The HiPPO Effect: Why the Highest Paid Person’s Opinion is Bankrupting Your Agile Teams
It is a scene every Product Owner and Scrum Master knows too well.
You are in a sprint planning session. The team is staring at a complex user story involving legacy code and three different API integrations. The junior developer opens their mouth to suggest it might be a standard "8" point story.
But before they speak, the VP of Engineering—who just "dropped in to observe"—leans forward and says, "Honestly, this looks straightforward. Shouldn't take more than a day, right?"
The room goes silent. The junior developer nods. The senior architect swallows their objections. The estimate goes into Jira as a "2."
Congratulations. You’ve just been trampled by a HiPPO.
What is the HiPPO Effect?
Coined by analytics evangelist Avinash Kaushik, the acronym stands for the Highest Paid Person’s Opinion. It describes the phenomenon where decision-making is deferred to the person with the highest salary or authority in the room, rather than the person with the most relevant data or expertise.
In traditional hierarchies, this was a feature, not a bug. The General made the call; the soldiers marched. But in modern software development—where complexity is high and the "boots on the ground" (your developers) have more context than the executives—the HiPPO effect is a silent killer of agility.
"If we have data, let’s look at data. If all we have are opinions, let’s go with mine." — Jim Barksdale, former CEO of Netscape
This famous quote is often used to justify executive intuition. But in 2025, if you are relying on opinions for estimation and retrospectives, you are choosing to fly blind.
The Psychology: They Think They’re Helping
It is important to note that most "HiPPOs" are not villains. They are usually experienced, well-meaning leaders who care passionately about the product.
They speak first because they want to demonstrate leadership, set the pace, or be helpful. They often don't realize that their title carries a megaphone. When they whisper a suggestion, it lands on the team like a command. They assume that if the team disagreed, they would speak up.
They are wrong. Psychological safety studies, including Google’s Project Aristotle, prove that in the presence of authority, the default human behavior is conformity, not challenge.
The High Cost of "Yes"
The HiPPO effect isn't just annoying; it is expensive. It attacks your organization’s Budget and its Developer Experience (DevEx) simultaneously.
1. The Anchoring Bias (Budget Killer)
When a leader throws out a number or a solution first, they create a psychological "Anchor." Studies in behavioral economics show that even if the team knows the leader is wrong, their subsequent estimates will subconsciously skew closer to that initial anchor.
The result? Systematically optimistic roadmaps. When the inevitable delays happen, the budget is blown, and stakeholders feel lied to. The "HiPPO" didn't mean to cause a budget overrun, but by speaking first, they guaranteed it.
2. The DevEx Death Spiral
Psychological safety is the currency of high-performing teams. When a developer realizes that their expertise is consistently overruled by an executive's gut feeling, they disengage.
They stop warning you about technical debt. They stop innovating. They become "ticket takers"—simply doing what they are told, even when they know it will break. This is the ultimate degradation of Developer Experience. You aren't paying your engineers to type; you're paying them to think. The HiPPO effect stops them from thinking.
The Solution: Democratize the Data
You cannot silence your leadership team (nor should you; their strategic context is valuable). But you can implement tools and processes that neutralize the bias.
We have built our suite of Atlassian Marketplace apps specifically to counter these biases and restore balance to the Agile room.
1. Blind Voting with Scrum Poker
[IMAGE: Screenshot of your 'Scrum Poker for Jira' app. It should show the "Voting" stage where all the cards are FACE DOWN or hidden, proving that no one can see the boss's vote yet.]
The most effective way to kill the HiPPO effect in planning is Assisted Estimation.
Our Scrum Poker for Jira app forces a process called "Blind Voting."
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The Reading: The Product Owner reads the story.
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The Vote: Everyone, from the intern to the CTO, selects their estimate privately.
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The Reveal: The cards are revealed simultaneously.
2. Anonymous Retrospectives
If your retrospectives are full of "Everything is great!" comments while your backlog is burning, the HiPPO is likely in the room. Fear of retribution (or just fear of looking negative) silences critical feedback.
If a manager sits in on a retro, team members will rarely say, "The requirements were unclear," or "The deadline was unrealistic," because it sounds like they are criticizing the person who signs their paycheck.
[IMAGE: Screenshot of your 'Agile Retrospectives for Jira' app. Capture the "Group" or "Vote" phase showing the ANONYMOUS toggle turned on, or sticky notes that do not have user avatars attached to them.]
Agile Retrospectives for Jira solves this by offering Anonymous Feedback modes. By separating the idea from the identity, you ensure that the best ideas win, not the loudest voices.
It creates a "Safe Container" where the truth can surface. Once the truth is on the board, it can be addressed objectively, without personal attacks. It allows the team to safely say, "The new deadline is unrealistic," without worrying about who is reading the sticky note.
Conclusion: Trust Your Experts
The antidote to the HiPPO effect isn't rebellion; it's process.
By moving from open discussions (prone to bias) to structured, blind, and anonymous workflows (prone to truth), you protect your leaders from their own blind spots.
Your developers are the ones writing the code. Make sure their voices are the ones shaping the plan.