Wow, already week 41 … I missed some weeks since last time. Time to catch up!
The controversy around SAFe goes on:
Erwin van der Koogh on When is SAFe appropriate to use?
SAFe is great for companies trying to delay the inevitable.
And there seemed to be some fun at the Agile Business Conference:
Apparently SAFe is being supplemented with SAFer and SAFest. Or something. Hoping DAD responds with GRANDAD and STEPDAD. #AgileBC14
— Dan North (@tastapod) October 8, 2014
OH: “I’m an engineer on a release train.” I want that job - POOP, POOP!! #SAFe #AgileBC14
— Dan North (@tastapod) October 8, 2014
Trouble in Paradise: Disillusion about GitHub
GitHub was always my poster-child as a modern software company. Their approach to a no-managers culture is fascinating:
And the presentations of Zach Holman of GitHub are famous. They give the impression of being a paradise for software developers...
… but at the beginning of the year there seemed to leak some concerning stories from that paradise:
- Sexism And Intimidation at Github
- Results of the GitHub Investigation (CEO is leaving the company)
- The other perspective: Facts Conveniently Withheld
I don’t know what to think about it, but for me it’s a a modern case of “Paradise Lost”.
More about the No Managers Culture
How Medium Is Building a New Kind of Company with No Managers:
In Holacratic systems, individuals operate without managers because many of them have decision-making power in a particular area. And since everything is made as explicitly as possible, everyone in the organization knows who has authority over what.
Harvard Business Review: First, Let’s Fire All The Managers
Management is the least efficient activity in your organization.
What I find particularly interesting in the above HBR article is, that the No Managers Culture is not rooted in nor confined to the software industry.
When I grow up I want to be referred to as a “resource” by a PM.
— I Am Devloper (@iamdevloper) October 7, 2014
People Are Not Resources - "People become more valuable over time. Show me a desk that does that." http://t.co/K3Klq22WTQ
— Pascal Rusch (@pascalrusch) September 29, 2014
It doesn't matter how many "resources" you have if you don't know how to use them. pic.twitter.com/7YtA99z5Un
— banksy (@thereaIbanksy) September 30, 2014
More about Plans and Estimations
My Customers Need Estimates, What Do I do?
If you choose to serve customers who need an estimate/price, then do estimates/prices. If you choose to serve customers who are willing to let requirements emerge, then get good at the Agile way. It’s your choice.
Two Reasons Why Estimates Aren’t Worth It
Creating estimates is pretty frustrating because everyone who sits in an estimation meeting knows that these estimates have got nothing to do with reality.
Why are software development estimates regularly off by a factor of 2-3 times?
This brilliant analogy is showing the impossibility to plan a hike from San Francisco to Los Angeles.
The challenge of planning incremental product development (from Incremental development at Spotify):
Quote about plans from Friedrich Dürrenmatt:
(The more humans proceed according to plan, the more effectively coincidence is able to meet them.)
JavaScript
JavaScript continues to conquer the world:
- 3D Shooter in your Browser: BananaBread (try it yourself)
- OSX automation with JavaScript (coming in Yosimite)
- Oracle announced Avatar 2.0: JavaScript on the server sanctioned by the owners of Java.
- Runtime.js: Operating system kernel built on V8 JavaScript engine
But not everybody seems to be delighted:
If JavaScript becomes the next systems programming language I might actually ragequit this industry
— Camille Fournier (@skamille) July 1, 2014