Estimates or #NoEstimates That is the Question

#NoEstimates challenges the value of estimates. Estimates are guesses, they are wrong, and yet they are used to make decisions. Why rely on a guess?

The concept of #NoEstimates has been around for nearly 10 years. This post explores some of the aspects of the #NoEstimates movement and its current status.

I introduced the concept of #NoEstimates in a recent agile training class I was teaching at Northwestern University. My students were aghast at the idea and treated me like a flat earther. Based on their pushback, I decided I needed to learn more about this line of thinking. (In defense of my students, the class was titled Agile Estimating and Planning!)

Background on the #NoEstimates Movement

The NoEstimates movement was founded by Woody Zuill, Neil Killick and Vasco Duarte. The three of them separately came to similar conclusions about the cost and value of estimating.

[By the way, if #NoEstimates disturbs, Zuill’s recommendations for having your entire team work together on one computer as a mob will freak you out.]

Note that the focus of #NoEstimates is on software development though it could apply to most…