Scrum: The Art of Doing Twice the Work in Half the Time

by Jeff Sutherland

Anyway, this group of researchers gathered together a bunch of male college students and asked them a couple of simple questions: “Why did you choose your major?” and “Why are you dating the person you are?” And then the researchers asked their subjects to answer the same questions about their best friend. Important differences emerged. When the students talked about themselves, they talked not about themselves personally but, rather, what they were asked about. They said such things as, “Chemistry is a high-paying field” about their major, and “She’s a very warm person” about their girlfriend. But when they talked about their friends, they talked about their friends’ abilities and needs—things such as, “He was always good at math,” or “He’s kind of dependent and needs a take-charge kind of woman.”10

Don’t look for bad people; look for bad systems—ones that incentivize bad behavior and reward poor performance.

Time makes up your life, so wasting it is actually a slow form of suicide.

Imagine (or, if you’re unfortunate, remember) having five tasks partially done. You’ve painted one wall of the bathroom, the dog food is still in the trunk, the mortgage check has been written but not mailed, and the leaves are piled up but not bagged. You’ve expended effort but haven’t created any value. The value arrives when the drop cloths and paint cans are out of the bathroom, the dog has been fed, the bank gets its money, and the yard is actually clear of leaves. Doing half of something is, essentially, doing nothing.

Multitasking Makes You Stupid.

Half-Done Is Not Done.

Do It Right the First Time.

Remember, the team decides how the work will be accomplished, but what will be accomplished is decided by business value.

Only Plan What You Need To. Don’t try to project everything out

The idea behind the Backlog is that it should have everything that could possibly be included in the product. You’re never going to actually build it all, but you want a list of everything that could be included in that product vision.

You have to realize that there are a whole bunch of things on that list that you will never get to, but you want to get to the things that deliver the most value with the lowest risk first.