tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5094340343398123932.post8239117432478891742..comments2023-02-21T09:52:10.243+01:00Comments on coding is like cooking: Agile Testing Days - first conference dayEmily Bachehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07321005413961705103noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5094340343398123932.post-63485084042635102112010-10-18T08:54:45.510+02:002010-10-18T08:54:45.510+02:00Jennitta - you're quite right, the talk was fu...Jennitta - you're quite right, the talk was full of great insights, and the simulation/game was really just a backdrop for these. At the time when I was listening, I appreciated the insights, but I guess I hadn't really thought through Elisabeths reasons for not releasing her materials. I just felt excluded. As you say, there wasn't an explicit sales pitch, it just came across as a really insight-filled, fun workshop that I had no access to, short of crossing the atlantic and paying to attend.<br /><br />Since talking to Elisabeth I have more understanding of and respect for her decision to retain control of her simulation materials. At first I didn't see how it could harm her business to release them.Emily Bachehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07321005413961705103noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5094340343398123932.post-59479204130213138192010-10-18T08:40:40.374+02:002010-10-18T08:40:40.374+02:00Michael - you may be right - you probably need to ...Michael - you may be right - you probably need to experience a simulation before you can lead it. Just like you have to experience agile before you can coach people in it. With some experience of both actual agile transitions and leading other simulations in general, some information about how Elisabeth puts this exercise together would be very interesting. Not enough to lead the same exercise perhaps - and who could possibly match Elisabeth for charisma, panache and facilitation skills anyway - but it might expand your horizons of what you attempt to teach experientially.Emily Bachehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07321005413961705103noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5094340343398123932.post-36837495603738410562010-10-18T05:03:43.638+02:002010-10-18T05:03:43.638+02:00I am really surprised by the characterization of E...I am really surprised by the characterization of Elisabeth Hendrickson's keynote as a vendor talk. In my opinion, nothing could be further from the truth about this talk, or about Elisabeth herself. <br /><br />During the keynote, Elisabeth shared her observations about recurring team self-organization patterns, insights about paths team take in their transition to agile, and valuable nuggets of wisdom about how to facilitate self-organizing teams during a transition. <br /><br />These key messages were made more tangible and memorable because she put them into context with brief glimpses into the basic flow of her simulation. Her core message would have remained unchanged if she had not provided the contextual backdrop. At no time did I personally detect a hint of a sales pitch. She never said that these lessons could only have come from this particular simulation. Real agile transitions or any other similar simulation would have been an equally good place for a skilled eye to make these types of observations.<br /><br />I wonder if the ‘vendor talk’ comment comes more from a general expectation/entitlement than from the content of the talk itself. Our industry has a generous culture of sharing (ideas, insights, software, presentations, etc), that frankly puzzles most outsiders. We should be quick with our gratitude when things are shared for the greater good, and slow to criticize when a conscious business decision is made about it.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16998799798162488565noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5094340343398123932.post-40279150918435196132010-10-15T09:50:57.889+02:002010-10-15T09:50:57.889+02:00Hi, Emily...
I'd like to suggest an alternati...Hi, Emily...<br /><br />I'd like to suggest an alternative point of view to your interpretation of Elisabeth's talk.<br /><br />I had a different perspective, for two reasons. <br /><br />First, like Elisabeth and many other students of Jerry Weinberg, I teach experientially. The learnings from experiential exercises are often seriously weakened by specifics and knowledge of what's coming next.<br /><br />Second, I have experienced the WordCount simulation myself. Elisabeth claims not to put traps into the exercise. That's true. Yet the structure of the exercise—combined with capacity for people to plant cow pies in the path ahead of them —makes staged traps unnecessary. Rather than theorizing, I can tell you from experience: Advance knowledge of the details would weaken it. One should not, in my view, lead such an exercise until one has experienced it at least once one's self. Moreover, it takes training and coaching in how to deliver the exercise well. James Bach and I have a similar policy with our exercises: you can probably lead them <i>if you've experienced them yourself</i>, at least once. But before that, a written description, no matter how detailed, is pretty empty and prone to misinterpretation. (I have an example that I'd be happy to lead you through online.)<br /><br />So I have a apparently have criticism of your criticism (are you surprised?). :)<br /><br />Cheers,<br /><br />---Michael B.Michael Bolton http://www.developsense.comhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09027725699187903416noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5094340343398123932.post-73990470155396396582010-10-07T09:16:37.038+02:002010-10-07T09:16:37.038+02:00Thanks Lisa! I'm glad you've seen my feedb...Thanks Lisa! I'm glad you've seen my feedback and I'm sure you'll just get better and better at giving talks :-) <br /><br />Like you, I like to share what I've learned and the best part of conferences is all the discussion and feedback and people telling you what they think of your ideas. Bring on the open space!Emily Bachehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07321005413961705103noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5094340343398123932.post-29131259558220152342010-10-06T09:50:14.874+02:002010-10-06T09:50:14.874+02:00Emily, I agree w/ your observations of my keynote ...Emily, I agree w/ your observations of my keynote talk. I've only done a few keynotes in my career, and it's definitely not my strength, I'm an extremely nervous speaker! I like interacting with a smaller group, and I really enjoyed the interactive part of my talk. I do think it's an interesting topic that people should keep thinking about. I don't think I emphasized my point enough that we should be concerned with preventing, rather than tracking, defects. I'll try to do better next time!<br /><br />I'm a "worker bee" who works full time with an awesome team, and I like to share what we've learned, and what I've learned from other teams. I am so glad to see more people "from the trenches" such as yourself sharing ideas at conferences like this. I encourage everyone out there reading this blog to start your own blog, start writing, work up the courage to come present your experiences at conferences. We all benefit!Lisahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10230090963033880060noreply@blogger.com