The Play, the points, and the biggest lie in software cover image
Delivery Management

The Play, the points, and the biggest lie in software

Why most progress reports reflect effort instead of progress, the resulting effect it has in our industry, and what to do about it.

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Gojko Adzic
Jan 11, 2021 • 4 min read
4.75 (12)
Definition of Done
Performance Management
Story Point
Progress Report
Tracking and Monitoring
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Summary

Gojko Adzic explains why most products end up not doing well when their value is measured as the effort invested. He clearly points out that measuring the story points delivered by a product is a delusional way to determine its value. Rather organizations should track progress to measure its value and picture metrics like adding features as "the effort invested" in the product.

Takeaways

  • Effort metrics of a product get disguised just enough to sound plausible as a way to track progress.
  • The value of a software product is tricky to measure. You cannot determine it with story points or lines of code. You will only end up measuring the effort invested.
  • Tracking the progress of a product makes it easy to determine its value

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