A presentation from the 2016 Illinois Library Association conference:
“The Cathedral and The Bazaar”, a classic essay about software development, addresses a question that is as relevant to libraries as it is to software: How do you get groups of people to make great things together? This presentation will examine the “cathedral style” (a small group who tightly controls things) and the “bazaar style” (many people working towards a common goal) in the context of how we work and lead in libraries. We will also discuss the essay’s interesting observations and lessons about managing projects, motivating people, and being an effective leader.
The Cathedral and the Bazaar
Leadership Lessons from the World of Software Development
Brodie Austin, Illinois Library Association, 2016
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No shock that libraries are undergoing an incredible transformation
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Learning to be more user-centered, more engaged with our communities, and more responsive and agile when we tackle problems
Which problems should we be solving?
Do we understand the problem?
Is this the right solution?
Who needs to work on this?
How will we know it’s successful?
Questions we often face...
Critical questions
Which problems should we be solving?
Do we understand the problem?
Is this the right solution to a problem?
Who needs to work on this?
How will we know its successful?
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Lost at sea
With so much to learn, adopt, and try out, easy to feel overwhelmed!
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Learning from the world around us
We’re actually pretty good at being hybrid boundary crossers!
So what can we learn from open source software?
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Open Source Software
Created collaboratively
Distributed cheaply
Often free
Code is open for review and modification
Can be redistributed
Marc Andreesen, http://on.wsj.com/1w2FbVs
“In short, software is eating the world.”
Open source
“Software is eating the world”, particularly open source software
What is open source?
Freely distributed, no accident it’s eating the world
Products and communities
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Coxsackie_B4_virus.JPG
Open source software is a virus!
Github hosts 38 million projects
NASA is on GH
Google released its machine learning softwware Tensorflow as OSS.
You can view TensorFlow’s code on Github!
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Linux
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4d/Ubuntu_15.04.png
Ubuntu and desktop computers
(barely 2% market share of desktop computers)
https://www.wired.com/2012/10/ff-inside-google-data-center/
But over 95% of web server use Linux.
You’ve probably used Linux and didn’t even realize it.
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Many connected devices rely on Linux too
Android phones, Chrome OS, Raspberry PI etc.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MINIX#/media/File:Minix3.1.8.PNG
Key features of Linux project
Not built from scratch, actually adaptation of Minix
Torvald let lots of people contribute, particularly integrating bits of the GNU operating system
People could fork and distribute their own builds (or distributions of Linux)
There are ~280 distributions of Linux
Collaboration made possible by the Internet
Eric S. Raymond, http://www.catb.org/esr/writings/cathedral-bazaar/
“[The] really great hacks come from harnessing the attention and brainpower of entire communities.”
Cathedral and Bazaar essay
Talks about a certain style of software development
Lessons learned from Linux project and other projects (including Raymond’s own email gateway program)
19 aphorisms
Later turned into a book
Eric S. Raymond, http://www.catb.org/esr/writings/cathedral-bazaar/
“Linus Torvalds’s style of development—release early and often, delegate everything you can, be open to the point of promiscuity—came as a surprise.”
Open-source FTW
Torvald’s approach was to “release early and often, delegate everything you can, be open to the point of promiscuity”
Linux matured rapidly, more bug free
Eric S. Raymond, http://www.catb.org/esr/writings/cathedral-bazaar/
“Given enough eyeballs, all bugsare shallow.”
“Given enough eyeballs, all bugs are shallow”
Scale and openness weren’t hindrances to quality
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Cathedral style
Small, closed groups
Expertise focused on a few individuals
Projects completed in linear fashion
Polished, refined final products
No feedback until the project is “done”
Success is stability and completeness
Cathedral-style
Cathedral-style
Small, closed groups
Expertise focused on a few individuals
Projects completed in linear fashion
Polished, refined final products
No feedback until the project is “done”
Success is gauged by stability and completeness
https://i.ytimg.com/vi/GIeVudQiXKI/maxresdefault.jpg
Windows is a good example of cathedral style software (even though it’s not OSS)
Benefits of the cathedral-style
Controlled, orderly
Clear lines of authority (goals, roles, and responsibilities)
Optimized headcount (only have what you need and no more)
Less confusing to users
Familiar
Benefits of cathedral style
Controlled, orderly
Clear lines of authority (goals, roles, and responsibilities)
Optimized headcount (only have what you need and no more)
Less confusing to users
Familiar
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bethnal_Green_Road_-_market_stalls.jpg
Bazaar-style
Many people working together to solve problems
Expertise comes from the “outside”
Projects are iterative and collaborative
Products are never “final”
Products are open to feedback and change
Success is defined by adaptability and the unexpected
Bazaar-style
Many people working together to solve problems
Expertise comes from the “outside”
Projects are iterative and collaborative
Products are never “final”
Products are open to feedback and change
Success is defined by adaptability and the unexpected
Benefits of bazaar-style
Draws on individual motivation and passion
Improvements happen more quickly
Responsive to feedback by default
Collaborative by default (breaks down silos)
Benefits of bazaar-style
Draws on individual motivation and passion
Improvements happen more quickly
Responsive to feedback by default
Collaborative by default (breaks down silos)
Is your library a cathedral or a bazaar?
Discuss for 5 minutes then share
Is your library a cathedral or a bazaar? (20 minutes)
Have people discuss with each other (5 minutes)
Share (5 minutes)
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Applying the bazaar-style to your work (30 min)
Focus on 7 of the aphorisms
Every good work of software starts by scratching a developer’s personal itch.
Aphorism #1
Every good work of software starts by scratching a developer's personal itch. [1]
Personalize the problem you’re trying to solve
Solve problems you’ve experienced yourself
Better yet: put yourself in the shoes of your users, build empathy
Are you appealing to the right motivations?
The next best thing to having good ideas is recognizing good ideas from your users. Sometimes the latter is better.
Aphorism #11
The next best thing to having good ideas is recognizing good ideas from your users. Sometimes the latter is better. [11]
It’s not all about you!
Leadership as orchestration; “coordinate-and-cultivate”
Humility as a leader or project manager
“A user gave me this terrific idea—all I had to do was understand the implications.”
Often, the most striking and innovative solutions come from realizing that your concept of the problem was wrong.
Aphorism #12
Often, the most striking and innovative solutions come from realizing that your concept of the problem was wrong. [12]
Don’t get wedded to one approach or idea
We don’t always see problems and solutions clearly from the beginning
Plan to throw one away; you will, anyhow.
Aphorism #3
Plan to throw one away; you will, anyhow. [3]
Don’t overthink things
You can’t think through every possibility
Prototyping
“Sunk-cost fallacy”
“often don't really understand the problem until after the first time you implement a solution.”
Also worth noting that this is my fourth or fifth draft of this presentation!
Release early. Release often. And listen to your customers.
Aphorism #7
Release early. Release often. And listen to your customers. [7]
Value of iteration
“finding the minimum-effort path from point A to point B.”
Open to input and change
Seek out input too (ie usability testing, data, etc)
Any tool should be useful in the expected way, but a truly great tool lends itself to uses you never expected.
Aphorism #14
Any tool should be useful in the expected way, but a truly great tool lends itself to uses you never expected. [14]
Don’t squash the unusual or the unexpected, learn from it!
Like IDEO’s notion of “extremes”
I think this is hardest for libraries to think about
How could you make one of your projects more bazaar-like?
Discuss for 5 minutes and share
How could make a project you’ve worked on recently more “bazaar-like”? (40 minutes)
Discuss and share (10 minutes)
Applying the bazaar-style
Understand strengths and skills in your library and community
Good communication (plug for tomorrow’s session)
Healthy doses of humility and laziness
Embrace a little chaos
Adopting the bazaar-style (50 minutes)
Understand strengths and skills in your library and community
Good communication (plug for tomorrow’s session)
Healthy doses of humility and laziness
Embrace a little chaos
“I think you can't really aim or plan for a result like this. You have to get pulled into it by design ideas so powerful that afterward the results just seem inevitable, natural, even foreordained. The only way to try for ideas like that is by having lots of ideas”
Eric S. Raymond, http://www.catb.org/esr/writings/cathedral-bazaar/
“I think you can't really aim or plan for a result like this. You have to get pulled into it by design ideas so powerful that afterward the results just seem inevitable, natural, even foreordained. The only way to try for ideas like that is by having lots of ideas”
Thank you!
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![Eric S. Raymond, http://www.catb.org/esr/writings/cathedral-bazaar/ “[The] really great hacks come from](https://files.speakerdeck.com/presentations/b469d6993e8340bf9d5dcdc715cb32b4/slide_21.jpg){kind=link}
