A first-hand account of adopting Basecamp's Shape Up methodology after a reorg left a 20-engineer team facing maintenance mode. Over eight six-week cycles in 2025, the team replaced Scrum ceremonies with problem-focused pitches, appetite-based prioritization, and two-week cooldowns. Key outcomes include improved developer focus and autonomy, stronger business stakeholder buy-in, and delivery of ~25 projects including major tech debt reduction. Challenges covered include scoping large projects into six-week windows, cooldown periods getting co-opted by business requests, and uncertainty about scaling beyond ~20 engineers.
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