🚫 Why the “Definition of Ready” Is Killing Your Agility
Let’s not sugarcoat it.
The Definition of Ready (DoR) isn’t part of Scrum. It’s not in the official Scrum Guide (2020). It was born out of good intentions—but it usually ends up being a bureaucratic roadblock.
What’s worse? It’s anti-agile at its core.
💣 The Problems With Definition of Ready
1. Artificial Bottlenecks
DoR becomes a gate. Stories are held back for being “not ready,” even when teams could have started collaborating to uncover unknowns. Time gets wasted waiting for the perfect story.
“We can’t start this yet, it doesn’t meet the Definition of Ready.”
Translation: We’re stalling instead of solving.
2. Collaboration Killer
When teams hide behind DoR, they stop talking. Backlog refinement becomes a formality instead of a dynamic, continuous conversation with the Product Owner.
3. Ownership Gets Ejected
Responsibility shifts. Developers say:
“The PO didn’t give us enough details.”
Instead of:
“Let’s work together to clarify this in the sprint.”
That’s not cross-functional. That’s finger-pointing.
4. Waterfall in a Hoodie
Big up-front planning disguised in a hoodie that says “Agile.” The moment you’re demanding full requirements and estimates before starting a sprint, you’ve stopped iterating and started waterfalling.
✅ What You Should Do Instead
Forget the checklist. Build a culture of shared ownership and adaptive planning.
✔️ Run real backlog refinement
Involve the whole team. Break work down incrementally. Leave room for discovery in the sprint.
✔️ Embrace ambiguity, resolve through conversation
Don’t fear the unknown—make it known by collaborating.
✔️ Focus on value, not checkboxes
Ask: “What outcome are we delivering?” Not “Is the story ready?”
✔️ Build trust across roles
The more trust between Product Owner and Developers, the less “ready” you need to feel. Because you’ll figure it out together.
🎯 Final Word: Don’t Gate Your Flow
Definition of Ready is a crutch.
It props up teams that don’t trust each other or don’t collaborate well.
If you want a high-performing, Agile team:
Deliver in small slices
Prioritize conversation over documentation
Iterate with intent
Keep your eyes on value, not process
Ditch the checklist. Deliver the damn value.