Quotes from Jeff Patton

the real value of stories isn't what's written down on the card. It comes from what we learn when we tell the story.

We can both read the same document, but have a different understanding of it.

The minimum viable product is the smallest product release that successfully achieves its desired outcomes.

Scope doesn't creep; understanding grows.

One potential anti-pattern is to make the business stakeholder take on the product ownership role.

to get something built; rather, it is to learn if we're building

If your goal in reading this book is to learn to write better stories, you've got the wrong goal.

Remember, our goal is to minimize the amount we build (our output) and maximize the benefit we get from doing it (the outcomes and impact).

This is a workshop, not in a meeting. Meeting is the word that has become a euphemism for unproductive collaboration.

She looked at me like I was stupid and said to me one last time with an air of finality, "They're requirements." It was at that moment that I learned that the word requirements actually means shut up. For a great many people, that's exactly what requirements do. They stop conversations about people and the problems we're solving. The truth is, if you build a fraction of what's required you can still make people very happy.

Shared understanding is when we both understand what the other person is imagining and why.

The real goal of using stories is shared understanding.

When I walk into environments where the walls are clear, or even covered with pleasant artwork — or worst of all, motivational posters — it makes me sad.

Stories about backend services or security issues can be challenging. I see people writing and thinking about things from their own perspective, not that of the people who ultimately benefit: "as a product owner, I want you to build a file uploader so that the customer requirements are met." Nasty things like that.

evaluate if we've built what we envisioned at the quality level we hoped for and in the timeframe we planned. Do this in a team product review and reflection.