Driving Value with Sprint Goals: Humble Plans, Exceptional Results

Chapter 9

Creating Sprint Goals

“Just as nature takes every obstacle, every impediment, and works around it—turns it to its purposes, incorporates it into itself—so, too, a rational being can turn each setback into raw material and use it to achieve its goal.”

—Marcus Aurelius

The previous chapters made it clear what happens when you don’t use Sprint Goals and why Sprint Goals are crucial for dealing with friction and surprises. We now understand why they matter and why we should use them, but we still haven’t examined what a good Sprint Goal looks like.

In this chapter, we explore ways to hit the ground running by creating Sprint Goals so you can get started today. Before we start discussing all the steps necessary to create a good Sprint Goal, ...