i didn’t mean to imply that there shouldn’t be any planning… of course this is necessary. focus and defining priority is required. as owen rogers @ pulse said, release is a marketing term. if you release code to production often, once every few weeks/months, your pr team will just say we had a new release and lump up all the changes that have happened together.

in the same way if you have planned a roadshow, and certain functionality is required for demoing, with shorter releases you focus on whats necessary to make the event a success (maybe a feature doesnt have to be production ready)

i think in the end estimates are taken as law, and people on all sides get frustrated when estimates aren’t correct, there has to be a better way…

I agree and disagree.

I might not need an exact date/ hour/ minute/ second when something would be done but a fair idea is needed. Also, there are some advantages that come up while estimating in a group:

1. You come at a common consensus of what is to be actually done – you highlight dependencies and simply because you want to meet a date, you cut down on features or take another alternative path. If no one ever estimated or said this would be done by this time, none of this would ever happen.
2. I think estimation also helps minimize un-used code because of [1] above. If it does result in un-used code, it is always because the PO thought it would be ok.
3. Finally, as Vishy said, some activities depend on others – like planning a roadshow requires a feature to be completed. And you can’t just say, ok now feature is complete and lets do a roadshow in evening. It needs some sort of planning for these activities.

I do however, agree that estimates should be taken as “estimate”.

Thanks

Vikrama Dhiman

I party agree and disagree with your study, especially in a Product Company.

I agree that no one is good in estimating, its always a guesstimate.

But we require some of the above data, since as a Product Owner you are constantly in interaction with Customer, Sales and Presales and Marketing. All of these mentioned departments require data (Customer: to know when the feature is coming, Marketing: to plan a new event to hit their roadshows and enhance lead generation, Sales and Presales: to add more gas to their content). So this is where the estimates of when things will get rolling is required. Jus thinking from a developers prespective wouldnt help generate revenues

Regards
Vishy