Better Software - May 2008 - (Page 35)

For too long we have deceived our clients by saying progress was steady, when in truth deliverables could not be met on time or on budget. In the past we continued blindly, hoping to “catch up” but inevitably failing our clients. The courage in giving a true and honest reflection of progress (velocity) will be rewarded as you are supplying the client with the ability to change perception, scope, and so on in enough time to achieve success. are influencing their decisions. While empathizing, we must strive not to preach, bully, nag, or belabor a point. Influencing others occurs through a bond of respect to one another, a sharing of goals, and a strong sense of conviction toward achieving those goals. Attaining these skills requires constant effort. Faith A knight must have faith in his beliefs, for faith roots him and gives hope against the despair that human failings create. Be generous in so far as your resources allow; largesse used in this way counters gluttony. It also makes the path of mercy easier to discern when a difficult decision of justice is required. Largesse Every team member needs to have faith in the scope accepted into an iteration and in the goals and development principles of the agile methodology in general. Expressing dissatisfaction after the planning meeting and continually attempting to railroad the iteration via a series of interruptions will have a very negative influence on achieving the goals set. Faith in all decisions made in iteration planning is needed, which is why it is so important to seek consensus. Doubts should be noted and revisited in the retrospective where success will be inspected and, based on team dialogue, adaptations may be required going forward. Agile can be effectively implemented only when all team members have complete belief in the processes. Martin found himself in a difficult situation when he left a first iteration planning meeting with a team member clearly not happy about using agile techniques. This individual predicted failure of the agile process and was quite public in voicing that opinion. The iteration was railroaded and a lot of Martin’s time was spent doing damage control, resolving the rifts that this vocal negativity wrought within the organization. This experience underscores not only the importance of consensus when a team decides on its beliefs but also the strength of faith a team needs to have in its process when that process is challenged. Nobility Seek great stature of character by holding to the virtues and duties of a knight, realizing that though the ideals cannot be reached, the quality of striving towards them ennobles the spirit, growing the character from dust towards the heavens. Nobility also has the tendency to influence others, offering a compelling example of what can be done in the service of rightness. Teams usually take their first steps toward agility in one of two ways: They focus on learning to work in short, timeboxed iterations, or they focus on learning a couple of new technical practices, such as pair programming, emphasizing automated unit testing, or doing test-driven development. These initial steps often lead to great results that should serve as the basis for becoming more agile. Unfortunately, we see too many teams stop after this first success. They forget that part of being agile is continuously improving. Agile teams, like ancient knights, should strive to reach ideals—perfect, bug-free code every time—even though they know they can never succeed. Teams must remain noble when trying to influence others in adopting agile. Forceful exertion of beliefs does not work. Self-awareness and empathy are the skills we must master. In order to influence others, you must begin by understanding how people feel, their perspectives on the topic, and what factors www.StickyMinds.com Who hasn’t worked with the colleague who gave freely of his or her time, patiently answering our questions, and showing how things should be done? This type of mentor—whether senior to us in the organization or not—can have tremendous influence. Not only do we learn skills from such a colleague but we also learn the value of mentoring and repay that kindness by mentoring others ourselves. Sadly, many of us have also worked with the colleague who refused to share his time or expertise—the gruff coworker who clings tightly to his knowledge of how to change the transaction date on processed data records, following his unstated rule that unshared knowledge leads to job security. Which of these individuals did you prefer working with? How would you like your coworkers to think of you? Be generous as far as your knowledge and experience allow. Defense The ideal knight was sworn by oath to defend his liege lord and those who depended upon him. Seek always to defend your nation, your family, and those to whom you believe worthy of loyalty. Though ancient knights may have willingly given their lives to defend their liege lords, we’re unwilling to suggest that modern-day software chivalry calls for a team member to be willing to die in defense of his CEO. In this modern age team members instead need to defend their applications vigilantly. ApplicaMAY 2008 BETTER SOFTWARE 35 http://www.StickyMinds.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Better Software - May 2008

Better Software - May 2008 Contents Mark Your Calendar Contributors eLightenment Technically Speaking Code Craft Test Connection Management Chronicles Cover Story: It's A Bug! The Chivalrous Team Member Let's Talk Agile Product Announcements 10 Things You Might Not Know About... The Last Word Ad Index

Better Software - May 2008

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