Coding Intent

Decisions made in isolation are often wrong. I’ve been told on occasion that I don’t give enough information and that I’m too optimistic. Both are a fair call and I’ve tried to address those in what I do. It’s good to have feed back because changes cannot be made in an insular environment.

The same rules apply when trying to effect change in a team environment. A team needs to be able to look at the practices and process that are being used and be able to critique them, it’s a vital skill to learn. When decisions are made without input from the team and then forced on them its bound to fail. I realize that not all decisions can be voted on and that someone has to make the decision but that decision needs to be made with all the information.

When making decision make sure that you have ALL the information that you can get.

Frustration leads to blame and judgement. What was I frustrated about? Was it everyone's else inability to understand what I was saying or was it how I was saying it?.

I came across this great blog entry by Jean-Paul Boodhoo on how to introduce agile methods to your team. I especially liked his quote

"Stop blaming other people for your inability to introduce practices and strategies that will make your team more effective"

That's exactly where I was at, I was blaming everybody for not understanding. When I look at it it comes down to the mistakes I made. I was battling frustration and that affected my communication skills.

How do you deal with frustration? Like the blog entry said, "Focus on Small Victories". I've had victories and when I look back things have changed, maybe in small way and not as much as I would like, but they have changed. When my frustration gets to much I'll just have to remember the wins I have achieved.

The other problem is that I'm still learning what it means to be 'agile', in particular I'm struggling with the place of the functional specification. I look at the effort we've been putting into a functional spec (close to 2 months now) and wonder how much of the system we could have done in that time. I realize that you need to know what you're coding before you start but what's enough? I don't know the answer.

To introduce agile into a team environment it must be done in a way that encourages but not dictates. So its my job to lead by example, be a beacon if you will and try to focus on the positives. I must also remember that mistakes will be made on the way but that is how we learn. I think I'll finish off with a quote from Mark Twain:

“Keep away from those who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you believe that you too can become great.”