What Role Does Inspection Play in Product Goals?
Regular inspection of progress toward the Product Goal during Sprint Reviews ensures adaptation and prevents teams from blindly following a plan. Ignoring inspection undermines the Agile value of responding to change over following a plan.
Metaphor
Inspecting progress toward a Product Goal is like checking the GPS during a road trip. Both reveal whether you’re still on the right path or need to reroute before wasting time and fuel.
In Scrum, that inspection happens in Sprint Reviews, turning Product Goals into living guides that adapt with reality instead of rigid plans.
Failure to inspect the Product Goal is commonly considered an anti-pattern.
Works Consulted
In addition to any sources cited above, the following works informed my thinking:(1)
1.
Wolpers S. Your Unfit Product Goal and the Product Goal Canvas — Making Your Scrum Work (28) [Internet]. 2022 [cited 2025 Sep 4]. Available from: https://www.scrum.org/resources/blog/your-unfit-product-goal-and-product-goal-canvas-making-your-scrum-work-28