Floehopper
thoughts on the bergy bits of life
I presented several characteristics of people that have recognizable effects on methodology design.
The first is that we are sensitive to communication timing and modalities. The prediction is that physical proximity and ease of communication has dominant effect.
The second is that people tend to inconsistency. The prediction is that methodologies requiring disciplined consistency are fragile in practice.
The third is that people vary, not just daily, but from group to group. Methodologies don’t currently, but do need to deal with this cultural variation.
The fourth is that people like to be good citizens, are good at looking around and taking initiative. These combine to form that common success factor, “a few good people stepped in at key moments.”
Characterizing people as non-linear, first-order components in software development by Alistair Cockburn.In the last several years, though, Agile has become more popular. The market has grown, but the number of organizations willing to be great has shrunk. The emphasis has shifted from “be great” to “be Agile.” And that’s too bad. As much as I like it, there’s really no point in Agile for the sake of Agile.
Worse, with so many organizations interested in “being Agile” rather than “being great,” a whole industry is springing up around providing watered-down, non-threatening, non-boat-rocking (and non-functioning) Agile. If the point is to Be Agile, there’s no need for Agile to actually work. Sell a certificate and walk away. Everyone’s happy, right? Right?
Yuck.
James Shore: Stumbling Through Mediocrity- Manage debt to keep moving fast.
- Eliminate individual anxiety and keep the team resilient by pair-programming all the time.
- Don’t branch and don’t stay away from the trunk for longer than 2 hours.
- If the build breaks fix it immediately, otherwise what’s the point of having it.
- Operate all the environments, including production, yourselves. And do your own support.
- Plan just enough when it’s needed to prevent stalling. Selected bullet points from AGILE IN ACTION: ‘No excuses’ done done