Jul 24, 2026
The Transcript:
This is 60 Seconds of Writing in Public with Johanna Rothman for July 24, 2026, where I read an excerpt of just a minute of some writing in progress.
This is from the Continual Planning book.
How old is the oldest item on your team's board or in your backlog? Or, how old is the oldest item on your product roadmap? Or, how old is the oldest item in your project portfolio?
Many organizations have items that are years old.
Maybe you don't think you have anything that old. That’s where the “Sigh Test” can help you see how old the old items are.
At the meeting to choose the next set of work, wherever you are in the organization, someone raises an item you have not yet addressed--for weeks or months, maybe years. How does everyone react when the facilitator asks, "What about this item?"
If you hear anyone sigh, ask yourself how old this work is. The older the item, the more people sigh. And the louder they sigh.