Monthly Archives: October 2011

Draw no more

October 24, 2011 · by · in Uncategorized · Leave a comment

“Draw no more” means withdrawing from the frenetic urge to consume commodities and signs. On a deeper level, it also means a firm refusal to place the self and its subjectivity centre-stage. It means making a deliberate choice not to draw on the self as the creative driving force. (Françoise Guichon) Martin Szekely’s work is […]

If only we knew how little we know at the start

October 21, 2011 · by · in Uncategorized · 1 Comment

If only we knew how little we know at the start we would understand the need to delay decisions until we understand more. I have sat in too many “design” meetings where some crazy design emerges from a bunch of unverified assumptions not to value the concept of reactive design, the value of TDD, designing […]

What are you to me? – Developer’s relationship with the business

October 18, 2011 · by · in Uncategorized · Leave a comment

Software projects fail because many current business models are at odds with the way we developers build software. Businesses who like to command and control or encourage internal competitiveness will fail at producing software which requires permission to fail, collaboration and freedom to innovate. For a development team to produce great software they must combine the […]

User story for Remote Agile

October 14, 2011 · by · in Uncategorized · Leave a comment

So that I can live life fully As a father I want to work as part of a close-knit, productive team without having to commute So that I can be inspired, motivated and see who is free to talk As a communicator I want to see who what everyone else is doing without having to disturb […]

Assumptions

October 12, 2011 · by · in Uncategorized · Leave a comment

In a perfect agile world we would have all the users who will ever use our software merged into one Zen like being who can concisely describe her wants and needs in poetic prose sitting next to us at all times. In 15 years of software development I have rarely spoken directly to a real end-user, and […]

Why failure makes us more productive

October 5, 2011 · by · in Uncategorized · Leave a comment

“Focus on success” , “Get it right first time”, “Failure wastes time and causes embarrassment” These beliefs are drummed into us from an early age and many of us go through life never questioning them. But by accepting that we can fail we become more daring, more creative and less risk-adverse. An artist may make 100’s […]