At Highgroove, we like forward momentum. This means that we know that every delivery cannot be perfect, so instead of worrying about perfection, we worry about progress.

By tracking stories in Pivotal Tracker, we have an easy interface to shoot stories back and forth with our clients. As each story is delivered, the client can either accept or reject it. Acceptance allows us to move on to other stories; rejection requires us to restart the story.

But unlike in some other situations, this rejection does not send us crying into a bathroom stall, diary in hand. In fact, this rejection simply helps refine what the story should actually accomplish.

Sometimes clients seem a bit hesitant to reject a story, opting to instead leave a comment that informs us that while they expected to send an email when they clicked “send email,” the system actually logged them out of the site completely. Then the client will proceed to accept the story based on the fact that the button did in fact do something. This helps no one! Reject this!

The constant feedback of accept/reject keeps a developer on track and on pace. When we are waiting for feedback on prior stories, the stories we work on in the meantime lack certainty. We depend on the process to produce and progress.

Acceptance feels great! …when it is for the right reasons. But the important part is not whether you check “yes” or “no” but that you send the note back before class ends!