I let all kinds of things slide to try to make my deadlines. Every time I do that I build up debt. In the end, I have to do those things anyway so I get no advantage. This is because I don’t really think enough about what “done” means. When I need to drive my car to work, there are many steps that have to be completed before I will arrive. I have to search for my car keys until I have found them, when I am done searching for my car keys, I go outside by opening the door. Then I go back in because I have forgotten to put on any pants. Then I go outside again and on and on until i am done driving to work. If I don’t find my keys, I won’t get to work. If I don’t open the door, I won’t get to work. Like that. I can’t miss any of it. When I get there then I am done traveling to work.

“I didn’t know Captain Obvious had a blog”.

Of course software isn’t as simple as finding keys, but each discreet step necessary to complete a software feature is simple. When all of the discreet steps are completed, then the feature is done. If your product owner complains a lot about things not looking the way he or she expected, then you probably haven’t figured out between yourselves what “done” means. This is the hard work of good software development as opposed to learning the nuances of enumerable in Ruby. In fact, you can be a good developer without ever understanding the later, but the prior is fundamental.

Tags: Done Done