Not all surprises in product development are true unknowns

TL;DR; Many surprises in product development are due to poor backlog management rather than true unknowns. Regularly reviewing and categorizing past surprises helps teams improve their backlog and anticipate issues. Development managers should ensure their teams use backlog refinement to build foresight and reduce avoidable disruptions.

Published on 28 April 2025

Written by Martin Hinshelwood

1 minute read

https://nkdagility.com/resources/3R0CYmaHd63

Not all surprises in product development are true unknowns. Many are just the result of bad backlog management.

Teams often get blindsided by last-minute changes, unexpected dependencies, or hidden complexities. But here’s the reality: Most of these “surprises” could have been anticipated with better refinement.

How often do you reflect on the surprises from previous Sprints?
Do you categorise them into genuine unknowns vs. things you should have seen coming?
Are you adjusting your approach based on these learnings?

Refinement isn’t just about breaking down work, it’s about building foresight. If your team is constantly caught off guard, your backlog isn’t doing its job.

Also published on: LinkedIn

Connect with Martin Hinshelwood

If you've made it this far, it's worth a conversation. Tell us where you are and what you're trying to change. Martin reads every inquiry and replies personally.

Start the conversation

Our Happy Clients

We partner with businesses across diverse industries, including finance, insurance, healthcare, pharmaceuticals, technology, engineering, transportation, hospitality, entertainment, legal, government, and military sectors.