Doc Norton

You get what you celebrate.
You also get what you let slide.

#Leadership #Excellence

Know the problem you are solving — Doc Norton & Associates “Know the problem you are solving” is about knowing the specific problem and for whom this problem exists. It isn't about knowing what solution a persona lacks but about truly understanding a…

Not every story needs to be delivered.
Not every feature needs to be built.
Solving the right problem matters more than completing the backlog.

#KnowTheProblemYouAreSolving #SoftwareDevelopment

Work Together — Doc Norton & Associates When I say, “work together”, I mean just that. Do the actual work together. Every aspect of the product lifecycle is an opportunity for collaboration - Identifying problems to solve, user and market…

No trust, no candor.
No candor, no clarity.
No clarity, no progress.
Start with psychological safety.

buff.ly/2eIINmb

#WorkTogether #Trust

Doc Norton, author of ESCAPE VELOCITY, covers several ways that organizations are not using the metric Velocity in a useful way.
Doc can be contacted on LinkedIN or @DocOnDev.bsky.social.
agilenoir.biz/en/agilethou...

Work Together — Doc Norton & Associates When I say, “work together”, I mean just that. Do the actual work together. Every aspect of the product lifecycle is an opportunity for collaboration - Identifying problems to solve, user and market...

Better conversations create better systems. #WorkTogether

Create simple things in small steps — Doc Norton & Associates Simple Things When I say simple, I don’t necessarily mean easy. And I certainly do not mean crude in form or incomplete. Simple indicates something that does not have superfluous parts or multiple…

Progress compounds when steps stay small.

buff.ly/AuCy68p #CreateSimpleThingsInSmallSteps

Your architecture is what you’ve implemented - not what you label it, not what the autocrat of architecture put on paper, not what the magistrate of methods mandated, but whatever was actually done in the code.

The behaviors you promote set expectations.
The behaviors you ignore set the culture.

#Leadership #Excellence

Empowerment isn’t about gathering opinions before deciding.
It’s about giving the team the authority to decide for themselves.

#Leadership #Autonomy

Waiting to deliver means waiting to learn.
And the longer you wait, the bigger the risk.

#SoftwareDevelopment #CreateSimpleThingsInSmallSteps #ReleaseRidiculouslyOften

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Make the work visible — Doc Norton & Associates A lot of teams have a backlog of some sort and some form of Kanban board — whether it is Jira, Trello, Monday, Asana, MS Project, or a bunch of post-its on a wall. These are all ways of making the work...

Put work on the wall and bottlenecks surface fast. #MakeWorkVisible

Be Meticulous about composition — Doc Norton & Associates Composition refers to the way in which something is put together. Composition is a key element in many of the things humans create. Whether it be a musical piece, a painting, a garden, or a building,...

Great composition makes complexity manageable. #CompositionMatters

Real leadership gives people the freedom to contribute with meaning.

Escape Velocity — Doc Norton & Associates Michael Norton (Doc) is a software delivery professional working to make the world of software development a better place. His experience covers a wide range of development topics. Doc declares…

Obsess less over points per sprint. Look at flow instead.

buff.ly/VmJmXUZ #EscapeVelocity

Know the problem you are solving — Doc Norton & Associates “Know the problem you are solving” is about knowing the specific problem and for whom this problem exists. It isn't about knowing what solution a persona lacks but about truly understanding a…

Clarity first, solutions second.

buff.ly/LRHPKgn

#KnowTheProblemYouAreSolving

Incredibly, @TrigentSoftware keeps calling - no matter how often I tell them to stop calling. I have repeatedly insisted, quite vehemently in some cases, that they cease and desist. I am curious if their data shows that harassment eventually turns into business.

Make the work visible — Doc Norton & Associates A lot of teams have a backlog of some sort and some form of Kanban board — whether it is Jira, Trello, Monday, Asana, MS Project, or a bunch of post-its on a wall. These are all ways of making the work...

Progress is easier to manage when you can see it. #MakeWorkVisible

Ship daily. Learn daily. Improve daily. #ReleaseOften

Know the problem you are solving — Doc Norton & Associates “Know the problem you are solving” is about knowing the specific problem and for whom this problem exists. It isn't about knowing what solution a persona lacks but about truly understanding a…

If the problem is fuzzy, the solution will be too.

buff.ly/LRHPKgn

#KnowTheProblemYouAreSolving

Create simple things in small steps — Doc Norton & Associates Simple Things When I say simple, I don’t necessarily mean easy. And I certainly do not mean crude in form or incomplete. Simple indicates something that does not have superfluous parts or multiple responsibilities,...

Small, simple wins compound into big results. #SimpleSteps

Smaller releases mean smaller risks. #ReleaseOften

Sprint commitments too often shift focus from solving problems to meeting promises.

Know the problem you are solving — Doc Norton & Associates “Know the problem you are solving” is about knowing the specific problem and for whom this problem exists. It isn't about knowing what solution a persona lacks but about truly understanding a…

Before building solutions, build shared understanding of the problem.

buff.ly/LRHPKgn

#KnowTheProblemYouAreSolving

Most teams focus on “how much work is left.” But the real insight is in how work moves through the system. That’s where Cumulative Flow Diagrams shine. buff.ly/3XlK7HQ

#MakeTheWorkVisible
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If your strategy is just copying others,
you’re not leading—you’re following.
Differentiation requires courage, creativity, and experimentation.

#Leadership #ExperimentationMindset

Know the problem you are solving — Doc Norton & Associates “Know the problem you are solving” is about knowing the specific problem and for whom this problem exists. It isn't about knowing what solution a persona lacks but about truly understanding a…

Shipping every story isn’t the goal.
Solving the right problem is.
If half the backlog becomes irrelevant, that means you’re learning.

#KnowTheProblemYouAreSolving #SoftwareDevelopment

In complex domains, optimizing steps often accelerates waste, not progress.

Know the problem you are solving — Doc Norton & Associates “Know the problem you are solving” is about knowing the specific problem and for whom this problem exists. It isn't about knowing what solution a persona lacks but about truly understanding a…

Understanding the problem is the first step toward crafting effective solutions.

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#KnowTheProblemYouAreSolving

VP of Delivery @docondev.bsky.social shares reflections on what bug bashes reveal about the underlying system. https://docondev.com/blog/2025/9/25/bug-bashes-are-a-smell

It is easier
to write an
incorrect program
than
understand a
correct one.

~ Unknown