There is a tendency for humans to want to systematise everything. We organise our bookshelves, write precise cooking recipes, track exercise routines. It brings

There is a tendency for humans to want to systematise everything. We organise our bookshelves, write precise cooking recipes, track exercise routines. It brings comfort in chaos because it feels like there’s a plan. And the only thing less effective than an organisation with a plan is an organisation without a plan. The problem with plans is when we become bound to them, following them slavishly, failing to review them and update them based on new knowledge. That’s when tickets are awful. You’re doing a ticket because somebody you don’t know raised it for reasons you don’t know at some point in the past. Having “delivered” the ticket, you’ve no idea whether you’ve made any impact on anybody’s life, so everything feels like a waste of time. When tickets are done well, they are related closely to the impact they’re supposed to deliver, and represent a conversation about everything we’ve learned about that expected impact.