The Wiert Corner – irregular stream of stuff

Jeroen W. Pluimers on .NET, C#, Delphi, databases, and personal interests

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Archive for the ‘Agile’ Category

Abilities that makes you a better developer – Hacker Noon

Posted by jpluimers on 2020/03/05

If we have passion for what we do, why not try to be a better professional every day?

Source: [WayBackAbilities that makes you a better developer – Hacker Noon

That is an interesting, but very hard question which very few people around me are afraid of trying to answer.

I think the hardest part for most developer isn’t the tech/science bits as usually they have a natural feel for natural science and formal science related topics (which I’d rather not call STEM).

I’ve a hard time to remember the STEM acronym because it means “vote” or “voice” to since I’m Dutch, and equally hard the . Also I really dislike the term “hard science” as “soft sciences” are very hard for me. So lets stick with natural science and formal science.

So if you are a developer and trouble motivating yourself to learn new things in the mathematics, algorithms & data structures, databases, computer architecture, operating systems and networks, then you will have a really really hard time.

I can understand it is tougher to motivate learning about English (and other languages), paradigms & design patterns, teamwork, or to put it in a broader perspective the human side of affairs. Those however are the areas that do not come “natural” for most developers and are in effect the ones most developers need to work on most to improve.

Doing that will make it a lot easier to work with people around you.

For myself, I still have to grow a lot in those areas even though I already have. Having originated as nerd/geek/introvert or however you want to call that direction, my natural habitat is still a silent place with little distraction with some relatively quiet people around me that help me keep focus and force me in the rhythms that are good for me. But I’ve learned to speak for large groups, write (not just posts) and have many other nice social interactions.

That growth brings so much joy and makes work so much nicer, that the effort and persistence keeps being worth every minute I put in.

Via: [WayBack] Cesar Romero (@cesarliws) on Twitter: “Abilities that makes you a better developerhttps://t.co/svwn4CueNe”

–jeroen

 

Posted in About, Agile, Development, Personal, Software Development | Leave a Comment »

Entwicklertag 2016: How Agile and OO have lost their way together – James Coplien – YouTube

Posted by jpluimers on 2020/03/04

Still an interesting video, though I wish James Coplien would have a less shouting voice: that would be much easier on the ears.

–jeroen

Posted in Agile, Development, Software Development | Leave a Comment »

One Story Per “Sprint” – John Cutler – Medium

Posted by jpluimers on 2020/02/25

Food for thought: what is the hardest thing in your sprints, why, can you make it less hard?

[WayBackOne Story Per “Sprint” – John Cutler – Medium:

Delivering a “potentially releasable increment” after N days is not “hard”. It is not rocket science. (Almost) any team can do it.

Via: [WayBack] One Story Per “Sprint” – John Cutler – Medium – Marjan Venema – Google+

it is not funny to always feel behind; that it actually is detrimental to productivity to focus solely on efficiency, working hard and being hero’s; that it might be a good idea to start with changing your perspective and doing something which has a chance of being successful (doing a single story) and build from there.

It is not about looking busy, but it is about getting things done without having any fears.

–jeroen

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Our Intuition Says… Instead, Try… – Hacker Noon

Posted by jpluimers on 2020/02/14

Recommended 2 minute reading: [WayBackOur Intuition Says… Instead, Try… – Hacker Noon.

It so much remind me of two proverbs. An ancient Chinese one where I only have the Dutch translation for (“Heeft U haast? Ga dan zitten”) that tells you to “sit down” when hurried and an even nicer Swedish one “Skynda långsamt” which literally translates into “Hurry slowly”.

When you’ve seen something work, you tend to view it as more “intuitive”. It’s easy to forget how counterintuitive it might have felt…

Via:

–jeroen

Read the rest of this entry »

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When a team uses IntegrationTest – always ask what they mean with the term

Posted by jpluimers on 2020/02/13

Since Integration Tests have been around since the 1980s (yes, that long!), better ask what they mean in your teams.

If they are broad, you might want to re-consider and switch to narrowly scoped ones (but mind your pace).

A while ago, I landed another team, they were doing various kinds of test, but  nobody had a good definition of which was what, so I dug up the below article.

Integration tests see if independently developed units of software work correctly when connected. Traditionally broad they are now better narrowly scoped.

Source: [WayBack] IntegrationTest

–jeroen

Posted in Agile, Development, Software Development, Unit Testing | Leave a Comment »

The Hard Thing About (Not So) Hard Things – John Cutler – Medium

Posted by jpluimers on 2020/02/11

Long read, but worth it: [WayBackThe Hard Thing About (Not So) Hard Things – John Cutler – Medium.

TL;DR: if you think these are hard, try them by reading the article:

Via: [WayBack] “what we call “hard” is often indicative of fear, lack of safety, lack of support, and limited ability to practice.” – Marjan Venema – Google+

–jeroen

Posted in Agile, Development, Software Development | Leave a Comment »

Why Your Team Is Not Working as a Team – The Startup – Medium

Posted by jpluimers on 2020/02/05

Being part of a team can be tough, so this article has Seven ways individualism is getting in their way: [WayBack] Why Your Team Is Not Working as a Team – The Startup – Medium.

Via: [WayBack] “When your top players don’t know how to work together, their individual talents are useless.” – Marjan Venema – Google+ (who is a great coach!)

–jeroen

 

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Of Course Psychological Safety…But How? – John Cutler – Medium

Posted by jpluimers on 2020/01/23

On my reading list: [WayBackOf Course Psychological Safety…But How? – John Cutler – Medium

Medium indicates it is an 8 minute tread, but since I’m more on the non-people side of the spectrum, digesting it will take quite some time needing multiple reeds.

Via: [WayBack] Of Course Psychological Safety…But How? – John Cutler – Medium – Marjan Venema – Google+

Marjan is a great coach on the personal and agility side of things.

–jeroen

Posted in Agile, Development, LifeHacker, Power User | Leave a Comment »

Today’s Organizations Waste Talent. Here’s How To Change That. | Corporate Rebels

Posted by jpluimers on 2020/01/21

[WayBack] Today’s Organizations Waste Talent. Here’s How To Change That. | Corporate Rebels

Our research into more than 100 workplace pioneers reveals an important shift –“from job descriptions to talents and mastery”. It’s a clear differentiator between traditional and pioneering organizations.

Traditional organizations focus on fixed job descriptions, and linear careers that move from one description to the next. Progressive organizations focus on “talents & mastery”– and craft jobs and development opportunities around the specific skills employees would love to exploit.

The article goes on how to get the best from your talent and talents in other people.

via [WayBack] Today’s Organizations Waste Talent. Here’s How To Change That. | Corporate Rebels – Marjan Venema – Google+

–jeroen

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Examining Cross-functionality Bias on Software Development Teams | AgileConnection

Posted by jpluimers on 2019/12/19

Cross-functionality means having all the necessary people and skills on one self-organizing team. Unfortunately, the execution of cross-functionality is often biased. The main traps we fall into are misunderstanding the value of specialization, hero worship, and not “walking the cross-functional talk” as organizations. Let’s examine each of these pitfalls in the hope that your teams may avoid them.

Worthy tread at [WayBack] Examining Cross-functionality Bias on Software Development Teams | AgileConnection

Via: [WayBack] “Cross-functionality is much more than developers and testers working together. It goes against the biases we have of our personal and professional silos… – Marjan Venema – Google+

–jeroen

Posted in Agile, Development, Software Development | Leave a Comment »