“Done” = “I am proud of it” 2
‘’Done means DONE” is the fundamental assumption of all agile software development methods. Agile does not address the need for re-work or repair orders, assuming it is close to 0.
I believe, Definition of Done (DoD) is one of the greatest challenges for agile teams and one of the most often reasons agile teams fail.
There are multiple checklists available for “Done”, for example here or here. Checklists are great as they formalize the requirements for the coding practices qualities. Yet, it still does not necessarily lead to avoidance of failure.
What we therefore assumed as DoD has been “Done means Shippable”. Well, it does not disambiguate the DoD much. Moreover, in my experience, it does not necessarily lead to the amazing products being developed either.
This said, I would like to change the DoD to “Done means I am Proud of It”.
I believe it would work great for both product owners, scrum masters and team members’ motivation as well as will bring much superior results than quality expectation of “done means shippable”.
We also would need to put a checklist together for coding practices, but it would need to develop this main theme.
What do you think?