Better Software - March 2009 - (Page 23) Management Chronicles STORY LINES • Through relationship building, a good manager encourages developers to understand their systems and the larger systems they live in. • Learn from the past, but don’t live in the past. • Good leaders understand the forces for change, and that includes ensuring wins are visible through regular iterations of work. • Remember a fundamental rule: Let the business people make the business decisions. Let the technical people make the technical decisions. “Robin, take a good look at these people. Do you see that woman Buck is hugging? Her son just graduated from college. Showing up at 4:00 a.m. for the past twenty-four years and working any overtime possible made that happen. These people give to this place because they have to, and they are thankful that Buck continues to make sales.” “Look, if you’re guilting me into working overtime …” “I’m not. I’ll get to the point. We have a customer who will commit to a sale if we provide some new features, including software changes. Look at that proposal and determine what is doable and decide by tomorrow how much time you need to work through a few stories.” “By tomorrow? So we’re back to …” “A big part of when is your decision. For now, let the others in our morning stand-up meeting know about this so they can give you input. We will appropriately work this into our planning cycle. Buck presented a good business case, but he has learned not to make promises without talking to us first.” Robin remained incredulous. “Robin, agile is not about picking and choosing what we want to do. It’s about creating relationships, doing the right thing the right way, and delivering. Buck and the senior managers now understand the type of work we do is different. They also trust us because the regular releases are visible proof we know what we’re talking about. They’re even willing to concede that pair programming is not two people doing the work of one and that we don’t need cubicles.” Robin’s mouth dropped open. “No way.” “Yes, way. It was Buck who said it seemed to make sense. He feels better now about what he sells, too.” Buck noticed Robin and Carolyn across the factory floor and gave a broad wave of his hand. Robin glanced down at the proposal, looked back at Buck, and looked at the smiles on the faces of the people he was greeting. Robin held the proposal up and with her other hand gave Buck a thumbs up. Touchdown. {end} What was the defining moment that triggered a shift in your organization? Follow the link on the StickyMinds.com homepage to join the conversation. www.StickyMinds.com MARCH 2009 BETTER SOFTWARE 23 http://www.stickyminds.com/managementchronicles11-2 http://www.ranorex.com/trial http://www.ranorex.com/trial http://www.StickyMinds.com
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