Podcasts

Human-less Change Fails

Coaching, Change Harvesting / / 5 minutes of reading

  A lot of the reasons that change fails, inside & outside technical organizations, come down to one broad statement: the people who have to make the changes are humans, and the people who want them to make the changes have not successfully taken this into account. Before we proceed: Changing a software development process is kind of a sideshow to me right now. Changing the world out on the streets is the real story. Black lives matter. Please go […]

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CHT-Style Implementation

Programming, Modern-Synthesis, Change Harvesting / / 6 minutes of reading

When we did our compare & contrast of the working models underpinned by Change-Harvesting theory (CHT) vs Rework Avoidance Theory (RAT), we temporarily sidestepped the specific differences of the implementation part. Let’s drill in on that today. Read the first post here: Change Harvesting vs Rework Avoidance It was quite a sidestep: other than the implementation part of the two models, they have much in common, with the key difference being the highly iterative nature of CHT’s approach. If we

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Change Harvesting vs Rework Avoidance

Change Harvesting, Modern-Synthesis / / 7 minutes of reading

Let’s compare and contrast the RAT (Rework Avoidance Theory) model of software development with the CHT (Change Harvester Theory) model. The differences are multiple and pronounced, so this may take us a while. It is not rote for me: there are many more important things to be doing right now than geekery. I’m actively supporting my friends & family out there seeking equity in the streets. Stay safe, stay strong, stay angry, stay kind. Black lives matter. I want to

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Iterative User Value in Flows

Modern-Synthesis, Change Harvesting / / 5 minutes of reading

A flow app, one that steps the user through an acyclic graph, typically gathering info at each stage, can be built to provide iterative user value by gradual refinement. Let’s look at how that’s done. Before we get into it, for me, and maybe for you, too, geekery right now is not the most important story. It’s just comfort food. If you’re out there working for change today, I support you wholeheartedly. Black lives matter. Stay safe, stay strong, stay

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The Correlation Principle

Modern-Synthesis, Change Harvesting, Programming / / 8 minutes of reading

The correlation principle says that our productivity is tightly correlated with the internal quality of software. The two go up together, and they go down together, and you can’t trade away the one to get more of the other. Let’s talk it over. I remind us that geekery isn’t the main story right now, though you and I can use it as comfort food. Keep working on changing the world. We can do this. In fact, we’re the only thing

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Iterative User Value

Modern-Synthesis, Change Harvesting / / 7 minutes of reading

How do we iterate user value? How can we follow the "more smaller steps" approach and still deliver a positive experience for the user? Today let’s look at some ways to approach this problem. It’s important for me to remind you that, for me and many others, working for equity in the world is far more important than geekery. I regard this as a side-story. Stay safe, stay strong, stay kind, stay angry, please, because black lives matter, and we

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Pathing: A Style of Laying Out Work

Programming, Change Harvesting, How I Work / / 6 minutes of reading

I do "pathing" when I project my work into the future: laying out a sequence of work steps, where each step ends with the code in a shippable state. More than design, and more than planning, pathing is a kind of work-style, and it brings me several benefits. Here in the US, citizens are out in the streets on a quest for equity, and the truth is that geekery just isn’t the main story. If you’re out there working for

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Embrace Change: Modern Geekery Practices

Programming, How I Work / / 6 minutes of reading

"Embrace change" is the modern geekery catchphrase for our most basic idea: We change software, therefore we want everything around us to support that: code, technique, tools, controls, tracking, planning, infrastructure, and above all, culture. Before we start, remember, geekery’s not the main story right now. The real embrace of change is happening out there on the streets. I fully support my friends & family out there in their quest for equity. Stay safe, stay strong, stay kind, stay angry.

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Pedagogy In The Trade: Changing Emphasis

Pedagogy / / 7 minutes of reading

I want to start talking about teaching in the geek trades. Today in particular, I want to talk about "emphasis", what our style & materials stresses or underlines about the path to mastery for our up and coming geeks. Black lives matter. Here I sit writing geekery, a sideshow, while my siblings are out there day on day putting themselves at grave personal risk in the quest for equity. I strongly support their efforts. Stay safe, stay strong, stay angry,

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Retrospectives: Variety is Key

Change Harvesting / / 7 minutes of reading

I strongly recommend high variation in both format and facilitator of retrospectives. I don’t hear this take often, and I certainly don’t see it at a lot of shops, but I think it has tremendous merit. Let’s talk it over. I don’t wanna be pro forma, & I know I’ve mentioned this a lot, but I gotta say it again: for me, and for some of you, geekery is a side story right now, when people are out in the

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