“Product Owner Challenge” – Introduction

“Product Owner Challenge” – is a new agile game with Lego bricks. It supports organisations in transitioning from Waterfall to Agile and illustrates the agile mindset to a waterfall-driven product development culture: stop micro-management and communicate face-to-face clear objectives, requirements, and product vision.
The product description is in one part of the room, PO and DevTeam in the other. PO is not allowed to show it to DevTeam, but can inspect the plan as often it's needed - PO has to "walk & talk" – real challenges for traditional-minded product development departments.
Challenge your Product Development (PO) team!
Background idea of version 1.0: Show in a waterfall-like mindset the impediments and resulting consequences.
The product description is in one part of the room, PO and DevTeam in the other. PO is not allowed to show it to DevTeam, but can inspect the plan as often it's needed - PO has to "walk & talk" – real challenges for traditional-minded product development departments.
Challenge your Product Development (PO) team!
- To communicate with DevTeams as clear as possible,
- To describe the requirements and product vision to DevTeams as precise as needed,
- To micro-manage the project or to allow the DevTeam self-organisation,
- To handle locally distributed DevTeams appropriately,
- To manage the product development project waterfall- or agile driven like.
Background idea of version 1.0: Show in a waterfall-like mindset the impediments and resulting consequences.
Play @POChallenge and contribute your ideas, feedback, and comments in our Uservoice forum platform - or stay informed and join our mailing list.
Objectives
Target Audience – Product Owner, Scrum Master, Product Dev Manager/Leads
Game Objectives – Share product vision and instructions to the team as precise as possible to build the product right. Communicate (requirements) as clear as possible.
Learning Points – (1) Co-located collaboration leads to faster results and better quality; (2) Even precise, clear and distinct as possible, verbal communication alone is never precise, clear and distinct enough; (3) Too detailed instructions hinder creativity and turn fast to micro-management.
Playing instructions – PO and DevTeam are in separate rooms or in one room separated by distance. Only PO has building instructions and is not allowed to show it to DevTeam. – PO has to communicate!
Game Setting – “Communicate your Vision right!”
Material used – Lego 3in1 Creator sets. They allow to build three different models with one kit; a game will be finished in reasonable time (30min), and they are inexpensive.
Download User Stories ready to play. This user stories are written for LEGO Creator Series 6910 (Sports Car), 31000 (Pick-up truck), and 5761 (Digger, front loader).
The PO can share the product vision/requirements in using high level written user stories instead or in parallel to the LEGO building instructions. However, PO can go back to LEGO instruction (hidden from the team) as often he wants to – "asking the customer". Using the user stories, PO and team plan together with the team the sequence of what is built ("sprint planning").
Game Objectives – Share product vision and instructions to the team as precise as possible to build the product right. Communicate (requirements) as clear as possible.
Learning Points – (1) Co-located collaboration leads to faster results and better quality; (2) Even precise, clear and distinct as possible, verbal communication alone is never precise, clear and distinct enough; (3) Too detailed instructions hinder creativity and turn fast to micro-management.
Playing instructions – PO and DevTeam are in separate rooms or in one room separated by distance. Only PO has building instructions and is not allowed to show it to DevTeam. – PO has to communicate!
- Product mgmt (PO) decides which product (model) of the Lego kit the DevTeam has to build
- PO has the building description
- DevTeam has Lego bricks only, and no building description
- PO is not allowed to show construction plan or photos to DevTeam;
- PO is allowed to inspect the plan as often she he needs to.
Game Setting – “Communicate your Vision right!”
Material used – Lego 3in1 Creator sets. They allow to build three different models with one kit; a game will be finished in reasonable time (30min), and they are inexpensive.
Download User Stories ready to play. This user stories are written for LEGO Creator Series 6910 (Sports Car), 31000 (Pick-up truck), and 5761 (Digger, front loader).
The PO can share the product vision/requirements in using high level written user stories instead or in parallel to the LEGO building instructions. However, PO can go back to LEGO instruction (hidden from the team) as often he wants to – "asking the customer". Using the user stories, PO and team plan together with the team the sequence of what is built ("sprint planning").
Game Setting
Debriefing examples
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Playing Results - Examples

I introduced the “Product Owner Challenge Game” at the unconference Play4Agile - #P4A14 (Rückersbach, Germany). I ran two open space sessions for the game.
I thank all participants for their help, comments, and suggestions to improve this game.
Without any order, the participants of the workshops played two scenarios:
The workshop results are shown below: Playing Result 1 and Playing Result 2.
I thank all participants for their help, comments, and suggestions to improve this game.
Without any order, the participants of the workshops played two scenarios:
- micro-management vs agile/feature-driven development
- 1:1 identiy of vision and model vs. business value
The workshop results are shown below: Playing Result 1 and Playing Result 2.
Playing Result 1: The micro-managing PO
Playing Result 2: Battle Micro-Management vs. Agile
PO gave more feature-driven requirement descriptions...
...whereas the second PO did more micro-management:
Game Variations
At the unconference Play4Agile - #P4A14 I I ran two open space session with @POChallenge: The participants came up with the following suggestions:

- Timebox the construction process to less than 30 min.
- Introduce penalties for:
- PO – for each time stepping back to inspect instructions
- DevTeam – for each time to re-ensemble bricks or parts during the building process
- Introduce a metric and penalties for model deviations from the initial vision.
- Use pre-defined user stories as equivalent to Lego building instructions.
- Run a battle between waterfall/micro-management and agile/feature-driven development
- Introduce a “logistic/material” bottleneck: a third-party governs all the bricks; PO or DevTeam have to acquire bricks for the next construction steps by the “supplier”.
- ...
All suggestions and ideas are filed and managed in Uservoice forum.
Contribute your own ideas!
Product Owner Challenge - SlideDesk
Lego 3in1 sets
These Lego 3in1 sets are to play the POChallenge game.
Unfortunately LEGO dropped the 3in1 hard-cover boxes out of store and sells only card-boxes instead,.
Licensing, and your further engagement

@POChallenge is free to be distributed under the following conditions:
Your Engagement:
- ...you are allowed to download and to share @POChallenge with others as long as
- ...you please full credit me: Michael Tarnowski, Plays-in-Business.com,
- ...you do not change in any way the basic settings of the game [i.e. building description (BD) is separated from PO and DevTeam; the PO has only limit access to BD and has to communicate all details to DevTeam].
- ...you do not use @POChallenge commercially:
4.1. ...however, you are allowed to use @POChallenge as like other agile games within commercial consultancy. In this case please share your expierences on the website bit.ly/POChallenge on "Contribute" or "Feedback".
4.2. ...however, you are not allowed to offer a commercial service or workshop solely relying on @POChallenge without a commercial agreement with Michael Tarnowski, Plays-in-Business.com.
Your Engagement:
- Play the game and give feedback at the website: Blog.
- Please share your contributing ideas at the website.
- Support marketing of the game with Tweets #POChallenge.
- Be informed: mailing list.
And now for something completely different...

Are you interested in consultancy?
If you want to hire me: Agile Coaching & Transition/Adoption of Waterfall to Agile – or Software Process Improvement (CMMI, ISO15504 / AutomotiveSPiCE) – or Plays in Business: Agile Games, Serious Games, Innovation Games, LEGO Serious Games? – Please drop me a note.
If you want to hire me: Agile Coaching & Transition/Adoption of Waterfall to Agile – or Software Process Improvement (CMMI, ISO15504 / AutomotiveSPiCE) – or Plays in Business: Agile Games, Serious Games, Innovation Games, LEGO Serious Games? – Please drop me a note.
Related Links
- 6 Alternatives to Micromanaging Employees (Entrepreneur)
- It's Official: Micromanaging Kills Productivity
- Ban Micromanagement In Your Company With 3 Steps
- The 3-Step Cure for Micromanagement
- Taming Your Inner Control Freak
- Ask The Experts: How Can I Tell My Micromanaging Boss To Back Off?
- 5 Traits of a Micromanager (and How to Fix Them)
- How Do I Avoid Being A Micromanager?
- How Micromanaging Poisons Productivity and Creates a Vicious Cycle of Despair
- Four Signs You're Micromanaging Your Employees
- Entrepreneurs Can Save Their Startups When They Stop Micromanaging