I often say that software these days is complex. But is it? In Cynefin terms, it’s more like an airplane than a family: it’s complicated. Given enough expertise, all the code, lots of data, and enough time, we could analyze the causal structure of any particular system behavior. We can reason about complicated systems. When … Read moreSoftware is Complicated, Given Enough Time
For: [Virtual open Space] Systems Thinking and Skillful Interaction 20 September, 2023 Keynote by Jessica Kerr, jessitron.com These are my notes, publishing for people who were there (or anyone who wants to read them) Working Skillfully in Complexity Plan: about half on the technical side of sociotechnical systems, half on social. I can’t define what … Read moreWorking Skillfully in Complexity (for VDDD)
here’s an interview from YOW! London, where I did a keynote on what can be better than gamification
Check this out, I have a chapter in this free mini-book: https://landing.confluxhq.com/optimising-fast-flow This came out of a talk at QCon London… the in-person version was better, but they don’t record them anymore.
“I participate in this system, so I’m complicit in it.” All the cruelty, the racism, the poverty, the abuse of power in US capitalist patriarchy–this is my fault too? The guilt can crush us. TL;DR: no, it isn’t our fault. It is ours to do something about, while participating. Participate in the system to fill … Read moreParticipation without complicity
Accountability is about performance and behavior. Patrick Lencioni, The Advantage Accountability for measurable outcomes is “not the most important kind.” It’s the easy kind. The kind [of accountability] that is more fundamental, important, and difficult is about behavior. Lencioni, The Advantage It’s fundamental because behavior is what we can legitimately ask someone to change. Business … Read moreAccountability for Effective Teams
Honeycomb has doubled in size since I joined less than 2 years ago. More people means we can do more things at the same time. Both “more people” and “more things at the same time” lead to increased overhead. There’s coordination overhead to get timings right on work that’s independent. Like, to release a feature … Read moreAlignment gets expensive. Don’t skimp on it.
Resilience is coping with unexpected events and environmental change. To have resilience, you need slack. Slack in software development lets people do the little tasks that keep the work moving smoothly. That helps with everything you didn’t know you needed the software to do.
A viable system continues to function in a changing environment. We want our companies—and some teams—to be sustainable this way. How does your team contribute? Does your team have all the components of a viable system… and should it? Stafford Beer (1926-2002) coined the Viable Systems Model (VSM) to describe what it takes. A Viable … Read moreThe Viable Systems Model, and where my team fits
Are we succeeding as a software team?Well, if our job were feature delivery, we could look at the parade of JIRA tickets in our “complete” column. That is only part of our job, though.The purpose of a software team is to provide valued capabilities to customers, internal or external. To do that, our software has … Read moreFive Measurements You Should Make and Then Ignore (Plus One to Watch Intently)