12 things that are not iteration

Iteration can be uncomfortable, even painful. If you’re doing iteration correctly, it should be. Reverting work back to a previous state is positive, not negative. It allows us to get quick feedback and learn from it. Making a small change prevents a bigger revert and makes it easier to revert.

Iteration is often counterintuitive and difficult to do. Below are 12 examples of things usually mistaken as iteration but don’t meet the definition of iteration.

1. Reducing quality
2. Avoiding or reducing documentation
3. Compromising on security
4. Delivering something that’s not the recommended path or on by default
5. Shipping something of no value
6. An excuse to focus on unimportant items
7. Changing or lowering goal posts
8. Revisions you don’t ship or publish
9. An excuse to impose unrealistically tight timelines
10. An excuse to avoid planning
11. Imposing long hours
12. Expecting others to fix your work

GitLab’s co-founder and CEO Sid Sijbrandij elaborates on these 12 things that are not iteration.