Shape Up: Stop Running in Circles
and Ship Work that Matters

Shape Up is for product development teams who struggle to ship. If you’ve thought to yourself “Why can’t we ship like we used to?” or “I never have enough time to think about strategy,” then this book can help. You’ll learn language and techniques to define focused projects, address unknowns, and increase collaboration and engagement within your team.

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“Productivity is through the roof. It’s infinitely easier to produce good work on time with a clearly shaped pitch upfront and a generous deadline of six weeks.”
-John, Addition

“We are now a much more united team. There is no boundary between product and engineering.”
-Simone, Meltwater

“We’re actually SHIPPING real features and the team seems more energized.”
-Mike, SynchroNet

Interviews with the author

Listen to these podcast interviews with author Ryan Singer to get an introduction on the main ideas in Shape Up.

Full list of chapters included in the book

Introduction

Part 1: Shaping

Part 2: Betting

Part 3: Building

Appendices

How to Implement Shape Up in Basecamp
Adjust to Your Size
How to Begin to Shape Up
Glossary
About the Author

Join the Shape Up forum

If you're implementing methods from Shape Up at your own company, this is for you. You'll find deep dives from Ryan on subjects covered in the book, and practical insights from peers who are implementing Shape Up at their own companies.

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“I already see my team thinking deeper about the problems they’re solving. By owning scope within the pitch they are making early tradeoff decisions and focusing on delivering value rather than blindly implementing a product requirement.”
-Matt, Automattic

“We have more focus and purpose. We actively make a bet and stick with it for a pre-determined timeframe.”
-Filip, Lime Technologies

“[Before] I totally felt like a delivery manager and had no time at all to think deeply about what to do next. Now, when a cycle is ongoing, I easily get to use 80-90% of my time to figure out the right thing to tackle next.”
-David, store2be

“We work on much more meaningful projects, because it needs to be worthy of investing 6 weeks. And, the projects ship on time. The teams are trusted and empowered, rather than micromanaged.”
-Brian, Pingboard

“Our team is happier, calmer, and more productive. We’re doing our best work.”
-Dan, Hatch Loyalty

“Now, it’s much more common for us to ship something meaningful in six weeks and show faster progress to customers.”
-Phil, Close.com

“I finally feel ahead of things and much more confident about the work I give to the team, the understanding of the problem and validity of the solution.”
-Aylon, Actionstep