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As a developer, I've found that the Agile methodology is great for weeding out bullshitters. A decently run sprint planning session with a retrospective at the

As a developer, I've found that the Agile methodology is great for weeding out bullshitters. A decently run sprint planning session with a retrospective at the end will highlight who didn't actually do anything. The killer feature is that these people volunteered the amount of effort for the work and then have to explain why nothing got done. They eventually leave the team once they realise they've been discovered.

Mc91 6y ago
We spend our retros whinging about other teams that (are supposed to) support us.
zimpenfish 6y ago
Having worked at many places with many bullshitters who have successfully conned the Agile process for weeks (sometimes months), I'd have to disagree. (Indeed, I have done it once myself when I was trying to leave but they were dragging their feet about signing the paperwork.)
- Thorentis 6y ago
  The only way I've seen people con it, is where the people doing the tasks are also trusted with scoping and estimating it. You need to have multiple people "sign off" on or buy into the scoping and estimation process. E.g. One person does an "investigation" task (e.g. Look into feasibility / difficulty of x). This should be somebody with enough experience to give a good rough estimate. Their estimate can them be discussed at the next sprint planning session, and everybody should agree on the final estimate (story points, or size label, however you do your sprints). Then, if the bullshitter gets to the end of the sprint and says they didn't complete a 1-2 day task in 10 days, you can start asking why. They do this consistently across 2-3 sprints, you know something is up. Assume they're more junior than their job title and try giving them easier tasks. Still not getting much done? They're a bullshitter. Fire them / raise with their manager.
  - afarrell 6y ago
    > Then, if the bullshitter gets to the end of the sprint and says they didn't complete a 1-2 day task in 10 days, you can start asking why. They do this consistently across 2-3 sprints, you know something is up. Assume they're more junior than their job title and try giving them easier tasks. Still not getting much done? They're a bullshitter. Fire them / raise with their manager. Another contributing cause of this can be that they have gotten into the habit of accepting other people's bullshit. Example: Bob says "I don't think I understand enough about X to do task T well". Sue, (partly worried what people would think of her if she negotiated similar time for learning) feels great discomfort hearing Bob's self-deprecating* statement. Motivated to escape this discomfort, she 'helpfully' tells him that he is just suffering from impostor syndrome. (Bullshit: It might be true, but the function to produce the statement did not take real-world evidence as a parameter) Bob mostly-believes this and doesn't feel confident that it is wise to allocate his time to learn X. He should 'just get it done'. Bob starts working on task T and feels frustrated and confused. Bob starts asking questions on slack that anyone with a solid understanding of X would know are irrelevant. He does not get helpful answers. Bob, hearing that he's trying to 'understand the universe' doesn't see a way forward but to put more time into task T. He stays up late working on it ineffectively. Bob goes into standup having accomplished very little and gained little understanding. Bob's duty to his team and his health is to confidently state this truth. Bob is sleep-deprived and ashamed of his lack of progress. He feels motivated to escape this discomfort. He says the task will be done by standup tomorrow. (Bullshit: It might be true, but the function to produce the statement did not take real-world evidence as a parameter) Bob stays up late again. Bob accomplishes little. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CLBO7L5G2DQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CLBO7L5G2DQ 10 days later, Bob still does not really understand how to make progress on his task. ---------------- Bob gets fired shortly thereafter. He has multiple hypotheses for what he should have done better, but none he is confident in. At his next job, he is on hyper-vigilant alert for a similar situation. When he encounters it, the memory of getting fired and the uncertainty of what to do makes him feel deeply uncomfortable. Discomfort-avoidance leads him to get on hackernews rather than focus on his work. ---------------- * "I have gaps in my skills and am capable of learning" is a healthy problem to have. "I am unqualified to judge when I need more understanding of something to move forward" is an unhealthy problem. Thus, we should exercise a duty of care to the truth when telling people that they have Impostor Syndrome.
zcw100 6y ago
Or maybe they just leave because of people like you who think Agile is like the Thunderdome of software development rather than a tool to manage a team.

Mc91 6y ago

We spend our retros whinging about other teams that (are supposed to) support us.

zimpenfish 6y ago

Having worked at many places with many bullshitters who have successfully conned the Agile process for weeks (sometimes months), I'd have to disagree. (Indeed, I have done it once myself when I was trying to leave but they were dragging their feet about signing the paperwork.)

Thorentis 6y ago
The only way I've seen people con it, is where the people doing the tasks are also trusted with scoping and estimating it. You need to have multiple people "sign off" on or buy into the scoping and estimation process. E.g. One person does an "investigation" task (e.g. Look into feasibility / difficulty of x). This should be somebody with enough experience to give a good rough estimate. Their estimate can them be discussed at the next sprint planning session, and everybody should agree on the final estimate (story points, or size label, however you do your sprints). Then, if the bullshitter gets to the end of the sprint and says they didn't complete a 1-2 day task in 10 days, you can start asking why. They do this consistently across 2-3 sprints, you know something is up. Assume they're more junior than their job title and try giving them easier tasks. Still not getting much done? They're a bullshitter. Fire them / raise with their manager.
- afarrell 6y ago
  > Then, if the bullshitter gets to the end of the sprint and says they didn't complete a 1-2 day task in 10 days, you can start asking why. They do this consistently across 2-3 sprints, you know something is up. Assume they're more junior than their job title and try giving them easier tasks. Still not getting much done? They're a bullshitter. Fire them / raise with their manager. Another contributing cause of this can be that they have gotten into the habit of accepting other people's bullshit. Example: Bob says "I don't think I understand enough about X to do task T well". Sue, (partly worried what people would think of her if she negotiated similar time for learning) feels great discomfort hearing Bob's self-deprecating* statement. Motivated to escape this discomfort, she 'helpfully' tells him that he is just suffering from impostor syndrome. (Bullshit: It might be true, but the function to produce the statement did not take real-world evidence as a parameter) Bob mostly-believes this and doesn't feel confident that it is wise to allocate his time to learn X. He should 'just get it done'. Bob starts working on task T and feels frustrated and confused. Bob starts asking questions on slack that anyone with a solid understanding of X would know are irrelevant. He does not get helpful answers. Bob, hearing that he's trying to 'understand the universe' doesn't see a way forward but to put more time into task T. He stays up late working on it ineffectively. Bob goes into standup having accomplished very little and gained little understanding. Bob's duty to his team and his health is to confidently state this truth. Bob is sleep-deprived and ashamed of his lack of progress. He feels motivated to escape this discomfort. He says the task will be done by standup tomorrow. (Bullshit: It might be true, but the function to produce the statement did not take real-world evidence as a parameter) Bob stays up late again. Bob accomplishes little. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CLBO7L5G2DQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CLBO7L5G2DQ 10 days later, Bob still does not really understand how to make progress on his task. ---------------- Bob gets fired shortly thereafter. He has multiple hypotheses for what he should have done better, but none he is confident in. At his next job, he is on hyper-vigilant alert for a similar situation. When he encounters it, the memory of getting fired and the uncertainty of what to do makes him feel deeply uncomfortable. Discomfort-avoidance leads him to get on hackernews rather than focus on his work. ---------------- * "I have gaps in my skills and am capable of learning" is a healthy problem to have. "I am unqualified to judge when I need more understanding of something to move forward" is an unhealthy problem. Thus, we should exercise a duty of care to the truth when telling people that they have Impostor Syndrome.

zcw100 6y ago

Or maybe they just leave because of people like you who think Agile is like the Thunderdome of software development rather than a tool to manage a team.