Better Software - April 2009 - (Page 8) Editor’s Pick A trip down Memoir Lane My first retrospective accomplished absolutely nothing. And from what I’ve learned from our conference attendees and our authors, this is an all-too-common problem. I can’t explain why others say this, but in my case, the memories serve as cold reminders of why my first attempt failed. First, I didn’t call it a retrospective. I called it a post-mortem—a hideous term for a potentially great and proactive meeting. Second, I did a terrible job moderating. Over moderating is bad, and so is under moderating—I’m guilty of the latter. Also, the post-mortem was more like an angry wake; everyone wanted to complain more about what went wrong than recall what went right. Applause for good work was quickly stifled by finger pointing. The worst part about it was that nothing in our process changed after the meeting. It definitely wasn’t the best meeting I’ve ever had—I’ve actually had dentist appointments that were more pleasant. For a year or so after this post-mortem, simply hearing the word would make me cringe. This physical reaction remained until a new perspective on the process was presented to me. With it also came a new term. I rejoiced when post-mortem kicked the bucket and in its place retrospective started to be adopted. It’s funny how a simple name change made a world of a difference to me. I first heard the term from Esther Derby, whom I consider to be a retrospective guru. It wasn’t until I read her column “Eight Reasons Retrospectives Fail” that I really understood what had gone wrong with my first meeting. The eight reasons for failure that she offered were like a checklist of all the things I had done. No agenda for the meeting—check. No well-defined focus—check. No presentation of data related to the focus—check. Focusing complaints on bad processes neither defined nor managed by our group—check. The list goes on. Esther’s column was a real eye opener, and I found another article—completely unrelated to software development—that complemented her process and helped me see retrospectives from a different angle. Combining the two has helped me improve the retrospectives I manage so that they’re incredibly productive and fun. What’s the big secret? Memoirs. Lessons from a broken heart or the gritty perspective of a general’s life during war are just two miniscule topics amongst myriad subjects covered in memoirs. And it doesn’t matter if the memoir is hundreds of pages or just six words. What sets memoirs apart from other writings is that the author is expected to share whatever lessons he learned from the event covered in the memoir. Surprisingly, there are several steps in the memoir-writing process that mirror Esther’s advice. The first bit of advice is to pick a significant event in your life—easy enough; pick that one troublesome project that resulted in the entire team’s accruing overtime. Second, use all of your senses. This complements Esther’s advice in that some people can remember more of an event by recalling the emotions they felt. Finally, exercise your writing muscle. If you’re like me and don’t use emotions to recall past events or can’t think of everything during the course of a meeting, maybe taking some time to write down what you do recall could help you. Prior to a retrospective meeting, I jot down an outline of events. Inevitably while doing this, I start to recall more and more facts. Also, I’m a true believer that the meeting isn’t adjourned at its scheduled end time. Most of my best thoughts come after the meeting has ended, and writing them down helps me to remember these thoughts and share them with my group as an addendum. Before you manage or attend your next retrospective, please read Esther Derby’s columns on retrospectives. I suggest starting with “Eight Reasons Retrospectives Fail,” which can be found at www.stickyMinds.com/11-3editorspick. Francesca Matteu Editor, StickyMinds.com fmatteu@sqe.com 8 BETTER SOFTWARE APRIL 2009 www.StickyMinds.com http://www.StickyMinds.com http://www.StickyMinds.com http://www.stickyMinds.com/11-3editorspick http://www.StickyMinds.com
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