---
url: 'https://simonerescio.it/en/2014/05/sprint-planning-and-doing-shopping'
title: Sprint planning is like grocery shopping on an empty stomach
author:
  name: Simone Rescio
  url: 'https://simonerescio.it/en/about-me/'
date: '2014-05-19T15:09:43+02:00'
modified: '2026-04-20T23:05:20+02:00'
type: post
summary: 'When acceptance criteria are fuzzy, sprint planning feels like shopping while starving—you overload the cart. Here is why that happens and how to keep scope honest.'
categories:
  - Pearls of wisdom
tags:
  - Agile Scrum
published: true
---

# Sprint planning is like grocery shopping on an empty stomach

A sprint planning with unclear acceptance criteria is like doing your shopping while starving. You will put in the cart more than you can actually handle.

**Sprint planning** under pressure works the same way: when acceptance criteria are vague, the urge to "commit" for the sprint pushes you to take on more than the team can deliver. That is a human reaction, not a failure of discipline.

What helps is to name the risk before you fill the backlog: a minimal set of acceptance criteria, time-boxed spikes for unknowns, and a deliberate cut to scope. That keeps planning useful instead of turning it into an impossible promise.

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