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Wellington, Wellington, New Zealand
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Articles by Aaron
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My quest to find the one right answer
My quest to find the one right answer
Nicola Lindgren posted this screenshot and asked us what we all thought the answer was. I cannot resist giving my…
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13 Comments -
Agile with "idiots"Jul 27, 2021
Agile with "idiots"
Repost from this Twitter Thread I’m going to use the word “Agile” as a shortcut for “methodologies and activities…
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1 Comment -
What is Lean Testing, part 2: Phased and Threaded TestingJun 8, 2021
What is Lean Testing, part 2: Phased and Threaded Testing
A link to Part 1 There are many models of different approaches to software testing. You’ll be familiar with many of…
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What is Lean Testing?Jun 1, 2021
What is Lean Testing?
There are many different definitions of software testing, and many views on what responsible testing looks like in our…
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5 Comments
Activity
3K followers
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Aaron Hodder shared thisWhile I'm wishfully thinking: The same orgs that are mandating their employees to "leverage AI more" in 24 months will be asking their employees to not rely on LLM chatbots as much. I mean, I thought orgs spent small fortunes to differentiate themselves in the market, and now everyone all sounds the same!
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Aaron Hodder posted thisPrediction: Like the rise of grunge music in the 90s as a reaction to the over-produced but soulless excesses of the 80s, I think that due to the exhaustion of the onslaught of polished but soulless corpo-esque LLM word soup, people will crave and respond to a more sloppy but soulful style of writing in the near future. Maybe a kind of wabi-sabi aesthetic where odd grammar and run-on sentences are no longer seen as flaws, but wonderful reminders that a flawed human wrote the words.
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Aaron Hodder shared thisIf you are looking at giving your test teams a shared and solid foundational knowledge of testing, and one that will open a door to a whole new world, there is no better course.Aaron Hodder shared thisDiary of a Reluctant Recruiter: Good News Everyone As the year is somehow already the back half of Nov, I thought I'd let people know that the incomparable Michael Bolton will be coming back to NZ in the new year. Prepare for further details in the near future but I thought I'd say 'Ask for budgets'. :~) It may be easier as this year it will be his course on AI and automation. With so many companies trying to figure out best uses for AI right now, this would be great. If you are using it already, it will help get deeper with it. Good for anyone on the team, it will be a fun time. Michael is amazing at digging in deeply to any problem
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Aaron Hodder shared thisIt's a great way for newspapers to save money. They could even take it a step further and save printing and paper costs by just printing a daily list of the things they think we should know about today and the ChatGPT prompts needed to generate the articles.
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Aaron Hodder posted thisVendors always sold test automation as robust, fast, and efficient. Now that the same vendors are selling "AI", suddenly automation takes a long time to script, is difficult to maintain, and is flaky. Funny that.
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Aaron Hodder reposted thisAaron Hodder reposted thisKia ora Koutou. Our next TM Breakfast is on Oct 15th. Last month we had some great discussions including how we might demonstrate to business teams the value that automation delivers in order to help reduce their own test effort, and the relationship and trust building that this requires. What will come up this month? Come along and find out. Bring your questions and/or curiosity. Hope to see you there :) https://lnkd.in/dbrHSxdWTest Management Breakfast | October 2025, Wed, Oct 15, 2025, 8:00 AM | MeetupTest Management Breakfast | October 2025, Wed, Oct 15, 2025, 8:00 AM | Meetup
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Aaron Hodder reposted thisAaron Hodder reposted thisKia ora Koutou. Our next TM Breakfast is on Oct 15th. Last month we had some great discussions including how we might demonstrate to business teams the value that automation delivers in order to help reduce their own test effort, and the relationship and trust building that this requires. What will come up this month? Come along and find out. Bring your questions and/or curiosity. Hope to see you there :) https://lnkd.in/dbrHSxdWTest Management Breakfast | October 2025, Wed, Oct 15, 2025, 8:00 AM | MeetupTest Management Breakfast | October 2025, Wed, Oct 15, 2025, 8:00 AM | Meetup
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Aaron Hodder shared thisHey testing and quality folks, please come and submit your ideas for next year's NZ Tech Rally!Aaron Hodder shared thisQAs, Testers, Test Engineers, and Quality experts, please send us a talk submission before 30 Sept 2025. We need four speakers for our Quality & Testing track at NZ Tech Rally 2026. Full details on speaker compensation, selection criteria, key dates, and submission link on our website: https://lnkd.in/gr4Y_mM8 #NZTechRally #NZTechRally2026 #Conference #SoftwareEngineering #KiwiTech #CallforSpeakers
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Aaron Hodder posted this"Yes, you're right! I apologize for my previous explanation...Thank you for the correction!" Am I overreacting when I say... I loathe LLMs pretending to be human and having emotions. It's deliberate deception and a nefarious technique to short circuit our brains into forgiveness and to trick us into forgetting that the machine didn't work.
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Aaron Hodder reacted on thisAaron Hodder reacted on thisAutomated output checks are a really good idea. When an automated check produces a red result, we have reason to believe that something is wrong. Of course, a red result might not represent a problem in the product. The problem might be in the check. Maybe there's a coding error. Or there could be a data problem: the check doesn't associate its input with appropriate output. Maybe the check is overly or insufficiently precise. Maybe the product has changed, and the check is targeted at the wrong output. The problem might be in the environment in which the check and the product are running. Maybe there’s a timing issue; the output to be checked isn’t ready yet, or was ready and has changed or disappeared before it could be checked. The good thing about a red check is that it indicates a problem somewhere in the system of the product; the check; the environment; time, and timing; people’s intentions, needs, desires, and understandings; and the relationships between all of these. We can be fooled into believing that a red check is signalling a real problem when there isn’t one. No responsible tester will tell a developer "There’s a bug in the product!" without investigating why it’s red. It's also a pretty bad idea—irresponsible testing, I'd say—to dismiss one or more red checks as "flaky" without investigating them. It's even worse to investigate and identify unreliable or invalid signals without addressing them. When checks run green, it's because a lot of things have gone right. Green checks can fool us even more easily than red checks can, because green affords a comforting, soothing, and somewhat narcotic feeling; "everything's okay" — and we don't investigate when we feel that way. When checks run green, it doesn't mean that everything *does* go right, or *will* go right; it means that nothing has gone obviously wrong. That's why it's important to review green checks periodically and systematically. And that can be a big job. Consider: if you have 160,000 automated checks running every day (as Microsoft boasted of Windows Vista), and you want to review them once a year, that means reviewing 640 checks every working day. Is that kind of review happening where you work? And was everything okay with Windows Vista? The point of this post is not to disparage automated checks. It's to remind us to keep a clear eye on how we can be fooled, despite our best intentions. We wrote a book about that. You can find it in the comments.
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Aaron Hodder reacted on thisAaron Hodder reacted on thisA couple of weeks ago I said farewell to the team at Auror after two eventful years! It was an absolute privilege to work with such a talented cohort, who not only excelled in their own roles but were generous with their knowledge and experience, and driven to uplift everyone else in the organization. Many thanks to my teammates and the leadership at Auror for fostering an energetic environment for learning, growth, experimentation, and innovation - and for giving us focus and a worthy mission of keeping communities safer. I’ll always be proud to have been part of the Auror journey ❤️ ✨
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Aaron Hodder reacted on thisAaron Hodder reacted on thisI'm reading stuff on this here platform like: "AI isn't here to "help" software testing. In the next 2 years, it's going to dismantle large parts of how we've always done things. [..] Test case creation dies. [..] Test maintenance nightmare ends." This is just an example of a message that, at its core, is repeated by many people here, ad nauseam. The only thing that I'm observing that is being killed by "AI" is people doing RESPONSIBLE SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT. Jeez, I'm so mad that I started typing in caps. Listen: Proper testing was NEVER done by a machine. My job was never to create test cases, my job is to find problems that threaten the value of the product. Tools are a second consideration, only AFTER I've determined how I can best do this mission in the current context. I've also never been in a test maintenance nightmare, because again: that's not the core business of my job. Can't have a maintenance nightmare if you don't create it in the first place, that's some real big brain shit over here. Only if you think testing is about creating artifacts will you be scared (or happy) about this "AI" crap. I'm just getting mad at this bullshit messaging. Alright, this was your weekly dose of Maaike, bye.
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Aaron Hodder liked thisI did not know this, for almost the first decade of my career. So reposting for more awareness 😊Aaron Hodder liked thisDid you know most NZ employers reset their training and development budgets on 1 April–the new financial year? Which means… the budget is fresh. Untouched. Full of potential. If you’ve been thinking about attending NZ Tech Rally 2026, now’s your chance to ask your manager before that budget mysteriously disappears. A short written email really helps. Your manager will likely need to get approval from their manager, so you’re doing them a favour by sending an email. Our crew has put together a simple email template to make this easier for you: https://lnkd.in/gyUerDvj Use it for NZ Tech Rally, or any other events and workshops you’ve been eyeing this year. You are welcome :) #NZTechRally #NZTechRally2026 #TechConference #SoftwareEngineering #KiwiTech
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Aaron Hodder liked thisAaron Hodder liked thisJust over 30 years ago, I was awarded my PhD in Mathematics. I dedicated my thesis to my favourite band, Status Quo. As far as I'm aware, this is the only PhD to be dedicated to them (and the story made it into the band's official fan club magazine in 1996!). My first book about Status Quo, "Quo Down Under", is about to be printed for the first time. My book tells the story of the band's 14 tours of Australia and New Zealand from 1973 to 2017. My thanks to Print Books + for being so awesome to deal with and I can't wait to collect my first batch of books soon! For anyone here interested in securing a copy of my new book, keep an eye on https://lnkd.in/g2_5mJuy - ordering details will be coming shortly.
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Aaron Hodder liked thisAaron Hodder liked thisDiary of a Reluctant Recruiter: March Meetup with Michael Yes, it is true, Michael Bolton is officially in the country and ready to inspire us all again this year. I know we always have a great turnout so it seems fitting to start the year off right, if just a little later than we thought. :~) I also have to say I'm excited to finally get my copy of their book, 'Taking Testing Seriously'. I'll try not to flex too much as say that I got it signed, but I'm allowed to be a bit jazzed for it. If you want to attend, sign up in the link below. I hope to see most of you there.
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Aaron Hodder reacted on thisAaron Hodder reacted on thisEver tried to find the *right* tab when you’ve got a dozen open? Page titles are one of those accessibility basics that quietly make or break the experience - especially for screen reader users, who rely on them to understand where they are and what’s on the page. A good page title is: * Specific (not just “Home” or “Dashboard”) * Unique across the site * About the task or content on the page * In order of more specific to generic (ie, Page Titles That Work | Blogs & Resources | Aleph Accessibility) When page titles are clear, people can navigate faster, recover from mistakes more easily and keep their place, whether they’re using a screen reader, keyboard or just juggling too many tabs. Accessibility doesn’t have to be complex to be meaningful. Sometimes it’s about getting the fundamentals right.
Experience & Education
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Kiwibank
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Licenses & Certifications
Publications
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That's not the map I had in mind: Meaning, imprecision and taxonomy of visual test models
Testing Trapeze
See publicationDiscusses the need for a taxonomy of visual test models, and introduces and describes the Test Coverage Outline, a specific kind of testing model.
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Test Cases aren't testing: Towards a culture of test performance
Testing Trapeze
A deconstruction of test case culture which explains why testing cannot be codified into artifacts called 'test cases' and proposes a shift away from an artifact-based culture towards a performance-based culture.
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Lean Testing in Theory and Practice
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See publicationHow the principles of lean software development may be specifically applied to software testing, and an example of a test management approach that applies these principles in practice.
Courses
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Accounting
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Calculus
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Calculus
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English
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Media Studies
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Written Communications
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Honors & Awards
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Presentations & Articles
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2017 Castx17 - To Boldly Go: Taking the Enterprise on a Leaner Testing Journey
2017 Sydney Testers Meetup: Panelist
2016 AgileNZ - All Kinds of Minds - Towards a more inclusive workplace
2016 ITx - All Kinds of Minds - Towards a more inclusive workplace
2016 WeTest - Managing Testing without Test Cases
2016 Agile Australia - Co-Presenter - Towards a more inclusive workplace
2016 Australian Testing Days - Presenter - Software Cartography...or how to create multi-dimensional…2017 Castx17 - To Boldly Go: Taking the Enterprise on a Leaner Testing Journey
2017 Sydney Testers Meetup: Panelist
2016 AgileNZ - All Kinds of Minds - Towards a more inclusive workplace
2016 ITx - All Kinds of Minds - Towards a more inclusive workplace
2016 WeTest - Managing Testing without Test Cases
2016 Agile Australia - Co-Presenter - Towards a more inclusive workplace
2016 Australian Testing Days - Presenter - Software Cartography...or how to create multi-dimensional information radiators
2015 WeTest Weekend Workshop presenter - All Kinds of Minds
2015 KWST 5 - Kiwi Workshop on Software Testing
2014 Let's Test OZ Presenter - Software Cartography...or how to create multi-dimensional information radiators
2014 KWST 4 - Kiwi Workshop on Software Testing
2014 Co-author "Test Cases aren't testing: Towards a culture of Test Performance" with James Bach in Testing Trapeze magazine
2013 CAST Presenter - Using Mindmapping software as a lean and visual way to manage testing
2013 KWST 3 - Kiwi Workshop on Software Testing
2012 KWST 2 - Kiwi Workshop on Software Testing
2011 STANZ Presenter - Building test plans using mind maps and heuristics
2011 KWST 1 - Kiwi Workshop on Software Testing
2011 Rapid Software Testing with James Bach
Languages
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Some New Zealand Sign Languange
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Organizations
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Toastmasters NZ
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WeTest Workshops
Co-Founder
- PresentCo-Founder of Wetest Workshops (http://www.meetup.com/WeTest-Workshops/). A meetup group for testers in Wellington who are interested in testing discussions with other practitioners. Bi-monthly workshop events of a similar format to KWST - a presenter introduces a topic to the group, and attendees are then encouraged to discuss, question, challenge, and share ideas on that topic. Participation is expected, so come prepared to contribute!
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Jakub Jurkiewicz
Medenterprises • 4K followers
Is agile coaching evolving into engineering leadership? I’ve observed a noticeable shift lately in New Zealand’s Agile community: many experienced agile coaches are moving into engineering leadership positions. This transition seems to coincide with decreasing engagement in traditional agile circles—fewer meetups and conferences, quieter forums, and fewer fresh perspectives. Have you observed the same? My top 3 hypotheses about what's driving this trend: - Broader Impact – agile coaches often seek wider organizational influence, and engineering leadership roles provide clearer pathways to strategic impact across teams and products. - Career Progression – as companies increasingly embed agile principles into their cultures, specialized coaching roles might feel limited. - Cost-Cutting Pressures – In tighter economic times, companies scrutinize every role. Agile coaching—especially when decoupled from delivery—is often seen as a “nice-to-have” rather than essential. And this change in the market may be driving agile coaches to look for new roles. Is this a natural evolution—or are we losing something vital? Don't get me wrong - I'm not saying this is a bad trend; after all, I followed the same transition; I'm just curious how the market has been evolving and what we can learn from this. And if you are new to tech leadership, make sure you follow Tech Waka Podcast & Leadership Collective, where we shape and share the journeys of Aotearoa's tech leaders. #AgileCoaching #EngineeringLeadership #TechWaka
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Penelope Barr
Penelope Barr and Co • 7K followers
The power of work design via the SMART* model was a powerful Agile Australia 2025 opening keynote delivered by Sharon Parker. Sharon shared the case for effective, aligned work design because: ⭐ 20% of workers report burnout. Buronout is described as a chronic condition where worker exhaustion can manifest as cynicism, being jaded and potentially depression. ⭐ The new industrial revolution due to Ai is replacing components of roles, rather than entire roles, impacting Mastery and Agency in workers. Sharon recommends designing in the preservation of key skills such as regular train-driving for drivers who work from behind screens, except when they're required to resolve a problem ⭐ Impact of the aging population. Australia needs more people to keep working to achieve our productivity goals. But work is not designed optimally to support aging workers Sharon was able to translate her significant body of research into accessible data: ⭐ Different work personality types need different components of work, to be happy and fulfilled ⭐ work is interdependent and the SMART model applies cross-functionally and with peers ⭐ job-crafting is a powerful skill to ensure greater alignment between what you need and what your work requires I loved learning about the SMART model and can see how it can improve work *SMART - Stimulating, Mastery, Agency/Autonomy, Relational, Tolerable
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Barry Hill
Self-employedAccessible… • 1K followers
The accessibility audit arms race More audits. More dashboards. More shiny scores. But are we actually removing barriers? I’ve seen teams pass every automated check with green ticks across the board, while real users still struggle. Like when alt text technically exists, but says “image123.jpg” or is a decorative image. Or when error messages only show up visually with no announcement. Or when a screen reader user lands on a page and has no idea what it’s about because there’s no heading structure. Audits can be powerful. I run them myself. But when they become the main event rather than a supporting act, we start measuring progress by paperwork instead of people. Accessibility isn't about ticking boxes. It’s about someone being able to do what they came to do — independently and with dignity. If we’re not pairing audits with lived experience, with user testing, with real conversations… are we really doing accessibility? Or just the accessible version of performance art? Curious to hear your thoughts. Are we measuring what matters? #Accessibility #Inclusion #DigitalInclusion #UserExperience #DisabilityInclusion #NothingAboutUsWithoutUs #InclusiveDesign
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Dave Westgarth
UnifEye • 16K followers
I've got a really anecdotal observation I wanted to sense check. I've worked with a lot of Project Managers and a lot of agilists. Naturally some agilists are more effective than PMs and vice versa. But I've got two central ideas I've been mulling over. When an org takes on a PM they've got a fairly good idea what that means, what they can expect from their PM, the value they'll provide and with some good hiring practices a decent read on the level of competence of their new hire. But when I contrast that with hiring agilists and scrum professionals I have a bit of a feeling it's harder for orgs to know what that means, harder to know what they can expect from their agilist/SM, harder to project the value they'll provide and very tough to get a good read on their new hires base level of competence. Alongside this when I think about all the PMs I've worked with they all vary in terms of skills, experience and overall quality but the variance is typically fairly tolerable. With most PMs falling within a fairly tight standard deviation from the mean. Agilists and Scrum Masters feel like a different story. They also vary but the variances seem wider and spiker. I've worked with some truly fantastic and transformational agilists but also encountered some who fell well short of what I'd call the base level of competence required to add value in a team or org. My theory is these 2 give hiring organizations a huge problem saying yes to agilsits and bringing them in to do the good work we live and breathe as a community. I've tried to visualize it below and as mentioned it's hugely anecdotal but I wonder if anyone else sees this the same way? And do we have any ideas how to fix it, who should, or if it's even a problem worth fixing? I'm not saying this is a nailed on factual analysis but I think it helps contextualize some of the market changes and I am very interested to see if I'm misunderstanding something here. N.B. Please don't read too heavily into the numbers and lines. I'm just trying to visualize the idea.
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Martin Hinshelwood
naked Agility with Martin… • 13K followers
One of the biggest wastes of time in modern organisations is the obsession with estimating work. I've lost count of how many teams I've seen spending hours debating story points or trying to predict exactly how long a task will take—only to discover later how inaccurate these estimates were. Estimates create unnecessary stress, unrealistic expectations, and unproductive pressure. More importantly, they rarely improve actual predictability. If you want genuine predictability, you don’t need better guesses—you need better data. Instead of estimating, adopt a data-driven practice of right-sizing work. Look at your team's historical data—actual cycle times, real throughput, historical trends. Use that evidence to break down tasks into manageable, similarly sized pieces of work that your team can reliably deliver within a predictable timeframe. Teams who shift from estimation-based planning to right-sizing based on empirical data experience immediate improvements in flow, delivery consistency, and morale. Instead of chasing arbitrary deadlines, they confidently deliver small, valuable increments of work at a sustainable, predictable pace. Realistic planning grounded in empirical data respects your team’s actual capability and constraints, reducing stress and eliminating guesswork. It leads to consistent delivery, improved forecasting, and far more realistic expectations from stakeholders. Are you still estimating based on intuition, or have you embraced an evidence-based approach to planning your work? [I’m working on an idea for a new post coming out next month, and I'd appreciate some eyes on it. If you provide feedback and I use it, you'll definitely get a mention. I'll drop the link in the comments. ]
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Shawn Wallack
CGI • 10K followers
Scrum Says "Sprint Goal" - Teams Hear "Story Points" We’ve all done it - looked at a sprint plan and said, "That’s too many points. We’re over-committing." I’ve said it. You’ve probably said it. And we usually mean well. It’s a common phrase. But that doesn’t make it right. It’s just a bad habit that’s hard to break. "Over-committing" gets tossed around in Sprint Planning like it means something. It doesn't. It’s usually aimed at teams that plan more points than their average velocity or capacity supports. The implication is they’ve committed to too much work within the timebox. But here’s the problem: Scrum teams don’t commit to work. According to the Scrum Guide, teams commit to a Sprint Goal - not to points or some number or scope of backlog items. Points and velocity aren’t even part of Scrum. Neither are stories. These are common practices, but they’re optional. Ironically, the Sprint Goal - which Scrum actually requires - is often missing. "The Sprint Goal is the single objective for the Sprint… It provides guidance to the Scrum Team on why it is building the Increment." Notice: "Why," not "How much." So when we say a team "over-committed" based on velocity, we’re misusing the term. They didn’t over-commit. They took a risk. Maybe they planned ambitiously or even recklessly - but unless the Sprint Goal is unrealistic, there’s no "over." Why does this misunderstanding persist? Simple. Teams and leadership are obsessed with velocity. It’s easy to track, chart, share, and... misunderstand. Many teams use points religiously but skip Sprint Goals entirely. Sometimes there isn’t even a Product Goal - just a task queue. The Scrum essentials get forgotten. Intent gets replaced with math. Metrics become the mission. Imagine a team with a velocity of 30 points that plans 45. You might think they’re over-committing, but what if the Sprint Goal were clear, focused, and tied to customer value? If the team meets the goal without finishing all the points, that'd be a win disguised as a loss. That’s the problem with this language. It gets teams thinking about outputs, not outcomes. It pushes teams to chase velocity and game the numbers. It discourages responsible and appropriate risk-taking. If the Sprint Goal is unrealistic, that’s a valid concern. But the fix isn’t fewer points - it’s smarter goals and more honest conversations. Velocity isn’t a performance metric, and points aren’t a contract. Treat them like they are, and you’ll turn optional tools into performance targets - and lose the plot. That’s not agility. That’s performance theater. If a team is transparent, focused, and working toward a clear goal, let them stretch. Let them learn. If they miss, that’s what inspection and adaptation are for. Don’t tell them “You’re over-committing” when you really mean “You’re planning more points than I’m comfortable with.” Unless the Sprint Goal is unachievable, the issue isn’t with their over-commitment... it’s with your understanding.
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45 Comments -
Katja Obring
Skiller Whale • 10K followers
Had a great conversation with Rosie Sherry on the Leading with Quality podcast from Ministry of Testing, and it left me thinking (again) about something that’s been bugging me for years: Why are there so few senior quality leadership roles? We talk about quality being “everyone’s responsibility”, but at senior levels, that often means it’s no one’s job to lead it. In this blog post, I unpack a theory I’ve been circling for a while, about why quality is rarely represented at the top table, and what that means for both strategy and careers. Would love to hear what others think: Have you ever worked somewhere with a Chief Quality Officer? What role does your leadership team play in shaping quality? What would a proper seat at the table look like? Read my full blog post here:
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14 Comments -
Paul O'Shaughnessy
MAP • 16K followers
My heart genuinely goes out to Agile Coaches right now. Three or four years ago, this was one of the most in demand roles in the market. Businesses were investing heavily in transformation. Coaches were commanding strong day rates. Organisations were building entire Agile uplift functions. Fast forward to today and the market has shifted dramatically. Many of those standalone Agile Coach roles have either been absorbed into broader delivery functions or removed completely as businesses look for leaner, more blended leadership profiles. That creates a real dilemma for highly trained and experienced Agile coaches who have invested years building their craft. Here is the honest market advice I am giving people at the moment. Start positioning yourself for hybrid roles such as Scrum Master, Delivery Lead, or Iteration Manager type positions. The biggest feedback I hear is: “I am not a Delivery Manager/Lead.” And I agree, you are not. And I know its a step backwards. The reality is though, many of these roles are not heavily focused on transitional budget ownership or PMO governance. I wouldn't suggest go on that journey, unless you wanted to of course. Scrum Master, Agile Delivery Lead, Release Manager, Agile Product Owner is the advised journey (For now) What organisations/teams always want is strong delivery leadership, stakeholder alignment, team enablement, and the ability to remove blockers and drive outcomes. Those are exactly the strengths great Agile Coaches already bring. Your value has not reduced. The job titles/duties have just evolved. (For now) If you are an Agile Coach navigating this shift, focus on: • Translating coaching outcomes into delivery outcomes • Demonstrating measurable business impact • Highlighting stakeholder engagement and influence • Showing examples of leading teams through change and uncertainty The market still needs people who can bring clarity, structure and momentum to complex delivery environments. The packaging/positioning just looks different now. If you are unsure how your profile fits the current market, or want an honest conversation about positioning, CV advice, my DMs are open. Success is a journey, we create the MAP. MAP TALENT
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6 Comments -
Hannu Törmänen
Rebase Consulting • 1K followers
The end of agile coaching is happening. Sadly, many permanent and contract agile coaches have been let go during the recent two years. There are fewer and fewer job opportunities. Technically, agile has become mainstream. It has revolutionised the way teams work in the last ten to fifteen years. But demand for agile coaching is plummeting due to low perceived ROI as things have progressed. In general, agility is more important than ever before. Agile coaching has to reinvent itself. Instead of teaching and adopting Scrum and other operational frameworks, there are other types of needs. We need new change agents and transformers. - Upcoming change will be massive but won’t happen overnight. - How can we help people, teams, and organisations navigate the mess and become adaptable and resilient? We need flow development. - Once coding speed won’t soon be a problem, other bottlenecks and discrepancies will emerge. - How can we help identify them, make them visible, and remove them? We need a better understanding of future opportunities. - Becoming truly customer and user-centric will be vital as disruption becomes the norm. - How can we help build a culture of experimentation, discovery, and innovation? As agile coaches, we still possess skills that are transferable to new areas. However, agile processes won’t make this happen, and we need to expand our perspectives. As coaches, we need constant upskilling and better understanding of many areas. That shouldn’t be a problem as we anyway embrace continuous improvement. My upskilling is happening around AI, workflow automation, cloud, product delivery, and product management. Are you already doing it?
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Oma O.
Canadian Tire Financial… • 1K followers
How do you build trust with people you’ve never met in person?" Reflecting on this question took me back to the early days of managing a fully remote Scrum team spanning different time zones. One particular sprint planning session stands out vividly in my memory. Tension lingered in the air – cameras off, voices subdued, and collaboration at a standstill. The distance seemed to breed silence, and that silence, in turn, fostered disconnection. Rather than intensifying the pressure, I chose a different approach. I called for a moment of pause. I invited each team member to share something outside of work that brought a smile to their face that week. Initially met with reluctance, the atmosphere gradually shifted as personal stories unfolded – tales of family, pets, and even a newfound passion for baking sourdough bread. The dynamics transformed. Cameras reactivated. Laughter replaced the once-ominous silence. As we delved back into our tasks, collaboration flowed effortlessly, no longer needing to be coerced. This experience left me with a profound realization: Effective management of remote teams transcends mere task oversight. It hinges on cultivating genuine human connections that underpin trust, collaboration, and accountability. In my current role, I prioritize three core principles: ✅ Transparency – setting clear objectives and fostering open dialogue ✅ Trust – empowering teams to take ownership of their responsibilities ✅ Humanity – recognizing our shared humanity before our professional titles Remote work doesn’t equate to detachment. With deliberate effort, it can foster resilient, empathetic team dynamics. 👉 Have you navigated leading a team without face-to-face interactions? How did you nurture trust? #ScrumMaster #AgileLeadership #RemoteWork #ServantLeadership #AgileMindset #TeamEngagement
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Darren Aitcheson
Sanofi • 3K followers
The most useful plugin that anyone could ever create for Jira (or the most useful feature Atlassian themselves could create) would be: Showing the age of a ticket on the ticket itself. And no, I don't mean those silly dots that are meant to signify the number of days an item has been an a particular column - I mean an actual number, showing the number of days since the item moved into the first "doing" status. Yes, I know this can be hacked together using automation and custom fields, etc., but it's 2026, and this *still* isn't easy to do in Jira.
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Chris Stone
Compare the Market • 58K followers
55 Agile coaches were made redundant after 2 years Read on to learn why When a business isn't hitting financial goals? It starts to look into cost-cutting The first pass will always be headcount Because it's the most expensive cost A leader asked the agile capability what value they'd delivered. They struggled to answer the question with clarity or confidence Their biggest problem? They failed to baseline the before-state The state of play [before] they made any changes The result? When asked what value had been delivered for the investment after 2 years - The story wasn't compelling And the whole department was removed The reality; When you're tasked with delivering Value → You need to be able to prove it Doing so without data? That's like me asking you to believe my name is Tarqqquinnn from El Salvador [Despite looking and sounding like a pasty, white British guy] It isn't believable. Experiment tracking allows you to be empirical linking your work back to: → Data → Learnings → Relevance → Future Value You wouldn't try to submit an expense without a receipt So why would you try to claim value without one? At Undeniable. we are making it easier than ever to link your day to day work back to value Credibly. Confidently. Coherently. We're launching publicly with this feature soon Join the waitlist to get early access Thanks for reposting - It helps others to show their value P.S - How do you prove your value in the workplace?
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Matthew Skelton
Conflux • 22K followers
I was just thinking about that Product Thinking episode with Melissa Perri. Is scaled agile really helping teams get things done, or does it just give them something to lean on? Too often, organisations lean on frameworks like SAFe as a safety net. But real agility doesn’t come from following steps - it comes from letting go. What goes wrong? ➡️ Teams stay dependent on big-batch planning ➡️ Progress feels slow, even with a framework ➡️ Independence and innovation get postponed The result: Teams can walk, but they can’t run. The companies we've partnered with in Europe show that teams can break away from that support system. Do small experiments, release things faster, take things one step at a time, and suddenly, teams are working at a fast pace every single day across many different products. Catch the full episode here: https://lnkd.in/eFZVGvzu
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Sukhman Ghumman
BD • 3K followers
🚦 ROAM: A simple way Agile teams deal with risks In Agile, risks don’t disappear because we move fast. What makes high performing teams different is how transparently they handle them. One of my favourite techniques from SAFe and broader Agile practice is ROAM. R – Resolved The risk is no longer a threat. O – Owned Someone is accountable to manage and monitor it. A – Accepted We understand the impact and choose to live with it. M – Mitigated We’ve taken action to reduce probability or impact. Why it works? Because every risk leaves the conversation with clarity. No ambiguity. No someone will look at it. There is always a decision. ROAM shifts teams from discussing risk → to taking responsibility. Next time a risk comes up in planning or a review, try ending with: 👉 How are we ROAMing this? You’ll be surprised how quickly alignment improves. #Agile #SAFe #RiskManagement #Leadership #Delivery #ProjectManagement
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Anand Pandey
AOM Consultants • 18K followers
Done is not a checkbox—it’s a commitment to quality. Scrum isn’t just about finishing—it’s about finishing well. I once coached a Scrum Team that regularly completed all their Sprint Backlog items. Burndown looked great. But during the Sprint Review, stakeholders kept asking, “Why isn’t this ready for release?” The team was doing, but not delivering. The Definition of Done was unclear. Testing was partial. Integration was pending. That’s when I stepped in and asked: “What does done actually mean for us?” We worked together to build a clear, shared Definition of Done—covering quality checks, testing, documentation, and integration. And suddenly, the work wasn’t just “complete”—it was usable. 🎯 INTERVIEW TIP: If asked, “How do you ensure quality in each Sprint?”, Say: “By upholding a clear Definition of Done that reflects value, usability, and release-readiness.” 💡 Ask your team this week: “Is our Definition of Done helping us deliver real value—or just marking tasks as finished?” Progress isn’t measured in tickets closed—it’s measured in value delivered. 𝘐 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘣𝘶𝘪𝘭𝘥 𝘢 𝘱𝘶𝘳𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘧𝘶𝘭 life & 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘳. 𝘍𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸 Anand Pandey 𝘪𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘵. #coachanand #strategyforsuccess
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