Dr. Cat HicksI guess for me if your model for improving "developer experience" does not take seriously the social constructs around human ability that will forever limit who we let into "software" if we don't face them, well, I can't take your model seriously. It won't solve problems it'll just move them
Software people get all kinds of upset when I point out many models that claim to be empirical only measure men. I personally feel it's obvious, I understand it's shocking to software but it's not shocking to me. I understand it! My refusal to accept it is what's unacceptable to tech.
People ask a lot of social questions they don't want social answers to. Like why doesn't a software methodology change the balance of power? Well let's see, did it have a structural understanding of power and a plan for that?? No?? Ok
I just try to observe the evidence and the facts. What helps innovation? Good psychological environments and thought patterns that don't destroy humans. What's a big part of destroying humans? Bigotry and all the ways it works out around us. That bill is due in technology and has been for a while
A feeling isn't a plan. A value isn't radical by itself. A rant isn't a strategy. A philosophy that defines itself as "I'm good because I'm not a tech manager" means very little if society gives you power that far outstrips what someone outside your identities will ever get even if they get the same job title, because jobs *aren't the same across how we act around identities.*
It's not at all that the inclusion of women in software surveys is the only thing that matters or that it will solve things. It's just that it's a very clean & clear window into whether someone's conception of the "problem" of developer experience can even include "others."
This come through in the measures proposed by models, as well. For instance, sense of belonging is an imperfect measure (it's developed by humans) but the model it's based in, its empirical evidence history and context, and its supported usage can reveal inequities in human experience and the mechanisms we use to explain it can predict and explain inequity and equity experiences.
Not so for "developer satisfaction."
Whenever people say "satisfaction", ask, WITH WHAT? tools? ok.
M. J. Fromberger@grimalkina This, exactly! A vague question that can be interpreted in arbitrary ways to suit each person is less a survey and more a horoscope.
Sandor Spruit 🇪🇺🇳🇱🇺🇦🇨🇦
John Schrag@grimalkina When I was hiring people managers at my last company, one of the questions I would always ask in interviews was “Let’s say someone joins your team, and they are the only LGBTQIA person, or only woman, or only person of colour. What specific, concrete actions will you take to ensure they feel that they really belong to the team?”
I wasn’t expecting the candidates to have a perfect answers, but it was amazing how often it became clear that they had never thought about inclusion and belonging in terms of anything but “value statements”. I’d get vague answers along the lines of “oh yes I think inclusion is very important” but they often couldn’t articulate a single concrete action one might take to improve it.
Insecurity Princess 🌈💖🔥@jvschrag @grimalkina great question!
In a similar vein, "tell me about the last woman or Black person (or Black woman) that you promoted"
Questions like that provide a smaller window into creating inclusion but additionally provide insight into how someone approaches growth and promotions. I like to seed a question like that into each interview so that we get insight into how a candidate responds to inclusion-related questions from multiple interviewers.
fanf42@grimalkina these 6 lines are deeply good, thanks
Jeremy Kahn@grimalkina Not to mention the social questions they do not even ask 😬
My (therapist) spouse is convinced/has convinced me that all of
- "agile" planning
- reorganization (e.g. toggling between functional alignment and product alignment)
- unmeasurable "impact" talk
- retrospective "I know it when I see it" goal setting
are tools chosen (sometimes unconsciously) to undermine and disorganize labor solidarity
Funny how those are the methodologies and practices that keep getting proposed
Pit Schrader@grimalkina A lot of people in industry recognize scientific support as a marker of legitimacy, but are entirely uninterested in science as a practice—the more so when it comes with the "risk" that the answer you want may not be supportable.