Extreme Programming, Sinek Style
I'm a long-term fan of Extreme Programming (XP). I read all of the original books, even the ones with the colour-clash front covers and the ones that took a critical view of XP. I can't say that I'm applying it all "by the book" more than fifteen years on, but the ideas still inform the way I work.
But what happens when we overlay some Simon Sinek on Kent Beck's Extreme Programming values?
The XP values are:
- Communication
- Simplicity
- Feedback
- Courage
- Respect (added a little later)
In Start With Why, one of the striking thoughts Simon Sinek shares is this...
It's nearly impossibly to hold people accountable to nouns. "A little more innovation today if you would please, Bob."
So instead of pasting "innovation" on your office wall in big letters, you would ask people to "look at the problem from a different angle". What does it mean for those XP values then?
- Make sure everyone is clear about what we are doing and why
- Do the simplest thing that works
- Make feedback loops as short as possible
- Have difficult conversations as soon as you realise they are needed
... and if you are wondering about the fifth value, Respect...
...if you have to write "respect" on your wall to remind you to do it, then you probably have bigger problems anyway...
(The original quote concerned "honesty", but I feel respect is in the same ball park.)
So before you compress your way of being into a pithy set of value-nouns, consider the problem of making those nouns actionable and relevant.
Many thanks to Kent Beck and Simon Sinek, who are both great and inspirational writers. If you haven't read Extreme Programming Explained or Start With Why - I can thoroughly recommend both.