I see this pattern too often: a user story lands with missing API endpoints or vague acceptance criteria. Someone says, “It’s fine, we’ll figure it out later.” But it’s not fine. These small gaps aren’t harmless—they build up as process debt. You don’t feel it right away. Then a sprint starts, and you scramble to clarify requirements, patch gaps, or worse, make assumptions. Code quality drops. Planning falls apart. Deadlines slip.
When a tech lead tries to raise the bar, others sometimes roll their eyes, saying it’s “just process.” But a solid Definition of Ready isn’t red tape. It’s the team’s way of agreeing, “We care about quality. We want to ship fast, not fix later.”
If you don’t share this ownership as a team, someone gets forced into the “quality cop” role. That always fails. The team moves faster and more freely when everyone holds the standard—and everyone feels the pain of getting blocked when the bar isn’t met.
If you want speed and autonomy, start with discipline. “It’s fine” is the slowest way to build software.