Tickets Create Silos
Today I’m speaking at Agile Prague about a topic that lies at the heart of modern product development: why tickets create silos – and how we can move beyond them to unlock true interdisciplinary collaboration.
In the early days of software development, tickets served an important purpose: they protected developers from overbearing management and created structure in a simpler process. But today’s teams are different. They are multidisciplinary by design – developers, designers, and product managers working together. And here, tickets fall short. By separating “thinking” from “doing,” tickets split responsibility in a way that limits creativity and prevents real collaboration. One side defines work, the other merely implements it.
Shape Up by Basecamp offers a fresh alternative: “fixed time, variable scope.” Instead of rigid task lists, teams shape projects together. They decide what is valuable to build, within a set timeframe, and take joint ownership of outcomes. This shifts the dynamic from “handing over tasks” to “building together,” empowering small, autonomous teams to deliver end-to-end solutions that matter.
My goal with this talk is to share why breaking the ticket cycle is so crucial – and to show a path forward toward truly empowered, interdisciplinary collaboration.
Slides