People often look at me quizically when I suggest that we could run the entire business on a points system.

What’s in a point? “Points” by their very nature are an arbitrary tool. Take the stockmarket. A points system is used there to measure increase and decrease as a %. What is a “point” worth on the stockmarket though? Not a million dollars… Apparently it’s just an arbitratry measure set at a specific date in the 1800’s on 30 big businesses. That’s it.

So why are points valuable for us? Agile is the natural example, where estimation using points provides a simple way of using relative size to predict (far more) accurately the effort required to complete a task.

The Scrum estimation way of thinking forces people to acknowledge that when something is really big, they can’t possible be precise about the actual effort involved. It’s only when it’s broken down that they are able to do that – and sometimes that can only happen when they’re most of the way done with something else…

But let’s take it one step further.

Imagine we were able to invoice based on points achieved, which was a measure of value instead of time & effort. Immediately, you can level the playing field of “I didn’t estimate that” – everyone knows how much a point is worth, and different people know their capabilities of points per day.

It becomes a simple, clear goal of business success too. Each and every individual in the business can be a part of on a weekly, even daily basis.

It can also become a rate card. Those who have dealt with invoicing against a rate-card know how much of a headache it can be, and how tricky it makes adjusting budgets based on available resources. What if a rate-card was a reflection of your personal run-rate on a weekly basis?

Outwardly, a client sees a very simple “200 points” but internally, we can plan with felxibility based on specific resources run-rates, and make sure that people get the time they need to do the job right.

So there’s some mind-bending-ness to send you into the weekend.