T-Shirts Don’t Add Up [4/4]

Series: Deep in the Heart of Agile—Why Points Don’t Measure Up

Part 4 of 4: T-Shirts Don’t Add Up

T-shirt sizing. 1-10 scales. Fibonacci. They all try to solve one thing: subjective effort. But they weren’t made for math.

Time is quantifiable. Effort is not. Estimation in Agile? Famously unreliable. That’s why I propose: SMLXD

Small
Medium
Large
eXtra-large
Double-XL

Individual contribution could look like: SSLL, MLX, or 3S.4M.2L.2X.1D. You don’t do math with SMLXD. You talk. You assess. You plan.

Use Fibonacci for what it’s good at: growth. Use real metrics and conversations for the rest.

“Working software is the primary measure of progress.” — The Agile Manifesto

“There are two 1s in the Fibonacci sequence, so if someone says ‘Which one?’ during planning poker, you can say ‘I know, right?’ ” — Me

Rich Williams is an agilist in Dallas, Texas. He likes his logic sound and his jokes slightly annoying. He invented the term FLAWGIC, regrets nothing, and enjoys long walks through failed sprint retros. Big. Bald. Bearded.

Agile, Texas