The hottest Agile practices Substack posts right now

And their main takeaways
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TBM 403: The Seduction (And Folly) Of Rollups, Points, and (Most) Time Tracking

The Beautiful Mess • 542 implied HN points • 27 Jan 26
💼 Business Agile practices
  1. Rollups, story points, and detailed time tracking feel like neat accounting but are really proxies and guesses, and over-relying on them leads teams to game metrics or manage the proxy instead of the real work.
  2. Time allocation is not the same as capacity — capacity is emergent and built over time — so measurement approaches must match the nature of the system rather than forcing every team into a single rollup model.
  3. Focus on outcome-oriented, low-cost signals that support decisions (like releases, customer impact, dependencies, and flow metrics), connect work to goals when it makes sense, and use rough estimates instead of chasing false precision.

TBM 402: The Real-World Journey to Value and Product-Centricity

The Beautiful Mess • 595 implied HN points • 19 Jan 26
🕹 Technology Agile practices
  1. Change typically begins with a focus on delivery predictability and reducing work-in-progress, where throughput is treated as the main measure of value.
  2. Introducing goals or OKRs shifts attention toward outcomes, but real outcome orientation only sticks when teams, architecture, funding, and ways of working are redesigned so objectives guide work as testable hypotheses.
  3. The healthiest state is when value models underpin org design, goals, funding, and architecture so technology is inseparable from the business, but there is no final destination—models keep evolving and organizations can regress.

Programmer Collaboration Styles

Rethinking Software • 299 implied HN points • 04 Nov 24
🕹 Technology Agile practices
  1. There are two main collaboration styles for programmers: individual stewardship and shared stewardship. Individual stewardship focuses on one person having full control, while shared stewardship means the whole team collaborates closely.
  2. Individual stewardship can lead to high-quality results because it allows for deep focus and mastery, but it might create knowledge silos. Shared stewardship promotes teamwork and knowledge sharing but may lead to average results due to differing skill levels.
  3. The right collaboration style can depend on the work being done. Tasks needing specialized skills might work better with individual stewardship, while general tasks benefit from shared stewardship and constant communication.

Let's get rid of security reviews

Frankly Speaking • 254 implied HN points • 16 Nov 23
🕹 Technology Agile practices
  1. The current security review process is outdated and not aligned with modern development practices.
  2. Implementing efficient and effective security measures may involve integrating software engineers with security teams.
  3. Scaling security efforts requires a rethink of traditional security review processes towards more collaborative and contextual approaches.

Episode 33: Better Built By Burkhard

burkhardstubert • 99 implied HN points • 01 Jan 23
🕹 Technology Agile practices
  1. Test-Driven Development (TDD) helps developers get quick feedback while coding, improving overall project quality. This means fewer mistakes and less time spent fixing problems later.
  2. Using TDD can reduce the complexity of code by breaking down problems into smaller parts, making it easier to manage and understand.
  3. TDD encourages a culture of continuous improvement and teamwork, allowing all developers to take responsibility for the code they write. This leads to better collaboration and a more successful project.
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