“You learn more quickly under the guidance of experienced teachers. You waste a lot of time going down blind alleys if you have no one to lead you.”-W. Somerset Maugham (1874 – 1965)
Filmed at Rally’s Agile Success Tour events, these videos detail the real-life agile implementations of software/IT executives who have taken the enterprise agile journey and are now realizing the benefits of enterprise-scale software Agility.
Our coaching and technical account teams (including Jean and myself) provided guidance to many of these panelists during their initial steps in their journey. It gives me great pleasure to see them now become the teachers and share their expertise with the new generation of practitioners.
Don’t pass up this great opportunity to learn from the experiences of others!
The next round of Agile Success Tours starts next week as Rally customers share their stories in a community-building event. We coordinate these events for the purpose of learning from do-ers. This is not a Rally sales pitch or a parade of “experts”; this is a place where software and IT leaders can share with their peers the best practices and roadblocks to Agile adoption. Peggy Reed, one of our phenomenal speakers from the Denver event and Avaya’s Director of Contact Center Reporting, said:
“I would totally recommend this event to people who are moving from another methodology to Agile. There are moments of truth when you move to Agile that are really tough for organizations. Having some help in a community that shares those moments of truth and change makes it understandable. You can see your progress if you share your journey with other people.”
In addition to the speakers below, Israel Gat, former VP of Development at BMC Software, will be at all three events sharing his enterprise Agile adoption story. The event is free, but registration is required.
June 4, 2009 – Santa Clara, CA
Leigh Anne Glasson, VP IT Applications Engineering, VMware
I’ve been talking with colleague and friend Israel Gat about the upcoming Rally Success Tour March 18 in Denver. In anticipation of the event, Israel has been talking with some of the people to be involved in both a panel discussion and breakout sessions. One of the panelists, Peggy Reed, R&D Director of Performance Solutions with Avaya, is someone I have known for several years. With 30 years in the software industry, Peggy has expertise in many areas of software development. This includes enterprise integration, data visualization, data warehousing, and product development. She began her career in 1979 writing Motorola assembly language and has since moved into development management. She holds a degree in Computer Science from Colorado State University.
I know of Peggy’s passion around organizations, teams, software, and Agile in particular. She holds a conviction that this Agile forward thinking is the true foundation of delivering better software faster. So, it was great to hear from Israel that Peggy spoke with him about something she calls “Beautiful Software.” I had an immediate warm reaction to this! Only Peggy could come up with such an intriguing notion about software.
In this post, I interview Israel about that very enticing notion that Peggy mentioned to find out his reactions and experiences in the world of “Beautiful Software.” We promise to not giveaway any spoilers from the upcoming event. We just want to poke around what ideas come to us with the term “Beautiful Software.”
Jean: Israel, thanks for joining me here. First of all, could you tell us a little about yourself?
Israel: I was born and raised in Israel. I served in the paratroop corps there and fought in the ’67 and ’73 wars. I came to the United States in ’76 and have lived here for most of the time since. I thought it would be good when I came in ’76, but little had I realized then how good it would actually be. I am very thankful to the country and the people for helping me make the United States my home. I actually feel that by sharing my Agile expertise I pay back my “debt” to the United States and to its software industry. For the better part of my professional career I have been doing system management. Since I got exposed to Agile in 2003, my passion for it has been steadily growing. About two years ago my passion for Agile had surpassed my passion for system management. As of the beginning of this year I am devoting all my cycles to Agile, particularly with respect to consulting and coaching on enterprise level Agile deployments.
Jean: Great, Israel. Can you tell me about some of what struck you most about your interview with Peggy?
Israel: The PASSION. While I could not see her body language (this was a telephone interview) her passion for software was radiating through the receiver. I felt privileged and honored to speak with a professional who put so much of both her mind and her heart to software.
Jean: Thinking about Peggy’s passions and then about your own experience in the world of software, how do you think this term “Beautiful” applies? I mean, isn’t it a rather provocative and unusual description to ascribe to software?
Israel: I had a revelation many years ago when I first read the Cluetrain Manifesto: The End of Business as Usual. I realized then that I was a craftsman, not an assembly line worker. A true craftsman is proud of the intricacies of his/her work, striving for excellence and elegance while respecting the nature of the medium with which he or she is working. To borrow the title of a recent book, a software craftsman dreams in code. This sense of great discovery I had savored so long ago (while reading the Cluetrain Manifesto) was rekindled in me while I was listening to Peggy.
Jean: I don’t want to give away too much here about what Peggy will bring us next week. Still, can you tell me where, in your experience, a notion of “Beautiful” impacts organizational structure and business motivators?
Israel:Jim Highsmith talks of Intrinsic Quality versus Extrinsic Quality. Peggy’s notion of the beauty of the software is in some ways conceptually similar to Jim’s Intrinsic Quality. It is like the visceral feeling you get while holding an iPod in the palm of your hand – you know you are touching something very special! I will restrain myself not to get deeper on the subject here as I might unintentionally steal some of Peggy’s thunder. I definitely plan to dive deep into Beautiful Software → Intrinsic Quality topic during the March 18 event in Denver. Stay tuned…
Jean: Well, thanks Israel for giving us some of your reactions and feedback. For people in the Denver area, I encourage you to come meet Peggy and the other panelists yourself March 18 for more about Agile adoption, Agile practices, and yes, even “Beautiful Software.” Meanwhile, Israel and I will check-in here again after the event to report how others learned about and reacted to “Beautiful Software.” See you then!
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