@thirstybear@agilodon.social
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thirstybear

@thirstybear@agilodon.social

Software delivery coach, personal coach, mentor, developer, mogfather, diver, biker. Less Certified, more Certifiable. Dodgy taste in music and shirts

Admin & Bill Payer for Mastodon server agilodon.social. Donations welcome!

#nobridge

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thirstybear, to random
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I haven’t been in the world of Java desktop apps for literally years, but a friend of mine asked me to take a look at what frameworks are out there. So with some trepidation I picked up #JavaFX again…and… I am quite liking it. Does this make me a bad person?

OK, they seem to have reinvented HTML, but separation of concerns seems strong, and even the IDE (IntelliJ) seems to successfully link the XML to the code and find problems.

thirstybear, to random
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Current status: trying to work out why my MBP M1 is suddenly so slow logging me in. Seems to be doing a credible impression of Windows (5 minutes from password to usable desktop) 🐌

thirstybear, to random
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Product Ownership has to be true ownership, AKA “The Customer”, with an interest in the product and budget to produce it. Even if it is speculative development (seeing if there is a market out there).

https://mastodon.social/@CGLambdin/110414180908980547

CGLambdin, to random

When PMs/PMs/POs buy into the BS that they "own" the program/product/project, they are enabling the business leaders who actually call the shots to pass their accountability down the hierarchy. STOP FALLING FOR IT.

thirstybear,
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@CGLambdin Yep. Something that has concerned me for years now. The “PO” isn’t a true Customer. Not even a decent proxy for the Real Customer.

ecomba, to random
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I am considering splitting my time with some coaching apart from my startup work.

I have no idea where to look for potential companies (preferably remote) in need of a few hours of coaching a week.

thirstybear,
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@ecomba Likewise. If you work it out do let me know!

thirstybear, to random
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"when estimates and reality differ, believe reality."

Cracking advice from @gdinwiddie

ph1, to random

it's terrifying and it will change the world but it's early days

thirstybear,
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@ph1 What the Hellmann? 😁

jbrains, to random
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This experience reminds me why I resist Best Practices. Some groups develop habits that change their dynamics enough that the usual Best Practices just don't fit. It's rare, but that rarity mostly lures us into believing that so-called Best Practices are more-widely-applicable than they are.

https://mastodon.social/@jbrains/110390075654906734

thirstybear,
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@jbrains IMO “Best Practice” can be seen simply as a toolkit of tried and tested tools that usually work, often rather well. Rather like using a Philips screwdriver for Philips screws.

Life gets interesting when these don’t work. And that’s when the craftsmanship and deeper understanding of the underlying ideas behind the “Best Practices” come in useful - “what is stopping them from working, and what will work instead?”

thirstybear,
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@jbrains and if all else fails, there is always that large hammer at the back of the toolkit 😉

thirstybear, to random
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Current status: stuck in a gumption trap. Send a motorcycle mechanic 🏍️🛠️

jasongorman, to random
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"Sham Agile For executives" is what I think you'll find it actually stands for

thirstybear,
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@jasongorman Yoink! 🤣

pigsaw, to random

I am at an event with morris dancing. And I'm doing what I always do at these things, which is look up the cost of a concertina. And once again I'm deciding I won't get one.

thirstybear,
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@pigsaw A good friend of mine does have a bit of a melodeon habit. I think the ‘family’ is up to 5 or 6, with different tunings. But, hey, everyone needs a hobby 🤷‍♂️ (and she does actively use all of them)

jasongorman, to random
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I've noticed a trend over the last 4-5 years of orgs increasingly only putting new hires on training courses, in the mistaken belief that their more senior developers "already know this stuff". I have bad news for them.

thirstybear,
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@jasongorman That has been going on for far longer than 4-5 years. I'd say it has been trending for at least 20 years, and is now considered "normal".

thirstybear, to random
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Lightbulb moment 💡

A Technical Coach does things with a delivery team.

A traditional non-technical agile coach does things to the team. Especially in a company wide “transformation”.

Tinkering with ceremonies, process flow and metrics hoping that the team will magically gain the skills they need just doesn’t work IME. Quite the opposite-in many cases I have seen it harden the team against change.

thirstybear,
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Should add here that there are no absolutes here. A good Team Coach should be able to help a team identify its own shortfalls and training needs. But that introduces a disconnect; a wasteful handover-find training, get budget etc

A Technical Coach fills that gap - they simply switch from coaching & mentoring to training mode and teach the team the skills they need. All within the team’s specific context, so exactly what they need. No fluff.

Want to see how this works right now? Let’s talk.

thirstybear,
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@lukadotnet Thanks for the feedback-exactly why I threw it out there. I don’t like the two roles being in competition like this (I would personally like all “agile coaches” to at least be technically aware), but I get the impression this artificial split is being created by scarcity in the job market.

Let me think on that and come back to you.

thirstybear,
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@lukadotnet Let's see if I can expand on this in 500 characters (and without falling into the True Scotsman fallacy 😉).

I am now seeing many agile coaches who have little real world experience of software delivery. Or experience that is extremely narrow, and certainly not particularly 'agile'.

I would like to see more agile coaches with first hand experience of delivery, of both tech & non-tech (product, flow etc), or actively looking for said experience.

thirstybear,
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@lukadotnet Let's take my own experience. I was a developer. Still am, if I am honest. I have worked in teams delivering at "internet speed". Been there, done it, got several T-shirts.

As teams began to look to me for advice, I realised I didn't really understand the product side of things, so I started to work with the POs & higher management using non-directive coaching (so they simply explained what was going on) - I can now make a fair stab at Product Coaching as well as tech practices.

thirstybear,
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@lukadotnet so that's what I consider coaching behaviours - know what you know and be competent at coaching/training it.

Know what you don't know, and actively fill the gap - you might prefer to delegate to someone who has done it for a living, but you can step in if needed.

Hold on, I have just described T-shaped coaches, haven't I? 😁

thirstybear,
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@lukadotnet Agile Coaches are lacking T-shapedness....

I feel (yet another) article coming on that I may or may not finish & publish 🙄

thirstybear,
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@kjscotland There were massively big generalisations in that post I know. A proto-idea, but one with something at its core based on what I am seeing out there.

But I am interested - as a non-technical coach, how do you help teams realise their tech skills can (and should) improve to get the full benefits? (Pairing, TDD, CI/CD etc)

thirstybear,
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@lukadotnet @mostalive I think you are onto something there. "Agile" now seems to be something espoused by everyone, yet actively practiced by few.

The key message I keep coming back to here is that all Agile Tech Coaches I have come across seem to bring far more to the party than the non-technical, and I suspect it is because they have more real-world experience of actually doing it for real

And before anyone says anything, this is in general. There are always exceptions to prove a rule 😉

thirstybear,
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@lukadotnet @mostalive Also it might be cognitive bias - as a techie, I could subconsciously prefer folks who solve problems from a techie viewpoint 🙂

thirstybear,
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@lukadotnet @mostalive Just been reminded of this video from @antonymarcano

Starting to think where this is going is closely related to the broken telephone game he mentions, just in a different context?

https://youtu.be/fzqEHwXVpKQ

pigsaw, to random

Prime Ministers Questions repeats the dispiriting weekly ritual. But I saw it differently this week because I've just finished "Chums: How a Tiny Caste of Oxford Tories Took Over the UK" by Simon Kuper of the FT. Highly recommended, and it gives revealing insight into how UK politics too often works - centred on Commons debates. It's very well-researched, very readable, and with some jaw-dropping moments. https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/chums-how-a-tiny-caste-of-oxford-tories-took-over-the-uk-simon-kuper/6330992?ean=9781788167390

thirstybear,
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@pigsaw I suspect a book like that would simply make me very, very angry.

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