Thoughts from a Thirsty Bear

It has finally happened! My first podcast interview, ever! I was interviewed by Ian Gill from  Agility By Nature . I have known Ian for a fair few years now, having worked together and shared a few beers on several occasions! We talked about all kinds of things, from my early tinkering with agile methods, through to where I think the industry is heading, and a lot in-between too, some of possibly (hopefully) a little controversial....  Have a listen, and please do ask questions in the comments. AgilityByNature · An Agile Audience with Chris Pitts and Agility by Nature

  “The most efficient and effective method of conveying information to and within a development  team is face-to-face conversation.” The Agile Manifesto’s 6th Principle.   Obvious, isn’t it? The fastest, easiest, best way to exchange information is to actually talk to people . From this simple premise comes the recommendation of “collocated teams” - so that people can communicate with minimal friction. I shall put my hand up and admit that I have fully supported this idea for years, and have regularly encouraged teams to adopt it, usually with fantastic results. There can be no doubt that the approach works extremely well. Not working together in the same physical space forces compromise since it  reduces collaboration unless people actively work to come together. Information flow happens more slowly, and becomes more ‘clunky’. Also people lose the subtle cues from body language, half-heard discussions, and instant team timeouts to discuss important issues or design dec

Unsurprisingly, here at Thirsty Bear Software we have a certain affinity with our bruin brethren, not only in the wild, but also in literature. I have found that one particularly famous bear can teach us a lot about how we behave, how we can improve ourselves, and even about the way we develop software. I am, of course, talking about Pooh Bear, of Winnie-the-Pooh fame. But what can the Bear of Little Brain tell us about true agility? Are you sitting comfortably? Then let's take a stroll to Hundred Acre Wood.... “Here is Edward Bear, coming downstairs now, bump, bump, bump, on the back of his head, behind Christopher Robin. It is, as far as he knows, the only way of coming downstairs, but sometimes he feels that there really is another way, if only he could stop bumping for a moment and think of it. And then he feels that perhaps there isn't.   Winnie-the-Pooh ,  A. A. Milne This is the starting point for many teams, including some self-declared agile teams. They are wor

There’s A Hole In My Sidewalk – by Portia Nelson   Chapter One I walk down the street. There is a deep hole in the sidewalk. I fall in. I am lost… I am helpless. It isn’t my fault. It takes forever to find a way out.  Chapter Two I walk down the same street. There is a deep hole in the sidewalk. I pretend I don’t see it. I fall in again. I can’t believe I am in the same place. But it isn’t my fault. It still takes a long time to get out.  Chapter Three I walk down the same street. There is a deep hole in the sidewalk. I see it is there. I still fall in… it’s a habit. My eyes are open. I know where I am. It is my fault… I get out immediately.  Chapter Four I walk down the same street. There is a deep hole in the sidewalk. I walk around it.  Chapter Five I walk down another street. So which chapter is your team at? Be honest now.