It has been a while since David Good wrote his entry in The Wandering Book and I am the sole culprit of not sharing my ideas here on it. I have been caught up with many different things lately that prevented me from writing my thoughts about his entry down.
David’s entry starts by giving us a glimpse of craftsmanship outside our craft, talking about Sauder, Maloof, O’Sullivan and Stickley, four remarkable furniture craftsmen. He uses these four woodworkers to explain that Software Craftsmanship is not about the companies that adhere to it, but about the individuals who craft.
I think that in a way he is right. Our customers remember our names, the people who crafted their products and the relationship we have build with them over time. Our company is just the frame in which excellent people come to work together as a team to reach this goal.
Further into his entry David asserts that craftsmen are passionate about what they do and try to find ways to improve their techniques and toolset. Many people do so (maybe not as many as they should), but, as he explains further a craftsman makes sure he passes his knowledge on to his apprentices, enabling therefore the evolution of our craft.
I do agree with this statement. A craftsman is not only trying to improve himself and his craft, he also shares his knowledge and passes it on to other aspiring craftsmen willing to learn and move the craft forward.
Are you sharing what you learn? Are you seeking the advice from people who know more than you?
In the most recent entry of The Wandering Book, Kerry Buckley gives us a glimpse of his career and how he realised that he cared about code and the way he codes.
What I personally like about his story is the message Kerry sends (indirectly) to the developers out there who are not working in an environment where caring about the craft and continuous improvement are part of the day to day.
What I really like though about his entry is his reminder to look outside your companies boundaries and search inspiration and knowledge from other people.
There are many wise people out there from whom you can learn an awful lot!
Who’s code have you studied recently? What new techniques have you discovered?
It has been quite a while since the last entry to The Wandering Book has been made, but finally we have it! This time Adewale Oshineye, co-author (with Dave Hoover) of Apprenticeship Patterns gives us a gentle push as a community.
What have you made recently?
He rightly asks us what we have made, what we have learned by doing so and what is the next thing we are going to build.
Ade's entry in The Wandering Book
There is one thing in his entry though that really made me nod and be totally in tune. He talks about generative communities; groups of people with overlapping values that, together, create things that interact with the physical world (conferences, software, articles, devices, etc).
Having said that, I am working on this problem for a couple of months now, trying to find a way to give back to my community (here in Winchester) and enable the growth of other people; either in terms of software development (teaching how to build software) or by infecting them with goodness and the will to help each other.
A brilliant way to discuss new ideas is to share them with a group of people. During a workshop or brainstorming session ideas spring back and forth and your idea can spring to life.
Although sharing is a very good form of exploring your idea and making it happen you should beware of one group of people that will break your idea and kill it before it comes to life.
I am talking about the people who are not interested in your fantastic idea! People who are not interested in the idea, pissed off by it being a great idea, people who don’t share during the session, lower the morale of the group trying to build and explore a great idea significantly. Eventually you will drop the idea discouraged by the feedback (or the lack of it) you received.
Next time you have a great idea drop this types and run with your idea, the spark of innovation might be right there waiting for you!
Sometimes you have this brilliant idea, or maybe just a simple idea, something you want to do. There is a good chance that you might want to wait for the perfect moment to start with your idea. The odds are you will be waiting forever.
This possibly happens due to the inexorable perfectionist in you that wants to think first through all the possibilities that will make up this idea you have. Quality is very important when there is quantity.
Think about the quality of your code; it has to be as clean as it can possibly be; the metaphors should make sense. But above all you should first think about starting, if there is no code it doesn’t matter as there can be no quality attached to it.
Having said this, I have started the web site (as a blog for the moment) for the Software Craftsmanship User Group UK; What have you started today?
The new entry of The Wandering Book by Michael DiBernardo is a very interesting one. In the first part of it he praises the Software Craftsmanship community (our strive to learn and improve, the way we try to make our software as simple as possible, etc), but it is actually the part “under the line” that caught my attention.
My concern is the conflict between what we are preaching and how that is interpreted in the context of how we appear to others. Because seriously – if someone is pontificating to me about simplicity, elegance in design, attention to detail – how much can I appreciate what he is saying if he is wearing a 6 year old ironic t-shirt and khakis that are several sizes too big for him?
Michael has a very valid point there!
Software Developers are notorious for their out of the norm (to be diplomatically correct here) dressing habits. If we are to raise the bar in software development and try to be professionals we have to think of all the aspects of it. The little things, that our customers can see from us as professionals will surely reflect on how we interact with them. I am not saying we should wear suits and ties, but we surely need to work on our presence.
Imagine going to the doctors and he is wearing a think geek t-shirt about some sort of zombie rights and khakis… Would you let him perform open heart surgery on you?
It seems that The Wandering Book is travelling at higher speed now. We recently had a very insightful entry from Gustin Prudner and, to my surprise, today there is a new one; this time by Bobby Wilson coding fellow at Entryway:
In his entry he states:
There are ideas but there aren’t rules. Craftsmanship is an introspective process with an emphasis on building quality and value, but the discipline is up to you.
The thought of having different disciplines in different studios/workshops helps to create an environment where new ways of crafting great software can be learned. I would call that schools of practice (or thought).
Every studio/workshop has it’s unique approach to building their software, interacting with their customers, etc.
I was thinking about this last year, and I was pondering with the idea of creating an event inviting different craftsmanship studios/workshops to gather together and share their way with the other studios present. This way we could be able to learn from each other all sorts of techniques (from coding practices, billing techniques, customer collaboration, and a long etc).
The idea is still in my head, and I would love to make it happen anytime soon (maybe by the end of this year). Would you and your workshop/studio attend to such an event?
We have another wonderful entry to The Wandering Book, this time from Gustin. Gustin runs a small studio in Floyd, Virginia called Entryway. They follow a set of core values deeply ingrained into their culture embracing Software Craftsmanship to their daily lives as a business.
In his entry in The Wandering Book, Gustin, describes his thoughts on the Craft of Software. I was very pleased to read his entry and see that he, like many others, has created a culture of betterment around him, trying to nurture the environment around him with energy and his values.
I loved though one particular part of his entry:
A software crafter is often on the verge of obsession. Craftsmanship is caring enough to change the little things that may not be noticeable to a customer, whether it is for aesthetic reasons or for the future maintenance of code. It is the forethought toward the future evolution of market, client, and software.
Moreover Gustin has been the first person to write on (and have the courage) more than 2 pages on The Wandering Book which actually pleases me as we can see the brilliant result!
Here you can see Gustin’s original entry in The Wandering Book, or you can read it on his personal blog as well.
