Stop Estimating in Numbers: Why Your Team Needs Pumpkins and Whales
A number on the board becomes a deadline in someone's head. Trade the numbers for pumpkins and whales.
Estimation poker notes
Field notes on sizing work, running the ceremony, and the small habits that make estimates worth having. No fluff.
Beyond Standard Fibonacci: Picking the Right Deck for Your Sprint
Standard Fibonacci is a default, not a law. When to reach for powers of two, modified Fibonacci, or a plain linear deck.
Story Points vs. Hours: Why We Stopped Estimating Time
Time is subjective. Complexity is universal. Why story points price in the risk and unknowns that hours can't.
The Science of Relative Sizing
'Is this bigger than that?' is a question your brain evolved to answer. 'How many hours?' is one it didn't.
Anchor Bias Is Why You Reveal Blind
Someone says 'I think it's a 3' and the round is over before it started. Blind reveal exists for a reason.
Beyond Fibonacci: When Numbers Hurt
When numbers become a proxy for hours, they stop measuring complexity. T-shirt sizing breaks the link.
Why We Have a Coffee Card
The card that says 'I'm spent' is a feature, not a joke.
Cut Your Sprint Planning Time in Half
Refine before you plan, argue only over outliers, and pick a tool that gets out of the way.
Remote Estimation: Cards on a Shared Screen
Physical cards on a table, then a shared screen. How to keep the argument energy over the wire.
The Silence Rule: Affinity Estimation
Vote first, debate second. The silence rule keeps every estimate an independent, uninfluenced read.
Five Estimation Poker Mistakes
Talking before voting, equating points to hours, averaging the scores — five habits that quietly ruin estimation.
Your Velocity Is a Lie
When a measure becomes a target, it ceases to be a good measure. Velocity is for capacity planning, not performance reviews.
The Danger of the Average Estimate
The average of a 3 and a 13 is an 8 nobody believed in. Listen to the extremes.
From Poker to Predictability
Consistent sizing is the only thing that makes a burndown chart mean anything.
Spot Scope Creep Early
A universally high estimate usually means 'we don't know the edges of this feature.' Break it down.
No Login Beats Heavyweight Suites
The deck you don't open is the deck that never gets played. Friction kills the ceremony.
The Question Card Is the Most Important One
The most underrated card is the one that lets a junior say 'I don't understand' out loud.
Async vs. Live Estimation
What real-time poker gives you that a comment thread can't.
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