Hi everyone!

If you know anything about me you probably know I have a (perhaps irrational) dislike for two common analysis techniques: user stories, and MoSCoW.

Well it was my dislike for MoSCoW that got me into trouble last week. Maarten Dalmijn did an excellent job outlining why MoSCoW sucks and of course I shared it – gotta love it when someone you follow promotes your exact opinion!!

But I got criticised because you're not meant to use MoSCoW to prioritise features. Apparently, all tools are perfect and all issues are due to user error. 🙄

Doesn't that sort of miss the point?

The whole thing got me thinking about the language we use when we talk about tooling and approaches, and ultimately in this month's article:

Because since tools are only ever used in context, shouldn't the effectiveness of any tool only be evaluated within a specific context?

I think so yes.

And does this mean I'll back down on my outright dislike for MoSCoW?

You'll have to read it to find out!

But also – spoiler – no. MoSCoW still sucks.

The paradox of choice

Usually I have at least 3 articles brewing at one time and the challenge is narrowing down what I want to write about rather than coming up with something to write about.

But I think I've got an analysis hangover from writing last month's breakup article. Deciding that I'm not a business analyst shouldn't actually change anything and yet it does. If I'm not a business analyst, I can write about ... anything?

This month it took me ages to come up with this topic – I ended up having to phone-a-friend – the paradox of choice in action. But I did actually manage to get back on the horse, or whatever the literary equivalent of a horse is.

If you have any advice for getting some focus and clarity back – I'd love to hear it!

As always, I would love to hear your thoughts on this (or anything else), so do reply to this email, DM me on LinkedIn, or send me a letter via pigeon. 

I cannot tell you how much I like hearing from y'all!

And until next time, stay excellent! 💖
Hannah