Adopting Golazo
Summary
A deliberate 90‑day, "by the book" trial lets a team experience improved flow, quality, and learning before deciding what to tailor. Partial adoption almost always underdelivers.
Team Size and Suitability
Ideal core team size: 6–8 engineers. Smaller teams work well; larger teams may split into two boards with periodic sync. Research‑heavy teams or platform teams can adapt ticket definitions but should maintain short validation cycles.
Prerequisites
| Area | Requirement | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Leadership Support | Agreement not to override core practices mid‑trial | Shield from premature customization |
| Coach | Access to experienced internal or external coach for at least the first 4 weeks | Can be borrowed from another team |
| Tooling | Visual board, shared design doc space, chat channels | Keep setup lightweight |
| Psychological Safety | Blameless retros | Essential for honest improvement |
Handling Downsides and Concerns
| Concern | Response |
|---|---|
| "Too much ceremony" | Ceremonies are intentionally short. Measure the time spent so it stays a small fraction compared to regained flow. |
| "Hard boundary with other teams" | Use Ready gate and clear acceptance criteria to collaborate; share design docs early with dependents. |
| Career progression for senior IC scope | Seniors lead architectural alignment, backlog shaping, and mentoring. They document leadership contributions in design rationale and retros. |
| "Design docs slow us down" | Track PR churn before and after; most teams see net reduction in total time to deliver. |
Common Anti‑Patterns
- Cherry‑picking only "visible" practices like standup while skipping design docs or reviews.
- Ignoring WIP limits when pressure rises with a "just this once" mentality.
- Letting spikes grow into hidden implementation work.
- Delaying customer validation means tickets linger in Release/Done without confirmation.
- Premature customization such as adding extra columns before baseline flow is stable.
Adoption Checklist
- [ ] Board created with columns, rails, WIP limits
- [ ] Communication channels live
- [ ] Design doc template accessible
- [ ] First 10 backlog items refined & prioritized
- [ ] On call engineer playbook drafted
- [ ] Meetings scheduled