Advanced Certified Scrum Product Owner®
Make Confident Product Decisions — Not Just Better Backlogs
As products grow, stakeholders multiply, and uncertainty increases, product ownership gets harder — especially in advanced Scrum product owner roles.
Many advanced courses add more tools, models, or frameworks. This course helps you think and decide more effectively when the answers aren’t obvious.
In two focused days, you’ll sharpen your product judgment and learn how to lead product conversations with confidence — without relying on rigid frameworks or endless backlog rituals.
Chosen by companies in SaaS, Healthcare, Government, Consulting, Financial Services, Retail, Energy, Aerospace and more.
Taught by People Who Helped Shape Scrum
Mountain Goat Software was founded by Mike Cohn, a co-founder of both the Scrum Alliance and the Agile Alliance, and author of some of the most influential books in Agile software development, including User Stories Applied, Agile Estimating & Planning, and Succeeding with Agile.
For more than 25 years, Mountain Goat Software has helped teams and organizations adopt Scrum in ways that actually work—across industries, team types, and organizational cultures.
When you train with Mountain Goat, you’re learning from people who have:
- Helped define modern Agile practice
- Guided thousands of teams
- Seen what works, and what doesn’t, over decades
What This A-CSPO Course Emphasizes
Advanced Certified Scrum Product Owner® assumes you already understand product owner responsibilities, backlog refinement, and Scrum fundamentals — and builds on them rather than repeating them.
You’ll focus on how to:
- Make tough prioritization decisions with confidence
- Balance stakeholder needs without becoming a feature broker
- Use evidence and outcomes to guide direction
- Lead product conversations when there’s no obvious “right” answer
The emphasis is on product judgment and leadership — not prescriptive frameworks, exam prep, or one-size-fits-all formulas.
How We Approach Teaching Advanced Scrum Product Owners
Make Real Trade-Off Decisions
This course centers on the decisions Product Owners are accountable for. You’ll work through realistic scenarios involving competing priorities, limited capacity, and incomplete information, practicing how to make and explain difficult trade-offs.
Work Through Stakeholder Complexity
You’ll practice leading conversations with stakeholders who have conflicting goals and expectations. Structured exercises help you move discussions from requests and opinions toward outcomes, evidence, and shared understanding.
Think in Outcomes, Not Outputs
We emphasize product thinking that connects vision, goals, and value to everyday decisions. You’ll practice framing work in terms of outcomes and learning, rather than features and commitments, even under delivery pressure.
Strengthen Your Product Leadership Stance
You’ll examine how you show up as a Product Owner when decisions are hard. The focus is on building confidence to say “no,” to change direction, and to lead product conversations with clarity and credibility.
A Unique, Interactive Learning Experience
Team Home is a collaboration platform that we designed for our courses. It is optimized for live, online training. Participants benefit by collaborating in ways beyond what is possible with generic whiteboard software such as Mural or Miro. Instructors can observe activity across all rooms, improving the effectiveness and efficiency of exercise debriefs.
Tools and Resources You’ll Continue Using
Your registration includes access to tools that support your work beyond the class:
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MGS AI Toolkit for coaching, story-splitting and backlog items
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Planning Poker® for collaborative estimation
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Elements of Agile™ assessment to help teams identify improvement opportunities
What You'll Be Able to Do
After A-CSPO, you won’t just understand product ownership more deeply — you’ll decide and lead with confidence.
Make clearer prioritization decisions when options compete and data is imperfect
Lead stakeholder conversations toward outcomes instead of features
Focus teams on value, not just delivery
Navigate uncertainty without stalling progress
Strengthen your leadership stance — knowing when to listen, decide, or push back
Before and After Advanced Certified Scrum Product Owner®
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Before
- Confident trade-offs
- Proactive stakeholder leadership
- Outcome-driven decisions
- Clearer product direction
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After
- Confident trade-offs
- Proactive stakeholder leadership
- Outcome-driven decisions
- Clearer product direction
Your Mountain Goat Instructors
Mountain Goat has handpicked instructors that share our training values. These are people with deep experience, who are leading teams with agile today and can give you real-world answers about what does and doesn’t work.
Mike Cohn
With 20+ years of agile training experience, Mike has honed a talent for explaining agile concepts with clear illustrations and real-life examples. Participants enjoy his passion for teaching the agile methodologies in a relatable and digestible way.
Read more...Mike is CEO of Mountain Goat Software, and one of the industry’s most well-respected Certified Scrum Trainers. He is the author of User Stories Applied for Agile Software Development, Agile Estimating and Planning, and Succeeding with Agile. He is a co-founder and former board member of the Scrum Alliance, and a co-founder of the non-profit Agile Alliance, home of the Agile Manifesto.
Scrum Certifications include: CSM, CST, CSPO, A-CSM, CSP-SM, CSP-PO
Lance Dacy
As a Certified Scrum Trainer, Lance has trained and coached teams through many successful Scrum implementations since 2011, from Fortune 20 companies to small start-ups. Lance is also experienced in showing agile coaches and managers how to help cross functional, self-organizing teams deliver high value for customers as early as possible by using Scrum.
Read more...Lance is a true evangelist for Scrum, having founded the successful DFW Scrum User Group in Dallas as an outlet for professional networking and a community sounding-board for Scrum. He has a fun and generous personality, and shares his passion for Scrum in every course.
Scrum Certifications include: CSM, CST, CSPO, CAL-1, A-CSM, A-CSPO, CSP-SM, CSP-PO, Path to CSP Educator, Scrum Foundations Educator.
Brian Milner
Starting out as a developer, Brian worked up through management layers, then transitioned to Scrum Master, then Coach and now Certified Scrum Trainer. His practical experience in both waterfall and agile organizations helps him clarify what works and what doesn’t, plus he has many years’ experience helping teams transition to agile.
Read more...Brian also brings more than 20 years of software development experience to his classes. People remark on his ability to answer even tough questions with ease, enthusiasm, and insight.
Scrum Certifications include: CSM, CST, CSPO, CAL-Educator, CAL-1, A-CSM, A-CSPO, CSP-CM, CSP-PO, Path to CSP Educator, Scrum Foundations Educator.
Scott Dunn
Scott Dunn has more than 20 years of experience in management, project management (PMP), engagement management, and software development (MCSD). He’s worked in a variety of areas and industries from social media to mortgage banking, healthcare, defense, e-commerce, plus state and local government sectors.
Read more...He has helped coach and train at dozens of companies transitioning to an agile approach using Scrum. Clients have included EMC/Dell Technologies, Yahoo!, LaserFiche, Kaiser Permanente, Rovi/Tivo, eBay, and GE Healthcare.
Scott is passionate about strengths-based teams and solutions-based approaches to people and organizational issues. He is an enthusiastic and encouraging trainer.
Scrum Certifications include: CSM, CST, CSD, CSPO, CEC, Educator-CAL, CAL-1, CAL, A-CSM, A-CSD, CSP-SM, CSP-PO, CSP-D, Path to CSP Educator, CSD Educator, Scrum Foundations Educator.
Lucy O’Keefe
Lucy has been a developer, Product Owner and Scrum Master in many scrum teams during her 28 years of IT experience. This brings a valuable perspective to the Teaching Assistant role as she helps students have a great training experience.
Read more...“I just love it when I see the light bulb go off during a class and know that the student really gets it.”
Lucy also brings a rich travel experience to her role. She is originally from Brazil, lived in Italy during high school and then came to the US for college—where she lived in the same dorm as Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson! These days she resides in Charlotte, NC with her two wonderful dogs Chloe and Ollie.
Cort Sharp
Cort has degrees in physics and computer science, as well as experience coding and QA testing. If you’ve taken a live, online course with us you may have seen Cort in his producer’s role, making sure things run smoothly and students have a great experience. He also acts as Scrum Master for the team of producers, making sure that they have the support needed to do their work with confidence.
Read more...“It’s awesome being able to end a 2-day class with people shocked at how quickly it went by and how engaging and fun it was.”
In addition to his love for agile, Cort is also a serious swimmer and has been coaching swimmers for 5 years. He once met Michael Phelps and a wingspan comparison ensued. Cort’s was longer, but it is believed Phelps was gracious about the defeat and no longer holds it against Cort.
Join thousands of Scrum Masters, agile practitioners, and leaders who have learned Scrum with Mountain Goat Software—and applied it successfully in the real world.
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with Brian Milner | – |
(Early Bird Price through Mar 13) |
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Course Includes:
Certification Credits
Need a Flexible Training Option?
Pre-pay for 10+ passes and you can assign seats directly to team members, or let them self-select the courses that suit their training needs and schedule.
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Course Outline
This course addresses the real challenges product owners face: competing priorities, stakeholder pressure, uncertainty, and product decision-making.
Agile Product Thinking
Explore agile principles through a product lens, focusing on how discovery, delivery, and learning work together. Learn how effective product owners think about value, uncertainty, and outcomes — and how to apply agile principles when real-world constraints complicate “textbook” Scrum.
The Product Owner Role
Deepen your understanding of the product owner as a decision-maker and product leader. Examine responsibilities, boundaries, and common role traps, and learn how experienced product owners build trust and influence without relying on authority.
Product Vision and Strategy
Strengthen your ability to articulate product direction in ways that guide real decisions. Learn how vision, goals, and outcomes connect to prioritization and how product owners maintain strategic focus amid competing demands and short-term pressure.
Prioritization and Trade-Offs
Practice making difficult prioritization decisions when everything feels important. Explore how to evaluate options, weigh constraints, and make trade-offs transparently — including how to say “no” while preserving relationships and trust.
Stakeholder Collaboration
Develop skills for working productively with diverse stakeholders. Learn how to lead conversations that surface assumptions, align on outcomes, and move discussions from opinions and requests to evidence-based decisions.
Evidence-Based Product Decisions
Examine how data, feedback, and experimentation inform better product choices. Learn how to balance learning and delivery, interpret signals responsibly, and avoid false certainty when evidence is incomplete or conflicting.
Product Ownership Mastery
Bring the learning together with a focus on your own development as a product owner. Reflect on strengths and growth areas, clarify your leadership stance, and leave with a clearer path for increasing your impact in complex product environments.
Got a Question?
What happens when you contact us?
- We’ll get back to you within a day.
- Answer your training questions and discuss any custom needs.
- Recommend the best agile training path for your teams and goals.
- Want to talk to someone? Schedule a call.