(As presented at Agile Testing Days, October 2013, Potsdam DE) Two years ago, I looked back at over a decade of progress in the community of Agile software development practitioners. I talked about some alarming trends in our attitudes, our practices and what we teach, but also described the ways in which I believe we’d really advanced the art of software development. Now, I explore a more interesting question: Where do we go from here? Those alarming trends haven’t all gone away. In fact, some have got worse, and I want to highlight some of things that I think we really need to stop before they destroy all the credibility we’ve built. Of course, the picture is not bleak: we’ve helped make software development better for so many people, and I’ll talk about where I’d like us to focus our considerable energy to help make the coming decade even better for our field and the lives of our colleagues.

2. The Next Decade
Where do we go from here?

3. Watch the video
at http://link.jbrains.ca/1aJLeBd
(4 minutes)

4. “Why aren’t
we rich yet?”
Kent Beck

5. “Why aren’t
we rich yet?”
Kent Beck ...in 2003

7. We fancy “Agile”
as a mindset...

8. I don’t think our message is quite getting through...
http://blog.brodzinski.com/2010/03/you-must-be-agile.html

10. We use awesome
Zen-like phrases
that we understand,
but the rest of the
world doesn’t

11. Bill Caputo

12. Ron Jeffries: “We Tried Baseball and It Didn’t Work”
http://xprogramming.com/articles/jatbaseball/

13. Community: “They’re Just Rules”
http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?TheyreJustRules

14. Energised Work / Gus Power
http://link.jbrains.ca/Tghs02

15. Where does all
this leave us?

16. worked my ass off to transform
the way we all build software

17. Chip and Dan Heath
Switch: How to Change Things When Change is Hard

18. James Shore: “Études for Excellence”
http://www.jamesshore.com/Blog/Etudes-for-Excellence.html

19. “Why aren’t
we rich yet?”

20. David Anderson
Diana Larsen
Olav Maassen
Chris Matts
Ron Jeffries
Chet Hendrickson
David Snowden
Aslak Hellesøy
Eric Ries
Uncle Bob

21. We’ve scripted the
critical moves, but
we’ve failed to
convey the vision

22. “They” have no
real reason to
change, so “they”
work to rule...

23. Steven Baker http://stevenrbaker.com/
A year ago, this guy moved in down the street from me...

24. Heiman, Tuleja, Miller: “The New Strategic Selling”
This model helps me “sell” practices to people

25. ...so while we
believe this...

26. Simple, clear purpose and
principles give rise to
complex, intelligent
behavior. Complex rules
and regulations give rise to
simple, stupid behavior.
Dee Hock,
Birth of the Chaordic Age

27. ...we get this...

28. People appear to really want to buy rules, processes, templates...

29. Training companies are taking advantage of this trend...

32. There, there...

33. What happened?!

34. I don’t think this attitude has helped much over the years...

35. Steve McConnell: “Code Complete”
“Grandma’s Ham”, page 43

36. Watch the video at
http://link.jbrains.ca/bob-newhart-stop-it
(6 minutes)

37. Let’s look at our most
well-advertised,
popular practices

38. http://martinfowler.com/articles/itsNotJustStandingUp.html
photo: Karthik Chandrasekarial

39. Travelogue
Face Time
80% done

40. Now’s your chance to complain... get it out of your system.

41. What’s missing?

42. Risks!

43. Chapter 2, Risk Management is Product Management for Adults
http://link.jbrains.ca/S2jyPY

44. These folks look like they’re “doing it right”!

45. A place to put those quick things that come to mind...

46. Liz Keogh, “Behavior-Driven Development”
http://www.slideshare.net/lunivore/behavior-driven-development-11754474

47. How different are your Cucumber scenarios from this?

49. What’s missing?

50. Involving the
Customer

52. Talking in
Examples

53. Liz Keogh, “Behavior-Driven Development”
http://www.slideshare.net/lunivore/behavior-driven-development-11754474

54. I still believe that this is a great place to start...

56. I need my story next!

57. What’s missing?

59. Negotiating scope: not “which stories?” but “how much of each story?”

60. Gus Power, “Extreme Pair Programming”
http://energizedwork.com/weblog/2009/05/extreme-pair-programming

62. ;

65. What’s missing?

66. Arlo Belshee, “Promiscuous Pairing and Beginner’s Mind”
http://link.jbrains.ca/V4bQsW

67. Watch the video at
http://link.jbrains.ca/angela-harms-excerpt
(1 minute)

68. http://www.industrialxp.org/retrospectives.html

72. What’s missing?

73. As always, trust remains the principal ingredient...

74. It all seems so simple...

77. I’m sorry, Dave... but I can’t let you change that.

78. What’s missing?

80. I know it’s very old advice, but it remains just as true today.

83. Uh... yeah... I’m going to
need you to go ahead and
get 12 more points done
this sprint...

84. What’s missing?

85. Negotiating scope: not “which stories?” but “how much of each story?”

87. Even Jenkins can’t integrate all those features at once!

88. What’s missing?

89. James Shore: “Continuous Integration is an Attitude, Not a Tool”
http://link.jbrains.ca/TePNKE

90. http://link.jbrains.ca/R8rBxx

91. What’s missing?

95. How do your Scrum Masters answer this question?
Office Space. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0151804/

96. What’s in the way?

97. Ego

98. What do you think
practitioners miss
when they try to
follow our advice?

99. I like to focus on
these ideas both
when I teach and
when I practice...

100. Josh Gough
http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/scrumdevelopment/message/48820

101. http://link.jbrains.ca/product-sashimi

102. The “Contract, then Expand” technique
http://www.jbrains.ca/permalink/three-steps-to-a-useful-minimal-feature

103. http://www.jbrains.ca/permalink/becoming-an-accomplished-softwaredesigner

105. The Five Dysfunctions of a Team
http://link.jbrains.ca/T7HCPC

106. J. B. Rainsberger, “Integrated Tests Are a Scam: Part 1”
http://blog.thecodewhisperer.com/2010/10/16/integrated-tests-are-a-scam/

107. Converging towards a common design standard
http://link.jbrains.ca/TlE3JH

108. Vi ses i Stockholm!
http://www.legacycoderetreat.org
http://www.coderetreat.org

109. Will you join me?

110. me@jbrains.ca
The Next Decade
More mindful practice
http://link.jbrains.ca/next-decade