Dale, I could not agree more. If you add to this the layer of mistrust that is often (unfortunately) already present between the product strategy folks (whether called product marketing or product management in your organization) and the engineering leadership and you have another huge obstacle to continued Agile success. This is worthy of another post of my own, but I place most of that blame on us, the product managers/marketers. Unfortunately, we cannot succeed and build trust by continuing to say the words "Trust me." Actions speak louder than words. It takes an ongoing, transparent and collaborative effort in the trenches (including so-called mistakes) that executives and product managers often do not have the stamina (or desire) to endure. Thanks for your post. More to come...