Alistair Cockburn©Humans and Technology, Inc., Slide 1 Foundations of Agile Development: Cooperative Games of Invention and Communication in Action Alistair Cockburn Humans and Technology

Alistair Cockburn©Humans and Technology, Inc., Slide 2 Agile is a special case of effective software development is a special case of cooperative game of invention & communication MORE VALUABLE Individuals & interactions Working software Customer collaboration Responding to change HAS VALUE Processes and Tools Comprehensive documentation Contract negotiation Following a plan These values work from : communication, trust, feedback, fluidity

Alistair Cockburn©Humans and Technology, Inc., Slide 3 Developing software consists of making ideas concrete in an economic context. People inventing and communicating --- Solving a problem they don't yet understand, (which keeps changing out from under them) Creating a solution they don't yet understand, (which keeps changing out from under them) Writing in languages they don’t yet understand, (which keeps changing out from under them) --- To an interpreter unforgiving of error Where every choice has economic consequences, and resources are limited.

Alistair Cockburn©Humans and Technology, Inc., Slide 4 Software development in general is a series of “cooperative games of invention and communication” 2The “cooperative game” leads us to a better vocabulary for our field than “engineering”. 2Playing the cooperative game deliberately produces good project strategies. 2Cooperative issues govern much of the game: -Project-specific individuals and situations -Distances, Convection currents of information -Pride-in-work, Amicability matter 2“Agile” development is an approach to playing the game effectively under selected circumstances.

Alistair Cockburn©Humans and Technology, Inc., Slide 5 do thatdo thisdo that do thisdo that do this Why don’t Processes solve the problem ? Wish: The ideal process allows a company to eliminate its dependence on key individuals, producing software reliably, repeatably.

Alistair Cockburn©Humans and Technology, Inc., Slide 6 Complex processes using peopledon’t work as written ! “Work to rule” - doing only what the process calls for - is a standard work-slowdown technique. Why does breaking the process improve it? (It was wrong to start with) Why do workers break rules to improve a process? (Pride in accomplishment)

Alistair Cockburn©Humans and Technology, Inc., Slide 7 Infinite Organization Survival Career Management Competitive Cooperative Finite w/ no fixed end Jazz music King-of-the-hill wrestling Finite & goal-directed Tennis Software Developmen t Poker Rock-Climbing A software project is a goal-directed, finite cooperative game Chess

Alistair Cockburn©Humans and Technology, Inc., Slide 8 “Series of games” means each game calls for TWO goals in ONE - both resource-limited ! Goal #1  Deliver this software Goal #2  Set up for the next game Goals 1 and 2 conflict and compete for resources! Goal 1 is a simple, finite assignment; Goal 2 is an essentially infinite assignment. The game’s situation never repeats itself. Situations and strategies keep shifting Managing the game is a matter of brinkmanship. Achieve Goal #1; “adequacy” for Goal #2.

Alistair Cockburn©Humans and Technology, Inc., Slide 9 Cooperative software development requires intensive communication The various people need to construct similar internal models about what the problem is; what the soul of the solution is; They need to exchange details about the solution; trivia about the technology; trivia about the domain; dependency notes. Any delay in exchanging information delays the project, increases cost, jeopardizes the two goals.

Alistair Cockburn©Humans and Technology, Inc., Slide 10 The project’s speed depends on Cooperative Game issues : Can people easily detect something needs attention? (Good at Looking Around) Will they care enough to mention it or attend to it? (Trust, Personal safety, Amicability, Pride-in-work) Can they effectively pass along the information? (Economics of proximity, convection currents) The Cooperative Game lexicon gives us words and handles on these important issues

Alistair Cockburn©Humans and Technology, Inc., Slide 11 Normal team Aligned team (Dirty Dozen) The alignment of people’s goals affects the team efficiency: Goal alignment becomes a key topic

Alistair Cockburn©Humans and Technology, Inc., Slide 12 Amicability and Personal Safety determine how quickly information moves Amicability : Willingness to listen with good will The “amicability index” indicates how easily information passes from one part of the organization to another. In low amicability, people block the flow of information, intentionally or through not listening well. Personal Safety : Feeling of safety in speaking out (weaker form of Trust). Don’t need full 5-dimensional Trust Do need people volunteering information

Alistair Cockburn©Humans and Technology, Inc., Slide 13 In a cooperative game of communication... poor office layout costs the project a lot Reference pair 100 questions/week 1 minute delay / question : 1-2/3 hr/wk/person 12 people : 20 work hours / wk annually : 960+ work hours / yr (approx. 24 work weeks / year in transport delay)...plus Lost Opportunity Costs for questions not asked!... distributed teams cost still more in lost Trust.

Alistair Cockburn©Humans and Technology, Inc., Slide 14 The economics of communication affects team seating & project strategies This topic is well researched: “Managing the Flow of Technology,” T. J. Allen, M.I.T. “Distance Matters,” Olson & Olson “The length of a school bus” is the approx. distance they’ll both to travel to ask questions. They don’t climb stairs! Suggests two project strategies: “Osmotic Communication” (Team room) “Cone of Silence” (for overload situations)

Alistair Cockburn©Humans and Technology, Inc., Slide 15 KimPat KimPat Information drifts in currents; consider the “convection currents” of communication 72 work weeks lost annually Kim Pat Kim Pat 24 work weeks lost annually effectivemost effective (and tiring) “Information is like perfume”

Alistair Cockburn©Humans and Technology, Inc., Slide 16 Photo courtesy of Thoughtworks Information radiators emit constantly -- people learn while walking past! Photo courtesy of Géry Derbier

Alistair Cockburn©Humans and Technology, Inc., Slide 17 In a cooperative game of communication technology plays a role... Simulate Rich communication Presence Awareness web cams & mikes instant messaging systems continuous build systems (Cruise Control) Not ‘as good’, but ‘better than isolation

Alistair Cockburn©Humans and Technology, Inc., Slide 18 Photo courtesy of Tomax corp. Beware: Morale, Trust, Personal Safety flow through convection currents, too! Photo courtesy of ADP Dealer Services

Alistair Cockburn©Humans and Technology, Inc., Slide 19 Mid-talk check: Cooperative Game topics Each game part of a series:  must deliver & set up for next game Game situation changes constantly:  need fluidity in strategies Key terms in playing the cooperative games effectively:  Goal alignment, Morale  Amicability, Personal Safety  Communication paths rich, osmotic, low delay ... still haven’t touched the topic of ‘people’

Alistair Cockburn©Humans and Technology, Inc., Slide 20 People are unpredictable & spontaneous Weak on:Strong on: Consistency Communicating Discipline Looking around Following instructionsCopy / modify Changing habits Motivated by: Pride in work Pride in contributing Pride in accomplishment Trust & personal safety

Alistair Cockburn©Humans and Technology, Inc., Slide 21 Ecosystem Methodology Process Techniques Tools Skills Roles Standards Quality Teams Products People MilestonesActivities Personality Jenny Jim Peter Annika Project manager Documenter Designer Tester Values People are stuffed full of personality

Alistair Cockburn©Humans and Technology, Inc., Slide 22 Methodology and Ecosystem are in interplay When each changes, the ecosystem rearranges itself. Ecosystem: Actual project details (“environment”) Flights of stairs people must climb (“cliffs”) Office layout (“terrain”) Staff roles (“species”) Specific strong people (“predators”)

Alistair Cockburn©Humans and Technology, Inc., Slide 23 Jenny (Pete) MarketplaceProgrammers Bill Mary Marketing group Business analysts (Dirty Dozen) Strategies, processes, methodologies get rebuilt around ecosystems of people

Alistair Cockburn©Humans and Technology, Inc., Slide 24 Every game run uses different strategies -- Set up each project’s accordingly or suffer Number of people coordinated Comfort Essential moneys Life ,000 C6C20C40C100C200C500C1000 D6D20D40D100D200D500D1000 E6E20E40E100E200E500E1000 L6L20L40L100L200L500L1000 Discretionary moneys “Criticality”

Alistair Cockburn©Humans and Technology, Inc., Slide 25 Top factors when playing software development as a cooperative game: 2Fewer, better people working in amicability & safety 2Close (osmotic) communication 2Frequent delivery and feedback at all levels 2Reflective improvement 2Easy access to expert users 2Goals aligned & quality time to focus on them 2Simplified designs 2Future topics: humor & competition Agile development plays the cooperative game effectively in many common circumstances.

Alistair Cockburn©Humans and Technology, Inc., Slide 26 These ideas has been derived from projects and tested on projects over years 2 Derived from dozens of project debriefings 2 Supported in cognitive & social theory literature 2 Tested on small / large projects, various countries 2 Applied by busy teams on the fly 2 There is no ‘correct’ answer, there are only strategies more effective in this game at this moment.

Alistair Cockburn©Humans and Technology, Inc., Slide 27 Read more about cooperative games, agile development, project strategies at Alistair.Cockburn.us