Using Ethical Strategies to Order Your Backlog
Egoism, Altruism and Utilitarianism
“The Product Backlog is an emergent, ordered [my bolding] list of what is needed to improve the product. It is the single source of work undertaken by the Scrum Team.” — Scrum Guide 2020
How is your Product Backlog ordered? Based on Return on Investment (ROI)? Who your manager had lunch with yesterday? A Subject Matter Expert's opinion? The strategy document of your company? Something else or a combination of all the above?
What if we add an ethical and philosophical perspective to order Product Backlog Items? Will that help us make better choices?
Imagine we have a backlog going in three different directions.
The first direction is fixing the technical debt. This includes patching third-party components with known vulnerabilities to the latest secure version and migrating an old, not-so-sexy JavaScript library to a new, hip and fun library.
The second direction is to implement the latest hippest buzz feature everyone is talking about. Managers throw the word around big-time; everyone says all customers want it.
The third direction is to fix the registration process, which everyone knows could be more evident. The log says roughly 30% of all registrations are terminated at step four. The UX person has been advocating for change forever. The process works, however, and the company receives enough registrations to be profitable.
Let's do a mind experiment and see how different ethical approaches affect our ordering.
Please note that all of the examples below could be better. The intention is to play a mind game to how different perspectives end up with different results. Forcing us to think in various ways and aspects can help us develop better solutions. These are just thought experiments on how different mindsets can help us find a good path forward.
The Egoistic approach is "What's best for me."
Acting only out of love for yourself without concern for others is a self-centred approach. An egoistic Product Owner (PO) might look at the backlog and think:
"Completing which PBI will make me look best and give me the best possibility of getting a bonus, meeting my targets and, in the long run, a promotion."
Take a minute and imagine you are the egoistic PO — which direction would further your career the most?
My first thought was to go with the hippest latest buzz feature to get managers' attention and work on what they say is essential.
Then my experience kicked in. Working with the latest technology and something new usually means a lot of uncertainty regarding when things will be done and whether something of value is produced. The probability of me looking good is less than working on the registration process with known technology and unquestionable value. More registrations mean more profit.
Working with technical debt is only a risk; if I fix it, no one will thank me, and if I work on it and something breaks, I will be blamed.
The egoistic choice will be to fix the registration process first, then the buzz feature, and if possible, avoid the technical debt.
Did you come to the same conclusion? Or did your thought patterns take you in a different direction?
The Altruistic approach is "What's best for everyone else."
Acting only out of love for others without concern for yourself is an altruistic approach. A generous Product Owner might look at the backlog and think:
"Completing which PBI will result in the most value for the company and End Users both now and in the long run without any concern for how it will make me look."
My first thought was the technical debt direction. As an altruistic person, I must ensure the company can continue its operations safely. As an altruistic PO, I must step up and do what is required, as no one else will. Most likely, this will be technical debt.
The focus of working on shiny new technology without knowing what value or result is unlikely to be the choice of the altruist — there are too many unknowns compared to the known value of fixing the registration process, for example.
So my best guess is the altruist would put technical debt as the top order, then the registration process and lastly, the shiny buzz feature.
Did you come up with another order?
The Utilitaristic approach is "What maximizes the benefit for everyone."
Acting in the interest of maximizing what brings the most benefit to as many as possible is an utilitaristic approach. An utilitaristic Product owner might look at the backlog and think:
"Completing which PBI will maximize the total value for all involved."
Utilitarian PO might look at the directions from a probability approach and analyzes risk, opportunities and consequences. What would be the outcome? The PO could put up a table like the one below.
Mapping outcomes in this matter put the registration process at the top of the list, technical debt and buzz features.
Can an ethical approach help us?
Choosing one ethical approach will not help increase the possibility of ordering your Product backlog for better success. It may be more of a thought experiment. However, considering the importance of all PBIs from many angles will help us make better decisions.
Philosophy taught me that even faulty and incomplete theories bring value. It is the mind process that is important.
Despite taking three different approaches, the registration process ended up as the top one or two and the buzz feature last or second. Weighing it all together, fixing the registration process first is a good choice.
Sometimes you might want to pick a direction that is not beneficial for you in the short run but dramatically helps the company and makes life easier for other teams. Hopefully, they are honest and friendly and will help you next time.
Helping others can satisfy both egoistic, altruistic and utilitarian persons, but for different reasons, no matter how strange that sounds.
“Too many people spend time worrying about what the people, who never think about them, think about them.”
― J.S. Felts, Ageless Wisdom: A Treasury of Quotes to Motivate & Inspire