conferences

My notes from conference sessions I have attended.

View the Project on GitHub jonfazzaro/conferences

Agile & Beyond 2023

June 13-14th, 2023
Detroit, MI

Inclusion is not merely a cease fire

with Ashley Johnson

Helping people who don’t want help is abuse.

–Bill McCarley

Our Culture Sucks! How to Get Executives to Make Real Change

with @tarascottrogue

“Using your frustration can be a great fuel to get started. But be mindful of your anger as you get going.”

“Don’t focus on bad apples–they’ll win every time.”

Things are always hard when you care.

–David Hussman

Engineering with Empathy

with @kelseyhightower

Lean doesn’t work until you have a factory. Toyota had a factory! (In software, CI/CD/archtitecture/etc. is the factory.)

In “Agile”, we spend too much of our time convincing people of our ideas, and not enough time trying them.

The key to “done” is empathy for the user.

Empathy is when you take a thing personally.

Is anyone new to Agile anymore?

with @CatSwetel and @sarahejguthrie

We don’t need every solution to be novel/bespoke. Some things are solved problems. Commoditize and automate established tools and ideas, so that we can spend our time on solving more interesting problems.

If you have to say the word “Agile”, it’s because it is conspicuous in your environment–not natural.

Stop Assuming Positive Intent

with Emily Darin and Kristen Belcher

A mandate to assume positive intent can mask/excuse bad behavior.

Intent vs. Impact

Intent doesn’t undo Impact.
(Impact matters more than Intent.)

Intent is in the speaker’s heart. Impact is in the listener’s ear.

Don’t assume negative intent, either!

“Assume Positive Intent” in a team’s working agreements could be a CYA move. Be more specific!

Assuming positive intent is a privilege that not everyone has.

Mandate vs. Assertion

A mandate is an authoritative command. (“You owe me a birthday card.”) An assertion is a statement of intent. (“I love to get a birthday card.”)

Context/boundaries determine the value of all of these.

Don’t Assume Positive Intent. Assert Personal Intent!