Shape Up - Shaping Workflow

Core Philosophy

Fixed time, variable scope.

Shape Up inverts traditional estimation:

• You don't estimate how long something takes, then ask for that time
• You decide how much time something is worth, then shape to fit

Shaped work has three properties:

1. Rough - Visibly unfinished, leaves room for creativity
2. Solved - Main elements connected, clear direction
3. Bounded - Explicit appetite and no-gos

The shaper's job: Define work at the right abstraction level - neither too vague (leaves team lost) nor too detailed (constrains team creativity).

See: skills/shape-up/references/methodology.md for the full philosophy.