Private Estimates, Public Progress

via Matt Weagle: “I’m not asking to be trusted. I’m not asking to be let off the hook. I’m asking to work toward shared goals everybody cares about & to be left all the tools in my belt to reach those goals.”

Kent Beck on Software Design: Tidy First?: Private Estimates, Public Progress

Key quote:

Please don’t add weeks up. Weeks aren’t additive any more than recipes are additive. “I like oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. I like ceviche. I’ll add them together!” Doesn’t work like that. “How much will we get done in the next quarter? Let’s add up the last 13 weeks.” Whether you use story points or time tracking or fibonacci or task counting, the answer you get from, “What’s this week’s worth of work?” doesn’t combine with any other week, any more than you’re eating lime chocolate chip halibut walnut cookies.

My take: I’m no fan of heavyweight planning processes. I highlight the above, but really Kent does a great job of deconstructing why Big Plans don’t work. (I’ve seen it in every project I’ve been part of over something like 30 years now.) Priorities change, the team learns things, you adapt, you move on. Story points and the like are a wasted ceremonial effort.