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Promiscuous Pairing and Beginner’s Mind:

Embrace Inexperience

 

Arlo Belshee

Architect

Silver Platter Software

Pasadena, CA 91103

(503) 265-1263

a_xp@arlim.org

 


Agile . since Jun 23 . Index . DOCs TOP TOC



Arlo Belshee on what he learned when doing Agile Software Development:


Erstaunliche Erfahrungen

Document

.    Abstract

1

Introduction

1.1

.    The Project and Environment

1.2

.    Flow and Pair Flow

1.3

.    Beginner’s Mind

1.4

.    Competencies Versus Skills

1.5

.    Promiscuity and Pair Net

2

Practices

2.1

.    Introduction

2.2

.    Give Tasks to the Least Qualified Person

2.3

.    Task Naturals, not Domain Experts

2.4

.    Team Owned, Pull-based Task Assignment

2.5

.    Team Owned Tasks

2.6

.    Pair Churn

2.7

.    Continuous Beginner’s Mind and Creativity

3

Results

3.1

.    New Hires

3.2

.    Pair Promiscuously!

4

References



Agile . since Jun 23 . Index . DOCs TOP TOC

Abstract


Many traditional software practices stress the importance of programming in Flow. XP directly challenges the assertion that Flow is critical and proclaims Pair Flow.

Both Flow states are fragile. They are easily disrupted by outside distraction or task rotation. Both take a long time to enter. Furthermore, it takes days for a given pair to be comfortable enough with each other to be able to achieve Pair Flow at all.

My team at Silver Platter discovered that there is a third option to achieve high-efficiency programming. Our team spent the majority of its time in Beginner’s Mind. Whereas Flow depends on stability, Beginner’s Mind depends on instability, yet provides similar efficiency gains to a constant state of Flow.

This paper discusses one approach to achieve a constant state of Beginner’s Mind. It shows how to use those most-central of agile programming practices — pairing and task allocation — to constantly reinforce this mind state.

 

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