A couple of comments on my last post (the sad truth about agile planning) made me think: Maybe I was slamming agile planning too much. Then I thought (after an elaborate discussion with myself) – I wasn’t doing that at all! So let’s put some things in perspective: Can I make a plan for the
If you’ve read any basic agile stuff, you know that agile teams deliver value in a consistent frequency. The team works on what’s important first, giving the best value for money. When working in a consistent velocity, you can estimate very accurately when features are going to be delivered. Prepare yourself for a shock. It
Are sales people and developers like oil and water? As I was reading this article I recalled Michael Feathers’ presentation at NDC about “The mistake at the heart of agile”. To recap: Agile closed the developers behind a walled garden, in order to let them produce without interruption from other sides of the organization. On
The latest “my dad is cooler than your dad” in develop-sphere, started with “The Ruby Train Goes Choo-Choo”. Soon enough many have joined the fray on both the Ruby and .Net sides, with the normal people saying: Take a rest. You are not what you program. Of course, the normal people (I’m assuming you, dear
At NDC I was fortunate to take part in a session of Cyber Dojo, run by Jon Jagger and Olve Maudal. You can have a taste at it online, but it’s better experienced with a guide. The attendees pair up, select a kata and a programming language and start adding features and tests. Every 5
My NDC 2011 talk in moving pictures form. Danger! Craftsmen Ahead! from Gil Zilberfeld on Vimeo.
At NDC 2011, there were a couple of presentations about the state of the agile today. Of note, were Uncle Bob Martin’s excellent “The land that Scrum forgot” (That man can give a show just by reading from index cards!) and Michael Feathers’ “The mistake at the heart of agile”. Until the videos are out,
How can something seem so right, and yet so wrong, at the same time? Easy. When the person who speaks is different than the one listening, which is usually the case, and there’s a translation problem. Consider the term “Refactor mercilessly”. I don’t recall when I first heard it, but it definitely caught my ear
I’m a fan of “House”. I’m currently catching up on the 7th season, where the theme is about truth and lies. For those leaving in a cave with no cable TV, “House” is about a brilliant, misanthropic doctor who runs a diagnostic team in a hospital. In each episode the team dives into a mystery
The Agile Manifesto has 4 principles. In Agile 2008, Uncle Bob Martin in his keynote suggested a 5th principle: Craftsmanship over Execution (Yes, I’m 3 years late for the party, but bear with me. This came to me as I’m preparing to my NDC talk). All principles were written by technical people who emphasized communication