Archive for the ‘professionalism’ Category

Michael DiBernardo in the Wandering Book

Sunday, March 7th, 2010

The new entry of The Wandering Book by Michael DiBernardo is a very interesting one. In the first part of it he praises the Software Craftsmanship community (our strive to learn and improve, the way we try to make our software as simple as possible, etc), but it is actually the part “under the line” that caught my attention.

Michael DiBernardo's entry in the Wandering Book

My concern is the conflict between what we are preaching and how that is interpreted in the context of how we appear to others. Because seriously – if someone is pontificating to me about simplicity, elegance in design, attention to detail – how much can I appreciate what he is saying if he is wearing a 6 year old ironic t-shirt and khakis that are several sizes too big for him?

Michael has a very valid point there!

Software Developers are notorious for their out of the norm (to be diplomatically correct here) dressing habits. If we are to raise the bar in software development and try to be professionals we have to think of all the aspects of it. The little things, that our customers can see from us as professionals will surely reflect on how we interact with them. I am not saying we should wear suits and ties, but we surely need to work on our presence.

Imagine going to the doctors and he is wearing a think geek t-shirt about some sort of zombie rights and khakis… Would you let him perform open heart surgery on you?

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Bobby Wilson in the Wandering Book

Thursday, February 4th, 2010

It seems that The Wandering Book is travelling at higher speed now. We recently had a very insightful entry from Gustin Prudner and, to my surprise, today there is a new one; this time by Bobby Wilson coding fellow at Entryway:

Bobby Wilsons entry in The Wandering Book

In his entry he states:

There are ideas but there aren’t rules. Craftsmanship is an introspective process with an emphasis on building quality and value, but the discipline is up to you.

The thought of having different disciplines in different studios/workshops helps to create an environment where new ways of crafting great software can be learned. I would call that schools of practice (or thought).

Every studio/workshop has it’s unique approach to building their software, interacting with their customers, etc.

I was thinking about this last year, and I was pondering with the idea of creating an event inviting different craftsmanship studios/workshops to gather together and share their way with the other studios present. This way we could be able to learn from each other all sorts of techniques (from coding practices, billing techniques, customer collaboration, and a long etc).

The idea is still in my head, and I would love to make it happen anytime soon (maybe by the end of this year). Would you and your workshop/studio attend to such an event?

Posted in NexWerk, Software Craftsmanship, collaboration, community, craftsmanship, professionalism, the wandering book | Comments Off

Gustin Prudner in the Wandering Book

Monday, February 1st, 2010

We have another wonderful entry to The Wandering Book, this time from Gustin. Gustin runs a small studio in Floyd, Virginia called Entryway. They follow a set of core values deeply ingrained into their culture embracing Software Craftsmanship to their daily lives as a business.

In his entry in The Wandering Book, Gustin, describes his thoughts on the Craft of Software. I was very pleased to read his entry and see that he, like many others, has created a culture of betterment around him, trying to nurture the environment around him with energy and his values.

I loved though one particular part of his entry:
Gustin's entry

A software crafter is often on the verge of obsession. Craftsmanship is caring enough to change the little things that may not be noticeable to a customer, whether it is for aesthetic reasons or for the future maintenance of code. It is the forethought toward the future evolution of market, client, and software.

Moreover Gustin has been the first person to write on (and have the courage) more than 2 pages on The Wandering Book which actually pleases me as we can see the brilliant result!

Here you can see Gustin’s original entry in The Wandering Book, or you can read it on his personal blog as well.

Posted in NexWerk, Software Craftsmanship, collaboration, community, craftsmanship, professionalism, the wandering book | Comments Off

Customer Collaboration: on Empathy

Wednesday, December 30th, 2009

The 4th value in the Manifesto for Software Craftsmanship reads:

Not only customer collaboration,

but also productive partnerships.

Being “in tune” with our customers has always been one of the most important aspects of my professional life. I have always tried to understand, really understand, the need of a customer; get to know where it itches.

When I was in Nigeria for 2 years developing the Value Added Services platforms for a mobile operator I spend my days running from operations to customer care up to marketing and back to coding (I actually spend more then one night coding). I was trying to understand all the perspectives of the software we wanted to develop and deploy so that our public, the mobile phone users of the country could enjoy the best service. I even responded to more than a call at the customer care centre and talked to users that had a problem with a given service.

Usually I would say I have a gift for understanding, and taking my time to understand, my customers needs.

The other day though I got totally blown away buy a level of professionalism and empathy that I had not experienced before.

My mother has recently been operated from a cancer and she is recovering at home. Her GP organised a special service from the so called Unidad de Paliativos (eng. Palliative Unit). Basically there is a doctor that comes to your house once a week and looks after you making sure everything is fine.

The day of the visit the doctor did not come alone for the visit, but had an apprentice with him. A learning doctor that assists him while he visits his patients.

The way this doctor acted and spoke during the visit left us all speechless (not in the literal way). He had a way of talking and understand my mothers concerns and situation that was beyond what I can possibly explain; as my mother said it was a finest hour (actually she used the german term Sternstunde).

I am not able to transmit the power of this doctor and his way of dealing with his patients, it was a far to awe inspiring experience. What I am possibly trying to express is deep respect and a desire to learn from this experience.

At the moment I am not sure in which way I am going to digest and apply this experience in my craft, but I am sure it will change the way I interact with my customers.

Coming back to the 4th value of the Manifesto I think it is just a starting point from which we have to explore the interactions and relationships with our customers.

productive partnerships sounds a bit cold and abstract, nevertheless it is a good starting point for a workshop/studio to expand upon and make it part of their school of thought.

What do you think? Do you have any experiences to share?

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