Think big, start small

To decompose is to cut one large piece of work into smaller pieces. The cut is not governed by how small a piece gets. It is governed by whether each piece is worth shipping alone.

The floor is value, not size. A piece small enough to build and worth nothing on its own is a violation.

The increment to take is the smallest one that earns its keep. A larger increment is scope to defend, not scope to assume. An increment above the smallest that earns its keep, taken without a stated reason, is a violation.

Each piece records its parent as a field on the piece. A parent held in memory is not recorded, and a thread that cannot be checked is not a thread.

Two hierarchies run through this work, and they join at one point. The first is persistent. It holds what the software does and the parts it does it with. The second is bounded and reaches an end state. It holds the work that advances the first. They join at the parent field, where a piece of work names what in the first it advances. Both nest, which is why they are confused with each other.

A piece whose parent is remembered rather than recorded is a violation. A piece that builds cleanly and is worth nothing alone is a violation. Both leave a decomposition that reads as progress and is not.

Inspection

Walk me through the smallest things currently open, and tell me what each is worth on its own if nothing else ever ships.

Held this, or broke it? Say which principle and what happened — tell me at /contact, subject Principles. What moves a band is somebody else's experience, and I'll publish what moved and who moved it.