I think you're reading too much into this article. To me, what this article says is the following premises: * Don't plan 3 weeks of work in a 2 week timeframe.

I think you're reading too much into this article. To me, what this article says is the following premises: * Don't plan 3 weeks of work in a 2 week timeframe. Curves that look like the second chart mean that you put too much work into the cycle. And the stuff that's done at the end is usually not the quality level that the stuff at the beginning because you're under pressure to get it done by the deadline. * Leave time for a burn-in at the end of your cycle. This means not doing anything new, and focusing on quality even more. This means dotting the eyes and crossing the t's, and fixing defects for the work done in the cycle that wouldn't normally be done because you're working on the next feature instead. I mean, an S-curve shaped cycle means sort of supports what you're saying about thinking about work a the beginning. The expectation is at the beginning, no issues are getting completed, because they are the "bigger" ones that are still in process.