Comments on: over/under http://malvasiabianca.org/archives/2006/02/overunder/ Tue, 22 May 2012 01:20:09 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 By: david carlton http://malvasiabianca.org/archives/2006/02/overunder/comment-page-1/#comment-4410 david carlton Mon, 20 Feb 2006 19:43:02 +0000 http://malvasiabianca.org/?p=301#comment-4410 The person I was referring to was somebody you don't (as far as I am aware) know, actually. Having said that, I do agree with what you say. The person I was referring to was somebody you don’t (as far as I am aware) know, actually. Having said that, I do agree with what you say.

]]> By: Per http://malvasiabianca.org/archives/2006/02/overunder/comment-page-1/#comment-4409 Per Sun, 19 Feb 2006 22:31:27 +0000 http://malvasiabianca.org/?p=301#comment-4409 In the specific case, I am pretty sure I know which person you are talking about, and I think that there is much more at play there that just his personality. In terms of your latest post, if you had asked him the list of questions you would have gotten a large number of 'no' answers. Not that he is always the easiest person to deal with, but if you let an issue develop it will turn into a problem and eventually a crisis. That management thing is not easy ;-) Btw, its funny you should mention pair programming, 'cause it was one of the specific things I suggested to solve that particular situation. I got turned down. And I don't think I will ever get my XP book back. In the specific case, I am pretty sure I know which person you are talking about, and I think that there is much more at play there that just his personality. In terms of your latest post, if you had asked him the list of questions you would have gotten a large number of ‘no’ answers. Not that he is always the easiest person to deal with, but if you let an issue develop it will turn into a problem and eventually a crisis. That management thing is not easy ;-)

Btw, its funny you should mention pair programming, ’cause it was one of the specific things I suggested to solve that particular situation. I got turned down. And I don’t think I will ever get my XP book back.

]]> By: david carlton http://malvasiabianca.org/archives/2006/02/overunder/comment-page-1/#comment-4408 david carlton Sun, 19 Feb 2006 04:08:52 +0000 http://malvasiabianca.org/?p=301#comment-4408 I'm certainly one of the worst people on my team in terms of pair programming; I'm sure this has concrete negative effects on my team. And I frequently don't respond well to others' urgency; I work much better in normal flow situations than in crisis situations. In my defense, I put in a fair amount of effort to reduce the number of crisis situations; having said that, when I'm actually in such a situation, I should spend time dealing the situation as it is instead of letting my annoyance at its existence affect my behavior. At to whether these troublesome super programmers exist; I don't know. I've seen people who set up barriers around their code; I've seen people who are very bad at building consensus for their ideas and use their position power to override those who disagree with them. Some of those people I thought really were quite good programmers; some weren't. I can think of one person who was individually very productive on a project I care about but whose overall contribution to that project I suspect was negative. I don't think that person exactly matched the outline from my post; maybe that outline was excessively colored by the examples in my manager training. In terms of programmers as individuals, and how XP works with that, I have a post on that issue coming up... I’m certainly one of the worst people on my team in terms of pair programming; I’m sure this has concrete negative effects on my team. And I frequently don’t respond well to others’ urgency; I work much better in normal flow situations than in crisis situations. In my defense, I put in a fair amount of effort to reduce the number of crisis situations; having said that, when I’m actually in such a situation, I should spend time dealing the situation as it is instead of letting my annoyance at its existence affect my behavior.

At to whether these troublesome super programmers exist; I don’t know. I’ve seen people who set up barriers around their code; I’ve seen people who are very bad at building consensus for their ideas and use their position power to override those who disagree with them. Some of those people I thought really were quite good programmers; some weren’t. I can think of one person who was individually very productive on a project I care about but whose overall contribution to that project I suspect was negative. I don’t think that person exactly matched the outline from my post; maybe that outline was excessively colored by the examples in my manager training.

In terms of programmers as individuals, and how XP works with that, I have a post on that issue coming up…

]]> By: Per http://malvasiabianca.org/archives/2006/02/overunder/comment-page-1/#comment-4407 Per Sat, 18 Feb 2006 06:25:08 +0000 http://malvasiabianca.org/?p=301#comment-4407 Which makes me wonder, who are the troublesome "super programmers"? Are you? Though you have helped me on a number of occasions, you often give somewhat perfunctory answers and in two urgent situations, one involving a trade show and one involving a partner request, you blew me off because you felt that it was not as important as what you were otherwise engaged with. Are you a troublesome "super programmer"? The answer is no, I don't think so. I think XP simplifies the problem. In honesty, I am not sure that type really exist, at least, I have not encountered him/her in over 20 years of CS. People are different, unique, individuals and you have to deal with them as individuals. What is convinient for you, and the way you function best, may not be convinient for them, and the way they function best. Some people welcome distractions, some people want to focus. Some people work in bursts, some people at a steady pace. The challenge for you, as a manager, is to create an environment where everyone can function and function well. You didn't think it was an easy job, did you? ;) Which makes me wonder, who are the troublesome “super programmers”? Are you? Though you have helped me on a number of occasions, you often give somewhat perfunctory answers and in two urgent situations, one involving a trade show and one involving a partner request, you blew me off because you felt that it was not as important as what you were otherwise engaged with. Are you a troublesome “super programmer”?

The answer is no, I don’t think so. I think XP simplifies the problem. In honesty, I am not sure that type really exist, at least, I have not encountered him/her in over 20 years of CS. People are different, unique, individuals and you have to deal with them as individuals. What is convinient for you, and the way you function best, may not be convinient for them, and the way they function best. Some people welcome distractions, some people want to focus. Some people work in bursts, some people at a steady pace. The challenge for you, as a manager, is to create an environment where everyone can function and function well. You didn’t think it was an easy job, did you? ;)

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