One thing I have learned in the professional world is that the best developer is not always the one grinding the longest hours. It is usually the person who steps back, looks at the bigger picture, and solves the right problem. Real impact comes from removing friction, not adding more tasks to your plate.

A perfect example came from something as simple as sprint planning. My teams follow the usual agile and scrum flow, and part of that depends on planning poker. We used a free demo site for scoring our work, but of course that demo eventually became a paid only tool.

The result was awful:

  • Devs started blurting out their scores out loud
  • People began agreeing with the loudest person in the room
  • Honest opinions disappeared
  • Planning became inaccurate
  • Delivery expectations became unrealistic
  • The room felt less collaborative and more chaotic

I saw a few major problems right away:

  • Inaccurate planning leads to missed deadlines
  • Missed deadlines lead to blame
  • And the worst part, people stop feeling heard

So I did something simple. I built my own planning poker app. Nothing huge. No months of work. Just a clean little tool that used backend, web sockets, and a simple UI. Something I could use to strengthen my portfolio and help my team.

The result:

  • Our BAs now use my app for every sprint
  • Planning is quiet again
  • Everyone gets to vote without influence
  • Estimates are more accurate
  • The team feels more respected
  • The entire process runs smoother

The whole MVP took me one day.

One day of work now saves hours every single sprint for multiple teams. That single day of effort pays off over and over again. That is the part that matters. I did not need to work harder. I just needed to solve a problem that was slowing everyone down.

This experience reinforced something important for me:

  • Working hard does not always create value
  • Solving the right problems creates massive value
  • A few thoughtful hours can outperform a month of grinding

Sometimes the most productive thing you can do as a developer is not to work more. It is to fix the bottleneck that is wasting everyone else’s time.

That is how you multiply impact. 🔥