5 ms·

When management says sprint, you say, “How fast?” I find the language plain disempowering to developers.

chrisseaton 9y ago
In agile are you permanently in a sprint? When one sprint ends you start a new one, right? That's insane - you can't sprint all your life.
- taneq 9y ago
  It's not "sprint" compared with "walk", as in "go flat out". It's "sprint" compared with "marathon", as in "short burst and we're done". Using the word 'sprint' as an excuse for permanent crunch time is doing it wrong.
  - gaius 9y ago
    But you’re not done. A sprint is immediately followed by another sprint.
    - jungturk 9y ago
      But you are done - with the goals of that sprint. You complete the work, reflect, and reset for the next sprint's goals. Think Pomodoro technique rather than belaboring the marathon/sprint metaphor. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pomodoro_Technique https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pomodoro_Technique
      - gaius 9y ago
        I am not belabouring anything - that was the metaphor the methodology merchants chose. To sprint then sprint then go on sprinting until you are exhausted. Also, a scrum is a violent battle for control between opposing teams... that one fit better than they thought too
- emddudley 9y ago
  Which is precisely why there is a break between sprints, for planning and downtime...
  - chrisseaton 9y ago
    I don't know - Googling for 'should there be a break between sprints' it seems like lots of people think you should be sprinting without any breaks.
  - pault 9y ago
    That's funny, in all of the places I have worked the sprint ends on a Friday and the next one starts on Monday. I want one of these sprint breaks.
  - madcaptenor 9y ago
    But isn't that "break" usually just a weekend?
  - fbonetti 9y ago
    I’ve never worked at a place that took breaks between sprints.
- sankyo 9y ago
  Do cops and doctors get “free time” between cases? If you let the product team dictate every story, you are doing it wrong. Grow a spine and negotiate some tech stories into the sprint. After you establish credibility, it will get better. If something needs refactoring and a 2point story comes along with that code, make it a 5 point story and clean up the code. In a business, cash is oxygen and it must make smart choices about what gets worked on. And software developers are expensive. Just like democracy is the worst form of government except for all the rest, agile is the worst process ... Don’t get caught up in the rigamarole of agile consultants. Every activity is meant to help communication between product and developers. If some activity does not help then convince people with data to stop doing it. Stories are a blueprint for WHAT is built. Points are GUESSES at the effort to complete something, which may better inform someone about the order in which stories are played. Groooming is about meeting those devils hiding in the details. If you lack the conviction to be an active participant in the process, then do not be surprised at what unfortunate kafkaesque universe you find yourself in. Even the most mundane stories can have a lot of variability. “I need to mail a lettter” ok, 1 point. Um, there are no stamps. Get in the car to buy some. Car has low gas. Go to the gas station. Get to post office and realize you have no cash ... software development is no different.
  - chrisseaton 9y ago
    > Do cops and doctors get “free time” between cases? No but they plan to have a workload that doesn’t mean they have to work as fast as they can for their entire career. You can’t sprint all the time. If you are then you aren’t really at your sprint speed.
  - gaius 9y ago
    Do cops and doctors get “free time” between cases? Airline pilots do between flights. You can cherrypick an example for anything.

In agile are you permanently in a sprint? When one sprint ends you start a new one, right? That's insane - you can't sprint all your life.

taneq 9y ago
It's not "sprint" compared with "walk", as in "go flat out". It's "sprint" compared with "marathon", as in "short burst and we're done". Using the word 'sprint' as an excuse for permanent crunch time is doing it wrong.
- gaius 9y ago
  But you’re not done. A sprint is immediately followed by another sprint.
  - jungturk 9y ago
    But you are done - with the goals of that sprint. You complete the work, reflect, and reset for the next sprint's goals. Think Pomodoro technique rather than belaboring the marathon/sprint metaphor. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pomodoro_Technique https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pomodoro_Technique
    - gaius 9y ago
      I am not belabouring anything - that was the metaphor the methodology merchants chose. To sprint then sprint then go on sprinting until you are exhausted. Also, a scrum is a violent battle for control between opposing teams... that one fit better than they thought too
emddudley 9y ago
Which is precisely why there is a break between sprints, for planning and downtime...
- chrisseaton 9y ago
  I don't know - Googling for 'should there be a break between sprints' it seems like lots of people think you should be sprinting without any breaks.
- pault 9y ago
  That's funny, in all of the places I have worked the sprint ends on a Friday and the next one starts on Monday. I want one of these sprint breaks.
- madcaptenor 9y ago
  But isn't that "break" usually just a weekend?
- fbonetti 9y ago
  I’ve never worked at a place that took breaks between sprints.
sankyo 9y ago
Do cops and doctors get “free time” between cases? If you let the product team dictate every story, you are doing it wrong. Grow a spine and negotiate some tech stories into the sprint. After you establish credibility, it will get better. If something needs refactoring and a 2point story comes along with that code, make it a 5 point story and clean up the code. In a business, cash is oxygen and it must make smart choices about what gets worked on. And software developers are expensive. Just like democracy is the worst form of government except for all the rest, agile is the worst process ... Don’t get caught up in the rigamarole of agile consultants. Every activity is meant to help communication between product and developers. If some activity does not help then convince people with data to stop doing it. Stories are a blueprint for WHAT is built. Points are GUESSES at the effort to complete something, which may better inform someone about the order in which stories are played. Groooming is about meeting those devils hiding in the details. If you lack the conviction to be an active participant in the process, then do not be surprised at what unfortunate kafkaesque universe you find yourself in. Even the most mundane stories can have a lot of variability. “I need to mail a lettter” ok, 1 point. Um, there are no stamps. Get in the car to buy some. Car has low gas. Go to the gas station. Get to post office and realize you have no cash ... software development is no different.
- chrisseaton 9y ago
  > Do cops and doctors get “free time” between cases? No but they plan to have a workload that doesn’t mean they have to work as fast as they can for their entire career. You can’t sprint all the time. If you are then you aren’t really at your sprint speed.
- gaius 9y ago
  Do cops and doctors get “free time” between cases? Airline pilots do between flights. You can cherrypick an example for anything.