Monthly Archives: January 2011

Agile Bash

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If you came to a conference with all of the original Agile Manifesto co-authors in attendance, what sort of event(s) would you like to see/participate in with said authors?

  • Nothing, we don’t really care about the past
  • Open discussions?
  • Informal gatherings at known locations throughout the day?
  • Q&A session?
  • Themed presentations to re-emphasize the true meaning of the 4 Agile Tenets?
  • Etc.

Would you want to be able to easily recognize these folks as they sit at the bar? For example, to buy them a beer 🙂

Feel free to comment below 🙂

Simple != Easy

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In a nice, vintage post from the oh-so-wise Ron Jeffries,  as I saw this heading:

“It couldn’t be that easy!”

It led me to think, possibly a different way to say it…

“It couldn’t be that simple!”

Because I think what Ron is getting at — at least this is what I believe to be true — is that, many times, folks over-complicate things.

In addition, folks often confuse simple and easy: just because something is simple doesn’t mean it is easy.

Conversely, just because something is hard doesn’t mean it is complex. I think sometimes folks run into “hard” things to do, and decide that it has to be complex to justify the degree of “hard.”

Not so…

Keep it simple.

(Now, go look at the date of Ron’s post!)

Software Driver’s License

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I thought of something whilst driving the other day…

A USA Drivers License is a lot like a Scrum Certificate. Basically anyone can get one with only a smattering of studying and a r-e-a-l-l-y trivial practical exam.

When people need to hire someone that can drive, they check that the cert exists (ok, I know there are commercial driver’s licenses which are ostensibly harder than what we get as normal drivers).

It doesn’t mean that they are great drivers. It doesn’t even mean that they can be trusted with much of anything. It is what it is. A simple certificate acknowledging that they passed a simple test.

So, is the issue that some hiring folks put too much emphasis on ensuring something as trivial and basic as a drivers license, when the job is indeed far more complex and nuanced than merely knowing the basics about driving?

Sounds to me like a clear signal to stay away from said company that puts undue emphasis on something trivial. That is, unless you want to work in that sort of environment.