Grown Organically - Develop Software and Bonsai

What does developing software and growing bonsai have in common? Not much at a first glance - But we can use one as a metaphor for the other. In this talk, I explain why.

Transcript

1. Grown Organically Growing Software and Bonsai
2. Agenda Agenda • Feedback • Simple Steps • Environment • Learning
3. Bonsai: Tree in a Pot Bonsai: Tree in a Pot Bonsai "Kenshin Tōge", ca. 800 Jahre alt (Wikipedia, CC BY 4.0, Author: Order of the Rose)
4. Bonsai: Piece of Art Bonsai: Piece of Art
5. Bonsai: Piece of Art Bonsai: Piece of Art • Represents a big tree in nature • Is a small tree in a pot
6. Piece of Art: Abstraction Piece of Art: Abstraction
7. Tradition, Techniques, Jargon Tradition, Techniques, Jargon
8. My Collection My Collection
9. Feedback
10. The shortest Path The shortest Path • ...between two Points is not always a line!
11. MMMSS MMMSS • Many More Much Smaller Steps (GeePaw Hill) • No obvious shortest distance • Must be able to change destination • Hand-offs between large steps are expensive
12. Priority #1: Health Priority #1: Health • As long as you don’t kill the tree, there are options • Healthy business • Healthy code • Healthy team
13. One Step at a Time One Step at a Time
14. One Step at a Time One Step at a Time • Response of the Tree = Feedback – No no work before you observe the response – Watch, water, fertilize, keep pests in check • Never work without feedback: – Stories, that build on one another – Long-running branches – Accepted in review, but feature-flagged
15. Patience Patience • Trees are slow when giving feedback – Takes weeks – … or months
16. Patience Patience With software products, patience is an important skill to make sure we don’t push the team faster than they can write good code, or make changes to the product faster than you can learn from users response to the changes. -- Andy Nortrup
17. Speed is Key Speed is Key • Which team provides more value?
19. Speed is Key Speed is Key
20. Speed is Key Speed is Key
21. Wait… Patience or Speed? Wait… Patience or Speed? Bad • More code, faster • More features, faster → Local optimization Good • Better feedback, faster • More value, faster
22. Key to Success Key to Success • Iteration • Feedback – Better – Faster
23. Simple Steps Applied Consistently
24. All Steps are Simple All Steps are Simple • TDD: Red-Green-Refactor • Refactoring: Extract variable / method, Move, … • Scrum: Planning, Review, Retro, …
25. Steps Must be Small Steps Must be Small • Intrinsic benefits of Steps – Interruptability – Steerability – Reversability – Rhythm – … GeePaw Hill
26. MMMSS – Many More Much Smaller Steps MMMSS – Many More Much Smaller Steps
27. “Just Let it Grow” “Just Let it Grow”
28. “Just Let it Grow” “Just Let it Grow”
29. “Just Let it Grow” “Just Let it Grow”
30. “Just Let it Grow” “Just Let it Grow”
31. “Just Let it Grow” “Just Let it Grow”
32. “Just Let it Grow” “Just Let it Grow”
33. “Just Let it Grow” “Just Let it Grow”
34. “Just Let it Grow” “Just Let it Grow”
35. “Just Let it Grow” “Just Let it Grow”
36. Steps Must be Applied Consistently Steps Must be Applied Consistently
37. Steps Must be Applied Consistently Steps Must be Applied Consistently
38. Steps Must be Applied Consistently Steps Must be Applied Consistently
39. Steps Must be Applied Consistently Steps Must be Applied Consistently
40. Steps Must be Applied Consistently Steps Must be Applied Consistently
41. Steps Must be Applied Consistently Steps Must be Applied Consistently
42. Steps Must be Applied Consistently Steps Must be Applied Consistently
43. Steps Must be Applied Consistently Steps Must be Applied Consistently
44. Steps Must be Applied Consistently Steps Must be Applied Consistently
45. Steps Must be Applied Consistently Steps Must be Applied Consistently
46. Key to Success Key to Success • Small steps • Applied consistently • Towards a goal • Over long periods
47. Environment
48. Bonsai: Unsustainable System Bonsai: Unsustainable System • Small pot • Dense branches / twigs • Wants to grow big → Requires constant attention, steering & work
49. Software: Unsustainable System Software: Unsustainable System • Requirements change • Technology changes • We learn and get better → Requires constant attention, steering & work
50. Health & Environment Health & Environment
51. Responding to Change Responding to Change • Future-proof architecture is adaptable • Only simple designs are easy to adapt • Remove unnecessary elements • Learn to refactor safely and in small steps
52. Environment: Growth and Learning Environment: Growth and Learning How can teams learn to • Get better feedback faster? • Create software that can be adapted based on feedback? • Create processes that allow for fast iteration?
53. Environment: Size & Speed Environment: Size & Speed • Just add one more person… (?) • “With half the people, we could do this project in half the time”
54. Key to Success Key to Success • Sustaining software requires constant work • Create an environment where teams can thrive • Optimize for adaptability
55. Learning And Coaching Practical Skills
56. Learning by Watching? Learning by Watching? Video of a Bonsai Workshop • Student wires the whole tree (mechanical skill) • Master sets the branches and designs the tree (artistic skill) Did they maximize learning?
57. Bonsai Clubs Bonsai Clubs
58. The Main Product The Main Product "The most important product of software development is software developers" -- Jason Gorman
59. We Learn by Doing We Learn by Doing • From mistakes • From successes • From repetition
60. We Learn from Each Other We Learn from Each Other • By discussing • By solving problems together • By watching and trying something similar • By watching and trying something different
61. We Learn by Teaching We Learn by Teaching • By digging deeper into a subject • By saying things out loud • By watching others how they understood us
62. Training from The Back of the Room Training from The Back of the Room
63. Samman Coaching Samman Coaching
64. Way to Success Way to Success • Create software developers • Optimize for learning • Learn together • Learn and coach in a brain-friendly way
65. David Tanzer David Tanzer • Technical Agile Coach • Trainer • Software Developer / Architect • Freelancer since 2016 • https://www.davidtanzer.net • https://www.devteams.at
66. Thank You! Thank You!