Agile Otter Blog

Consider that everyone has in their mind a fuzzy line: On the left side of the line is what we like to call "the real work" (abbreviation: RW). It's what we get to do . It's the value we provide to the world. It is usually about 30-40% of the work we do, which pays homage to Gall's observation about the inefficiency of human systems. The stuff to the right of the line is what we call "bureaucratic silliness" (abbreviation: BS).  It is the stuff we have to do.  These are things we do out of obligation (when reminded), or to satisfy the internal "process police." These things feel like nonsense that we have to deal with because that's the price of being a developer, tester, manager, whatever we consider ourselves to be. The Difference We tend to take on Real Work happily and go right to it. It allows us to practice and pursue the skills that define who we are in the workplace. They further the goals of the company, the customer, a...

For all the 'take back agile" and "agile smagile" and "apologizing for agile" and all the other post-agilists and so-called post-agilists in the world, I give you Otter's law: Any methodology followed via obligation and knowledge-avoidance cannot produce positive change.  I've ranted about change gone wrong and methodologies followed badly and horrible oversales and undersales and all, but it comes down to otter's law ultimately. Too many companies have huge gains from using XP and Scrum and what-have-you. Too many others tried "the same thing" with entirely different results. Some teams are whole-heartedly into the whole agile thing, and they seem to have pretty good. Others don't seem very excited and don't get much out of it. Is it excitement that they need? I don't think so. I think that the lack of excitement and the lack of progress have the same root. I think it's a lack of profluence in agile-a...

Here is Christopher Avery shows us a mental model that will help us to become more responsible. I found it concise and helpful. I hope you may also.

Take a trip with me for a minute. Imagine that today you decided to shoplift.  If you are like me, that thought makes you edgy and nervous. If you are not like me, you can consider it with no feeling of discomfort at all. If you are a regular shoplifter, it might even give you a bit of a thrill. It makes me feel bad. Why? My great-nephew lived with me for a while. He believed that if he felt bad, it was incumbent upon everyone else to placate him. He would stage elaborate tantrums, public meltdowns, and crying fits. Creating feelings of guilt or shame in others was his reliable strategy. He was nine years old and never had to do anything he didn't want to do, or eat anything he didn't want to eat (at 9, he had never eaten a sandwich, soup, or vegetable until the 9 months he lived with us). Certainly, the kind of guilt that my relative used was a self-serving, manipulative, control strategy. It's not uncommon. I have known adults well into their sixties who wer...