Sunday 29 March 2015

The #Yestimates hashtag

I didn't invent this hashtag, I heard it in a twitter conversation some time ago. I'm dishonestly stealing the name. Let me state how I look at it. This is just a draft, I might change it later on, but it's a start at least. I think of this hashtag as the more "positive" version of #NoEstimates. I guess they mean the same thing actually, but I feel we need a more "positive" version of it. By "positive" I mean that #NoEstimates can be positive as well, just that some (including myself) might see it as a bit like saying "no", and to me that sounds a bit "negative", but that's just an opinion.

Here it goes:

"Yes, we do estimates! We see it as a way to help our customers make decisions in their hard and difficult situation where they have to make those tough decisions.
Yes, we do everything we can to be transparent and keep an honest conversation and we try to help our customers do the same thing for us.
Yes, we'd like to help them communicate their expectations (or constraints) and we will communicate how we look at things as well.
Yes, we'd like to help them discover where there might be (even more?) value.
Yes, we'd like to help them discover the value by doing the least effort possible.
Yes, we'd like to help them validate their hypotheses.
Yes, we'd like to help them make as quick decision as possible, since delaying value also has a cost.
This way we try to fight all possible dysfunctions that seem so common in the name of estimates."

Some words about decisions

I think a definition is appropriate here. A definition of what we mean by "making a decision".
This is how I define that:
Making a decision means choosing among choices. Each choice have a benefit and a cost. It doesn't have to be a clear monetary benefit, but hopefully it is. Cost is usually always clear monetary in the end. Deciding means "weighing" the available choices and picking one or more of them, or none. In other words "weighing" the different benefits and costs among the choices. That "weighing" is in itself a form of estimating.

That's basically it. Please feel free to help by suggesting improvements/changes or if things needs clarification.

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