Fesshole 🧻1d ago
The best preparation for being a parent wasn't NCT classes or books; it was managing a team of software engineers. My 4 and 2 year olds are far better at playing with others than those maladjusted coders.
Show threadJen1d ago
@fesshole conversely, having kids was by far the best training to become a scrum master.

All the buzzwords and "ceremonies" and "artifacts" were pretentious guff. The team just needed a mum to support and encourage them, help them when they got stuck, and occasionally bring them snacks.
Show threadTubemeister

@jetlagjen @fesshole I’ve been through the “we’re going to introduce scrumagilebuzzword *exactly* by the book” twice(1) and let’s just say it’s a pity so few scrum coaches understand that it’s not about the rituals and the dogma and the jumping through hoops but about making problems go away and an occasional pat on the back.

(1) burned out on software development doing so, though that was mostly the accompanying “all pair programming all the time” insanity.

Mar 26 at 11:34amWeb
Show threadJen1d ago
@Tubemeister @fesshole it *always* devolves into Scrumbut.

Best to embrace the concept: adopt what works, and change what doesn't. Too many people think the process is important. It's not. The process is just what gets you to the goal. And a good process evolves with and for the needs of the people and situation.

This is as true of packing school bags as it is of software development. (To drag it back to the original point.)
Show threadTubemeister1d ago

@jetlagjen Ha, scrumbut, I like that.

IME people tend to lose sight of the goal, and are ALL in on the process/dogma. It can be a bit cult like, and it's very tedious. ;-)

So much so that the second run of super dogmatic scrum initially made productivity drop so sharply that the company went bust.

You can tell them it's not about being super strict it's about using what works, but NO we must do it CORRECTLY PRECISELY.

But in the end you're just trying to get shit out the door, in both cases.

Show threadRaven6671d ago
@Tubemeister @jetlagjen doing the rituals CORRECTLY and PRECISELY without understanding the reason behind them and creating your own is practically the definition of "cargo cult". I'm sure the people doing it thought they were soooo much "smarter" than pacific islanders trying tp make the trade goods come back, but they are the *same* , no more no less.
Show threadTubemeister21h ago
@raven667 @jetlagjen The odd thing is, this was mostly the Official Scrum Coaches going hard on the official dogma and no considering the existing company, nonononooo you WILL fit this mold and if not you'll just have to adapt to it.
Show threadNSKE1d ago
@Tubemeister @jetlagjen @fesshole oh yeah, I finally managed to eliminate all my hand, neck and back problems through proper posture etc. then wallop, they all came back with the pair programming.
Show threadTubemeister1d ago

@nske I didn't even notice any posture things, it was mainly being distracted as the default way of working instead of something to try to get away from.

The shoulder surfer in your personal space, the not taking breaks when you need to because other person, the no headphones in open plan office so noisy environment, etc.

I was mentally *wrecked* by 2 pm.

Show threadNSKE1d ago
@Tubemeister We had to do it over Teams so I can only conclude I'm just not built to stare at the screen or be seen to be typing for so long at a stretch. It's just a really tense way of working and absolutely not conducive to thinking about a problem.
Show threadJen1d ago
@nske @Tubemeister @fesshole sounds like a decision made by people not affected by it, without listening to people who are.

Which, coincidentally, was the cause of my back problems. Someone from head office decided we should all have new chairs and they were *bad*. Following a letter from my GP, I was given a fancy super-adjustable chair and two visits from occ health. Must have cost them 2k+. They could have just left me my old chair like I asked.