In software development, there is a cost associated with delaying value by not moving forward with a batch of work items, that is, choosing not to complete one set of work in favor of something else. Holding cost is a term that can also refer to the act of delaying feedback associated with a feature,...Read More

A powerful metaphor for an organization is to make a pictorial representation of their approach to the creation and management products, by beginning in the center with why, moving outward to what, and finally how. The Golden Circle concept was first described by Simon Sinek in his book Start With Why, and is helpful with...Read More

There is an infinite numerical sequence, starting from 0 and 1, where the sum of two numbers produces the next number in the sequence. Thus the Fibonacci Sequence begins as follows: 0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34 …) Agile teams often use numbers from the Fibonacci Sequence to represent relative size...Read More

Many Agile practitioners follow a structured approach to having a meeting, so that a group can readily agree on what they are trying to accomplish, take steps to accomplish those things, and confirm what they have achieved at the end of the conversation. Skilled facilitators have a toolkit of techniques to help guide the group,...Read More

There is an Agile software development approach which features technical and non-technical practices that teams use to inform how they work. Successful manifestations of this approach, called eXtreme Programming (XP), place importance on customer satisfaction via frequent delivery in reasonably small batches. XP also highlights the importance of close team collaboration, with practices  such as...Read More

There is a theory that holds that there is a limit to the number of meaningful social relationships that a person can have at one time. Dunbar’s number, articulated by the British anthropologist Robin Dunbar, sets that limit of social relationships at about 150 people. Dunbar’s Number sometimes informs decision-making about how many Agile teams...Read More

In Scrum, there is a daily meeting of no more than 15 minutes, during which the Developers on a Scrum Team share knowledge, volunteer to help each other, identify dependencies/risks, and agree on next steps for removing roadblocks. A common anti-pattern with the Daily Scrum is for team members to treat it like a status...Read More

In Lean software development, there is a chart that shows the number of items in each state of a workflow over time. The information that this type of chart–a Cumulative Flow Diagram (CFD)–imparts, is how well work is flowing through a system. Specifically, a CFD shows the quantity of work in a given state, including...Read More

Many Agile teams agree to a set of conditions that need to be true for a work item, for them to consider that work item “ready” to be worked on. The Definition of Ready (DoR) is designed to protect the team from starting high-risk or unclear work. The Definition of Ready most often addresses areas...Read More