The distraction: It's not (only) "nervousness", it's divided attention. Those most aware of (and, perhaps, considerate of) other people may be the worst off i

The distraction: It's not (only) "nervousness", it's divided attention. Those most aware of (and, perhaps, considerate of) other people may be the worst off in such a pair (or, open space) environment. This is not something that is readily under one's conscious control. Which is a particularly malicious element of such communal or public paradigms -- they insist that it is under your control, "if only..." When I code alone, I am often more "communal" than many of my contemporaries. Because I actually think through various usage scenarios and other perspectives. In doing so, I draw upon past experience as well as speculation. ('No, I guess the specification as written doesn't specify the order of those parameters.... but, on multiple occasions including particularly in this environment, I've observed people to use and to rely on such ordering -- de facto if not explicitly -- being consistent and meaningful.') Such deeper, broader thought goes lost in the distraction of shared environments. It takes some serious, uninterrupted attention and reflection. Too much of this is akin to the recent Yahoo "no work from home" policy. Which is perhaps one reason that that has struck such a nerve. People decide and mandate "the right/only" way of doing things, instead of allowing individuals to find and use individual, optimized solutions. Hypocrisy, when on the one hand you want everyone to maximize their contribution, while on the other you hamstring them and disempower them to do so. If you want individual excellent, pay attention to and manage people as individuals. If you want "cogs" and pieces, don't shovel such lip service about the individual. I don't feel my comment quite does justice to some of the attitude in pair programming. But, generally, it still applies. Not everyone is good in or suited for a pair programming environment. Many people who aren't, are -- in my experience -- some of the highest, most effective contributors. So... don't shovel pair programming at me as "the answer".