This document discusses user stories and how they are often misunderstood and misused, leading to bad outcomes. It covers common templates like "As a user I want X so that Y", acronyms like INVEST, and estimation techniques like story points. While templates, acronyms and techniques were created with good intentions to help define and size stories, they are often applied rigidly without considering context, and can result in stories that are not independent, valuable or testable. The document advocates understanding the original purpose of user stories and adapting any related practices to the specific team and project context to avoid dysfunction.