paper and who actually decides is where careers go to die. Experience & Process Improvement Leader Clint Murt once again joins Product Manager Brian Orlando and Enterprise Business A...
Promote People Until They Break (And Other Really Bad Startup Advice) | AA265
A startup lecture recommended by Sam Altman calls people "ammunition" and tells you to work 80-hour weeks. Brian and Om dissect Keith Rabois' (in)famous "How to Operate" talk, exposing the dehumanizing logic behind "barrels and ammunition," the cult of heroic effort, and why grading managers on output-per-he...
Manufactured Consensus: Now Only $4-7 Per Hour! | AA264
That thought leader you follow? A virtual assistant in Manila wrote those posts for $4-7 per hour. Product Manager Brian Orlando and Enterprise Business Agility Leader Om Patel trace the industrialized pipeline behind LinkedIn's 'thought leadership' industry; from Filipino Virtual Assistants feeding prompts ...
AA263 - "Nothing" Is The Most Expensive Word In Your Career
Your boss asks what you need. You blank and say "nothing." You just turned down free money. Product Manager Brian Orlando and Enterprise Business Agility Leader Om Patel discuss and debate why that reflex costs you promotions, sponsorship, and credibility, and how to rewire it before your boss stops asking e...
AA262 - HBR Says Consensus Is Dead (And Proved It With Consensus)
A PE bankruptcy specialist and BCG partner walk into a bar... Just kidding, they walked into HBR... and they're trying to sell you a framework! Product Manager Brian Orlando and Enterprise Business Agility Leader Om Patel dissect the April HBR piece arguing that "consensus decision-making doesn't work in the...
AA261 - The Business Was Dying While Every Dashboard Was Green
The damage from your Q1 goal doesn't show up until Q3, on someone else's dashboard, after the person who flagged it got fired. Part 2 of the Outcome Trap series. Brian and Om argue why you can't see the trap from inside it: second-order effects land too late to trace, the people who spot trouble get removed,...