Doing Less, Achieving More: Lean, Clean, and Simple Lessons from Agile Principle #10

Can simplicity be your team’s most powerful productivity tool?

In this episode of The Mob Mentality Show, we explore Agile Manifesto Principle #10: “Simplicity—the art of maximizing the amount of work not done—is essential.”

This isn’t abstract Agile theory — it’s real-world stories and lessons from software teams who’ve learned how to cut waste, focus on what matters, and deliver more by doing less. We share hands-on examples from their work in Mob Programming, Extreme Programming (XP), and Lean Thinking, unpacking how simplicity shows up in everyday team decisions.

🎯 In this episode, you’ll learn:
When saying “no” isn’t the answer — and how to say “yes, and…” instead with…
How small automations can save time, build trust, and remove repetitive work
The power of reducing batch size to get faster feedback and higher quality
What the “nice-to-have bag” taught us about ruthless prioritization
How profitability can actually hide inefficiency and technical waste
Why focusing on the 20% of work that drives 80% of value keeps teams sharp
How to stay lean, adaptable, and resilient — even when things feel “comfortable”
What "gold-plating" really means in the context of software development

This conversation hits the intersection of Agile mindset, team collaboration, and developer culture. It’s packed with takeaways for engineers, team leads, and product owners who want to create sustainable, high-performing teams without falling into overproduction or other lean wastes.

💬 Whether you’re scaling a software product, improving team flow, or rethinking your backlog, this episode helps you bring clarity and simplicity to your workflow — so your team can do less, achieve more, and deliver what truly matters.

Podcast Episode…
Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast...
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/7rGU...
PodBean: https://mobmentalityshow.podbean.com/...
Amazon: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/7a6...

References…
Principles behind the Agile Manifesto: https://agilemanifesto.org/principles...
Incremental Automation, as a Process: https://trello.com/c/LL9gySuz/588-inc...
Scout Rule: https://trello.com/c/hOPuPq6n/217-sco...
Agile Principles #1 - #12 Playlist:    • Agile Principles #1 - #12  

Thanks to G-SLiK (  / g-slik  ) for the intro and outro music.

Chris Lucian and Austin Chadwick discuss all things #agile and product development from a #MobProgramming perspective.

Chris Lucian is the Director of Software Development at Hunter Industries and a founder of mob programming. https://www.chrislucian.com/p/chris-l...

Austin Chadwick is a Mob Programmer at Hunter Industries and is a passionate agilist and craftsman with experience in several roles (e.g. coach, developer, tester, scrum master, business analyst).   / austin-chadwick-3a58151a4  

We would love your feedback and ideas for future episodes! Please add comments to the video or reach out to us on Twitter (   / mob__mentality   &   / christophlucian   ).

All statements and opinions expressed by Chris and Austin are solely their own and do not represent the views of any company. Chris and Austin are just sharing and not recommending ( https://justsharing.dev/ ).