How do you manage a large portfolio of initiatives while driving real business value?

In this episode of the Scrum.org Community Podcast, Dave West talks with Nabila Sattar Safdar about her experience leading the transition from a project-based to a product-based portfolio. Nabila shares how she reduced a backlog of over 100 projects to 30 strategic initiatives, aligned teams around value streams, and created a culture of learning and continuous improvement.

Listeners will hear practical strategies for:

• Partnering with leadership and steering committees to prioritize initiatives
• Using data to inform decisions while balancing learning with delivery
• Investing in team capability and training to close gaps
• Taking a holistic view of people, technology, and customer outcomes

Whether you’re a product leader, Scrum Master, or portfolio manager, this episode offers insights on how to make portfolio management more agile, strategic, and value-focused.

In this episode of the Scrum.org Community Podcast, host Dave West sits down with authors Sander Dur and Ryan Brook to explore their new book, The Anatomy of a Product—a practical field guide that uses the human body as a metaphor to demystify modern product management.

Dave, Sander, and Ryan dive into why so many organizations still struggle to define and manage products effectively, and how this book helps bridge the gap between theory and real-world practice. They discuss treating products as living systems, the dangers of “marshmallow backlogs,” the need for evidence-driven decisions, and why continuous care and adaptation are essential for healthy products.

The authors share insights from working with organizations like Miro, unpack common “product diseases,” and offer actionable guidance for Product Owners, product teams, and leaders seeking clarity in today’s complex environment.

Listeners are invited to connect with the authors and join them at their book launch event in Amsterdam on January 13!

Key Points

Why the Book?
Clarifies what a product is and offers a practical guide from definition to retirement.
Human Body Metaphor
Products are like living systems—interconnected, adaptive, and influenced by their environment.
Theory vs. Practice
Helps teams apply product concepts realistically, beyond Silicon Valley-style theory.
Insights from real examples
Real-world examples showing how to balance strategy, business thinking, and everyday product work.
Backlog Health
Avoid “marshmallow backlogs” by filtering work through strategic goals and focusing on value.
Validation & Evidence
Emphasizes validating ideas early and aligning efforts to outcomes, not just requirements.
Product Health
Introduces “product diseases” and how to diagnose and prevent common issues.

Links:

Book Launch event

The Anatomy of a Product

In this Scrum.org Community Podcast episode, Lindsay Velecina from Scrum.org sits down with Robb Pieper and Jason Malmstadt of Responsive Advisors to answer the real, practical questions practitioners have about self-management in Scrum in a live Ask a PST session.

Listeners submitted questions like:

• How do you get management to support self-management?
• What should you do when a team resists taking ownership?
• How do you handle a disruptive team member without taking over?
• What metrics show that self-management actually works?
• How can junior Scrum Masters enable self-management when they’re not technical?
• AND MANY MORE!

Robb and Jason tackle these questions head-on, sharing stories from the field, strategies for creating healthy team boundaries, and tools to make decision-making transparent — including Delegation Poker, feedback loops, and working agreements. They also discuss how to tie self-management to real business outcomes to gain leadership buy-in.

Whether you’re just beginning your Scrum journey or coaching mature teams, this episode gives you actionable guidance and small experiments you can start using today.