3 ms·

Just one of those buzzwords. Programming in crowds may work for some and not for others. A few years ago I was learning about agile and various methodologies. E

by colund 11y ago

Just one of those buzzwords. Programming in crowds may work for some and not for others. A few years ago I was learning about agile and various methodologies. Eventually, I realized that most people writing most about the various trends and ideas did so to mainly to make a buck. I'd very much prefer a methodology that focuses on knowledge sharing, respectful culture and hard knowledge (and fun).

wpietri 11y ago
Knowing a lot of the early Agile people, I'd say your bit about "most people writing most about the various trends and ideas did so to mainly to make a buck" is both helpfully true and dangerously false. There are definitely some people who say, "Oh, X is fashionable, so I'll jump in and become a thinkfluencer." Those people are dangerous. There aren't many, though; call 'em 10% or so. There are plenty more people who jump in to participate but just don't understand the ideas very well. They're not really out to make a buck. They're mostly trying to help people; it's just that they have a poor understanding of how little they know. These people often do very well because their clients also don't know much, and really don't want to know much. This is the bulk of the market, say 75%. But then there are 15% of people who are sincere, very smart, and deep thinkers. This is often a hindrance in making a buck. Their ideas are so radical (in both senses of the word) that a lot of their potential audience gets scared off. However, they are definitely worth listening to. Their solutions may not match your circumstances, so you shouldn't follow them blindly. But for me they're the ones most likely to trigger deep reevaluation of something I thought I understood. My take is that the Extreme Programming community is mostly in that latter camp. If you're really looking for an approach with the values that you state, I'd encourage you to check them out. The original books, 15+ years old at this point, are a bit out of date, but still useful as foundation. The community itself has mostly moved on to different practices, but Josh Kerievsky gives a good summary of where it has gotten to: https://www.industriallogic.com/blog/modern-agile/ https://www.industriallogic.com/blog/modern-agile/

by colund 11y ago

wpietri 11y ago

Knowing a lot of the early Agile people, I'd say your bit about "most people writing most about the various trends and ideas did so to mainly to make a buck" is both helpfully true and dangerously false. There are definitely some people who say, "Oh, X is fashionable, so I'll jump in and become a thinkfluencer." Those people are dangerous. There aren't many, though; call 'em 10% or so. There are plenty more people who jump in to participate but just don't understand the ideas very well. They're not really out to make a buck. They're mostly trying to help people; it's just that they have a poor understanding of how little they know. These people often do very well because their clients also don't know much, and really don't want to know much. This is the bulk of the market, say 75%. But then there are 15% of people who are sincere, very smart, and deep thinkers. This is often a hindrance in making a buck. Their ideas are so radical (in both senses of the word) that a lot of their potential audience gets scared off. However, they are definitely worth listening to. Their solutions may not match your circumstances, so you shouldn't follow them blindly. But for me they're the ones most likely to trigger deep reevaluation of something I thought I understood. My take is that the Extreme Programming community is mostly in that latter camp. If you're really looking for an approach with the values that you state, I'd encourage you to check them out. The original books, 15+ years old at this point, are a bit out of date, but still useful as foundation. The community itself has mostly moved on to different practices, but Josh Kerievsky gives a good summary of where it has gotten to: https://www.industriallogic.com/blog/modern-agile/ https://www.industriallogic.com/blog/modern-agile/