November 22, 2020
I've given myself a 45 minute appetite to write this reflection. That's my appetite for this. I could spend hours, maybe days. Pursue an impeccable, maybe publishable piece endorsing this book. Possibility, however, does not dictate necessity. The more important question is what to do with limited time.
Be thoughtful. Communicate exceptionally well. Let the end user be your north star.
This is the refrain that hummed in my mind as I read through this at once profound and pragmatic book on managing the creation of a product. While written from the perspective of a software team, the principles of Shape Up apply to any group or individual seeking to make something of quality (or dare I say Quality).
...we don’t do daily stand ups, design sprints, development sprints, or anything remotely tied to a metaphor that includes being tired and worn out at the end. - Jason Fried, Shape Up
This early declaration in the book's forward resonated deeply. A sprint is definitely an intense, and telling, metaphor for the somehow default way of doing things. Sprints have a deceptive sheen to them since the standard length of two weeks is incredibly short. Maybe it also seems sexy because sprinting, at least to me, connotes physical strength or health. The notion of moving the proverbial needle in two weeks is no doubt enticing.
In reality, it is unsustainable. Product development is not a footrace. It's more like a chess match. It takes consideration, strategy, patience, and sacrifice. Instead of picking a direction as fast as possible and getting there as fast as possible, Shape Up encourages you to think carefully about the direction you're going. To think critically about how you're going to get there.
<aside> 💡 Time estimates → appetite declarations
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Changing time estimates to appetite declarations is a revelation. Instead of asking "how long will this take?", you ask "how long are we willing to spend on this problem?". The result of the latter perspective yields, I'd argue, more innovation because the temporal constraint precludes "doing it the way it's always been done" because that way might take too long relative to the allotted appetite (see the Dot Calendar example).
Shape Up bubbles up from the springs of programming concepts like layers of abstraction and separation of concerns. These cognitive methods are applied to communication patters and process design, resulting in better communication. Each phase of Shape Up has a distinct and predetermined purpose, allowing people to be on the same page. While the all-hands whiteboard brainstorming session might sound exciting, that kind of thought jazz is not reproducible or reliable. You gotta swap the jazz trio for an orchestra.
Exceptional communication is at the heart of Shape Up. Clear and precise communication allows the team to have certainty of being on the same page and moving in the same direction. From the genesis of shaping an idea with fat markers to describing the progress of a scope using hill charts, Shape Up pushes teammates to get out of their inscrutable heads and into a more collective consciousness.
Thinking with Shape Up glasses on, you're not concerned with the absolute best solution. You're concerned with the specific best solution given the time constraints of the appetite and the data at hand on the problem. Wasting weeks on a complex animation for a problem that had more to do with usability than visual engagement is a fools errand, but it can feel like a productive and noble cause.
Given the time you have, and the problem the user is experiencing right now, choosing the "best" solution is easy. It's the one that alleviates the defined problem within the specified appetite.