Are you convinced that test-driven development (TDD) will benefit your team, but you find some developers view the practice as unproductive and unhelpful? Are you the lone voice advocating for continuous integration (CI), really convinced it will bring huge benefits, but others don't want to listen? Do you see the wisdom of secure-by-design and actively assessing software security, yet management feels that they've avoided any problems so far and assume they'll continue to avoid problems.
Research tells us that the information we take in depends on a person’s assumptions, aversions, biases, and preconceptions. Broadly speaking, psychologists and scientists call these cognitive biases. People who study organizational behavior use their understanding of cognitive biases to bring important improvements and change to individuals, teams, and organizations.
Come learn about common cognitive biases that impact development teams. Let's explore strategies to identify and cope with seemingly irrational decisions against new and better practices. Through specific examples, learn some straightforward ways that may help you manage the opposition you encounter that can hold teams back.
Stephen Ritchie is the author of Pro .NET Best Practices (http://www.apress.com/9781430240235) and the organizer of the DC ALT .NET group (http://www.meetup.com/dcaltnet). He has been writing software professionally for over 20 years. Stephen works as a software development consultant at Excella Consulting in the Washington, D.C. area. His passion for following best practices has taught him to appreciate the value of experience, practical know-how, and continuous learning. Stephen is the .NET best practices steward at Excella Consulting, working with .NET project teams to facilitate and sort out the helpful practices from the unhelpful ones, the practicable from the impracticable, and the "sounds good" from the "it really is good" practices and principles.
3. Excella Consulting
Warm Up
• Third clue:
– One word answer
– Begins with “H”
– Ends with “y”
• Once the question is asked, quickly write
down your one word answer.
• Stand up once you have the answer.
40. Excella Consulting
How many tornado shelters in “Tornado Alley”?
Oklahoma
Percentage of homes
with storm shelters?
41. Excella Consulting
Surprisingly
In the Oklahoma City
area, perhaps 10 to 20
percent of homes have
some kind of formal
shelter.
Most houses and public buildings in ‘Tornado Alley’ lack storm shelters, by Agence France-Presse. May 22, 2013
42. Excella Consulting
Surprisingly
“Unfortunately, people prefer
homes with swimming pools
rather than storm shelters,”
said Oklahoma State
Representative Joe Dorman
Most houses and public buildings in ‘Tornado Alley’ lack storm shelters, by Agence France-Presse. May 22, 2013
51. Excella Consulting
Tried and True
“… it would be excessively
costly to IBM to quickly
introduce more modern
machinery using electronics and
magnetic tape instead of relays
and punched cards.”
From Tabulators to Early Computers in the U.S. Life Insurance Industry: Co-evolution and Continuities, JoAnne
Yates, October 1993, CCS WP #153, Sloan School WP #3618-93
53. Excella Consulting
Exercise
• On your index card
• Write 3 specific examples
• Organizations pick development patterns
and practices that are
– “old and adequate” over “new and better”
– “tried and true” over “possibly better”
– “always done it” over “unprecedented”
67. Excella Consulting
We are all individuals. (I’m not!)
“In a very real sense there is
no such thing as
organizational behavior.
There is only individual
behavior. Everything else
flows out of that.”
Principle-Centered Leadership, Stephen Covey
68. Excella Consulting
• Stephen Ritchie
• Excella Consulting
– .NET developer
– “Best Practices”
– Training agile eng
– ScrumMaster/coach
• stephen.ritchie@excella.com
• http://www.linkedin.com/in/sri
tchie
• @ruthlesshelp
• Organizer DC Alt.NET
Shameless Self Promotion
http://amzn.to/v8TD8E
Notas del editor
Tonight I’m going to:-- Describe the Semmelweis Reflex-- And explain to you how it might impact you,-- And also, show you some ways to cope with it,-- Hopefully, you’ll learn how to avoid it.
First, let’s meet Dr. SemmelweisHe was a young physician, delivering babies in Austria, some one hundred and fifty years ago
At that time, the maternity wards were ravaged by a disease, which was known as childbed fever
Some 30% of the patients died from this disease
Nearby, another maternity ward had much lower rates
Dr. Semmelweis wanted to understand the difference.He decided to apply the scientific method
His educatedguess was:After you perform an autopsy …
And, before you deliver a baby …
Scrub your hands.This seems to prevent the spread of the disease.
His experiments worked!Again.And Again.
Semmelweis drew a startling conclusion.Physicians were transmitting this disease.
You can just imagine the headlines in those days.
Sadly, very few people know anything about Dr. Semmelweis.But why not?
He did the unthinkable.He contradicted established beliefs.
First, blood is one of the 4 humours. -- Disease is transmitted by bad smells.Second, the Hippocratic Oath. -- Doctors do not harm their patients.
So, how did his fellow physicians react to Dr. Semmelweis?With Contempt
Let’s define the Semmelweis Reflex:A tendency to reject new evidence or new knowledge because it contradicts Established wisdom, beliefs, or understanding.Okay. How is any of this relevant to you?
As a consultant, you may find yourself challenging conventional wisdom.For example, agile makes some BOLD assertions:
Focus on getting people to work well together.Less process
And some things you do …Make things worse!
You’ve got to STOP being right all the time.
Here are some things to focus on.Work with the client …Focusing on these thingshelp you cope with the reflex.Or avoid it in the first place.
Be more like Dr. McDreamy.Have a great bedside manner.
So, whatever happened to Dr. Semmelweis.-- He turned every conversation to the topic of childbed fever-- Worse! He insisted that all instances of the disease could be traced back to only one single cause: a doctor’s lack of cleanliness-- Many were offended by his conclusion.-- Confident that he knew how to prevent death, he was extremely disturbed by all the needless human suffering.-- He became severely depressed
He was lured to this insane asylum.
He was put in a straightjacket, beaten, and died two weeks later …At the age of 47.
Today, he is not forgotten.After all, he was right all along.
If you don’t want to end up like Dr. Semmelweis,Don’t be an ass.
Now you know what the Semmelweis Reflex is all about.It is a negativereaction to unconventional wisdom.You will encounter it because you bring new/original thoughts and ideas to the table.You cope with it by not attacking; possess inner strengthYou overcome it by being patient; remain playful, remain calm.