Reflection - Iteration 4
Hey folks, how are things? Things are awesome over here. Development is in full swing, a lot of things are done and in the woodworks. I'm really excited about this. I have found some great consultants to do work for us, I'm really looking forward to seeing what they can do. If they can't self document it's the gallows!
So, last week I had off, we got back yesterday. It was a good week off, relaxing, I got a lot done, both project related and not. Some of you may wonder why I didn't do my reflection yesterday like I normally would. Well, I have invented a new term for Agile Developers, it's really brilliant. It's going to revolutionize the industry I think, it's called "The Mulligan" Definition: when there is a day between two iterations that you just want to do some stuff and not account for it and not tell people why. I think you should get one Mulligan a year, or one Mulligan for ten iterations. Yesterday was my Mulligan. GET OVER IT.
I'm pushing myself a little this iteration. I do well in chaos mode so I am going to try to apply that to my iterative cycle. We will see how that goes.
Unrelated notes: The new 90210 is AWESOME, (UPDATE(typo)): Nonoba.com is a great UX, and I have 71 points and 4 badges on CrackOverflow and none of you can take that away from me (well, unless you get 100 points yourself and are also hella mean)
Here are some pictures of my "web wall" as it goes, and my messy desk. "A messy desk means a warm heart" I always say.
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Comments
Ix on on 9.03.2008 at 12:56 PM
Wow, I hope those consultants work out; I'd hate to see them get a lashing o.O
Just curious, where did you find them?
Good to hear you took a day off, you probably needed it and maybe it helped you take a step back and analyze your situations, which is healthy. I have a friend who works best in chaos, maybe you two would get along, but he's got an ego the size of Manhattan, so probably not.
Mulligan day...hrmm...it's a good idea, but the term is a little to close to golfing, which isn't my bag. Maybe you could call it a thread.sleep day? That's a bit more dev-centric.
Good Luck with the project,
Ix
schipps on on 9.03.2008 at 1:12 PM
They are loyal readers, I'm sure they will be great.
Not a golf fan? I really enjoy it, sometimes some diversity creates a good balance.
Wes on on 9.03.2008 at 1:36 PM
Nice MacBook Pro <-- Not a pick up line ;)
Also, I'm a fan of all the sticky notes. Happy TEST DAY!!
Nick Berardi on on 9.03.2008 at 4:26 PM
Very nice setup.
Nick Berardi on on 9.03.2008 at 4:55 PM
Hi Sara,
I might start implementing Mulligan Code Practices with my developers for some of my current projects. The boss may even like it since he is an avid golfer.
I am very interested in finding out more about Reflection and what it actually is. I read through all 4 iterations and they seem to talk mostly about the development process, but with out an actual context of where they are heading it only half makes sense to me. If I missed the actual post where you described it I am sorry.
What struck me to read more about Reflection is that you are doing the development on a Mac, but it is all .NET which is an oddity in the world of .NET developers. So I had to learn more. ;)
schipps on on 9.03.2008 at 5:35 PM
@Nick - Reflection is the point in my agile/scrum/other stuff that works development methodology that I look back at my iteration (I'm on a two week cycle) and see what I could have doe better and what I feel has improved. This way the next iteration I can focus on the things I feel need to be improved.
I do love my Mac Book, I feel that Apple makes great (but expensive) hardware. I run Vista on it and it's hella fast.
schipps on on 9.03.2008 at 5:36 PM
oh and @Wes, hahaha I was wondering if people would be able to read that!
Nick Berardi on on 9.03.2008 at 7:30 PM
Wow I totally missed that. Makes much more sense to me now. :)
Bill Robertson on on 9.04.2008 at 1:32 PM
Thread.Sleep sounds too much like do nothing.
At least with a Thread.Join you have a goal to wait for something else to complete.
I would go with a WaitHandle.WaitOne(). The main thread is still doing some work until the next iteration calls Pulse and I can start headlong on that.
James on on 9.04.2008 at 6:39 PM
So i had to blink on the Mulligan relationship, since my golfing extends to... oh yeah, i should've yelled "fore" huh? oh well... no one was hit... heh
None the less I think the wall is a nice idea. I know for me, that I can't live without my whiteboard... actually it's a whiteboard room... walk around slide the board and digital camera click that board before you wipe it whiteboard way of life! I picked up that trick in Japan. background > meeting = write on board (take photo) slide board; fill board(){new expansion of previous board != same results;}
function takePic(){and carry on move to 1;}
that has never failed me! after all it's pretty easy to store the blobs to reiterate... as for your desk? paper? you still use paper? wow! You're awesome! I can't remember how long it's been since I've had to write down anything... of course... i can't actually write anymore...
Slackmaster K on on 9.04.2008 at 7:56 PM
Agile already has a term for doing work and not letting anyone know what you're doing. It's called "Going Dark". While it's typically frowned upon, it also typically lasts alot longer than one day. If people can come in the next day and a bunch of deferred items are suddenly resolved, I think that'll make the customer happy... which makes the managers happy... Which makes you happy.