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?

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?

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.

At Eden we love sharing and discussing as we learn. On Tuesdays, we sit together for lunch and do just that: someone might present some new cool technology, or practice presenting in front of a friendly audience. We might discuss the newest hype in the development community, just sit and chat about git vs. svn…

Why don’t you come over and have lunch with us? We meet every Tuesday at 1pm for an hour.

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?

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?

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?

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.

Not only customer collaboration,

but also productive partnerships.

Being “in tune” with our customers has always been one of the most important aspects of my professional life. I have always tried to understand, really understand, the need of a customer; get to know where it itches.

When I was in Nigeria for 2 years developing the Value Added Services platforms for a mobile operator I spend my days running from operations to customer care up to marketing and back to coding (I actually spend more then one night coding). I was trying to understand all the perspectives of the software we wanted to develop and deploy so that our public, the mobile phone users of the country could enjoy the best service. I even responded to more than a call at the customer care centre and talked to users that had a problem with a given service.

Usually I would say I have a gift for understanding, and taking my time to understand, my customers needs.

The other day though I got totally blown away buy a level of professionalism and empathy that I had not experienced before.

My mother has recently been operated from a cancer and she is recovering at home. Her GP organised a special service from the so called Unidad de Paliativos (eng. Palliative Unit). Basically there is a doctor that comes to your house once a week and looks after you making sure everything is fine.

The day of the visit the doctor did not come alone for the visit, but had an apprentice with him. A learning doctor that assists him while he visits his patients.

The way this doctor acted and spoke during the visit left us all speechless (not in the literal way). He had a way of talking and understand my mothers concerns and situation that was beyond what I can possibly explain; as my mother said it was a finest hour (actually she used the german term Sternstunde).

I am not able to transmit the power of this doctor and his way of dealing with his patients, it was a far to awe inspiring experience. What I am possibly trying to express is deep respect and a desire to learn from this experience.

At the moment I am not sure in which way I am going to digest and apply this experience in my craft, but I am sure it will change the way I interact with my customers.

Coming back to the 4th value of the Manifesto I think it is just a starting point from which we have to explore the interactions and relationships with our customers.

productive partnerships sounds a bit cold and abstract, nevertheless it is a good starting point for a workshop/studio to expand upon and make it part of their school of thought.

What do you think? Do you have any experiences to share?

Long story short (this should be just a little update) I have decided to log into irc.freenode.net whenever I can and be in the #software_craftsmanship channel.

This should give us a lot of opportunities to share ideas and thoughts (even help each other with smaller issues) in almost realtime.

I hope to see you around!

Enrique