I spent the last one-and-a-half days at the SoCraTes conference. I'm still kind of stoked about all the great people I met and were able to talk. It's such a great feeling to be part of such a clever and diverse community. Thanks to Nicole, Andreas and all the others to make this event happen.

Fishbowl Discussion at SoCraTes

I'll certainly talk/blog more about SoCraTes and Software Craftsmanship in general on this blog in the next weeks and months. But for now, I want to summarize the outcome (if you can say, there was one) of the Fishbowl discussion, that was taking place on Friday evening, the conference's first day.

The discussion started with Andreas , Ade, Uri, Markus and Sandro. For the uninitiated, I might add, that Sandro and Uri both started very successful Software Craftsmanship communities in their respective cities.

Next Steps

The first question was (paraphrased) "what are the next concrete steps, to get the Software Craftsmanship community in germany off the ground". And although the question was not answered in a definitive way by anyone throughout the whole discussion, there were a lot of possible steps, tips & tricks shared, that I want to note down as a reference. Note that I might paraphrase one or the other in order to better convey the point (or at least the point that I understood):

1. "Find people who are committed to run the groups"
   This is kind of obvious to most, but still the first and most important point there is to actually starting the communities. Period.
2. "Focus on small geographical areas"
   We do not and should not aim to build geographical disperse communities/groups. So this is almost abvious. Go for the people in your vicinity, in your city. This does not mean, that you cannot cooperate with groups in other cities, like visiting "partner-groups" regularly or organizing joint-events every now and then.
3. "Define what's not included"
   Ade brought this one up, which generally falls under the category of "expectation management". But putting it in these exact words is so much more tangible and to the point.
4. "Talk about basic principles and skills first (in the meetings)"
   This was Uri's suggestion. I think this is meant to fulfill the "Raising the bar" tagline of the Software Craftsmanship Manifesto quickly and demonstrate to attendee's of community meetings, that it's not about talk & discussion only.
5. "Promote to people outside the normal groups"
   I can't remember anymore who said it, but it sure is a way to make sure, that a Software Craftsmanship community/group is not just like any other tech-specific group. Software Craftsmanship groups should aim to encompass a broader goal. It's not about technology xyz, but about pushing boundaries, getting better at what we do.
6. "Work with other local communities // cross-promote events"
   Which boils down to: Be a good & respectful "citizen". Don't try to "steal" members, but rather work together to foster great communities, not just one great community.
7. "Put limits on how many people are coming" This is not a next step or tip per se. It was meant as advice for a later stage, when meetings may get out of hand (with regards to size & scope) and is meant to be used in conjunction with point 3. above.

What I think are next steps:

It was decided during the Fishbowl on Friday evening, that a session would be held during the conference's Open Space on saturday, in which concrete next steps on how to start/launch the Software Craftsmanship community in germany would be decided.

However, I was not able to attend the conference's second day. So I decided to contribute to this Open Space session from afar and put forth the next actions, that are necessary and sensible from my point of view:

• Create a mailinglist for group organizers, to allow for event coordination and exchange of ideas, tips, tricks & motivation. Everybody who joins this mailinglist declares to organize a new or support an existing Software Craftsmanship group in his/her german city.
• Have at least 2-3 Software Craftsmanship groups across germany by December 2011.
  Sergey proposed that the Global Day of CodeRetreat would be a good setting for promoting the forming of Software Craftsmanship groups. (this also aligns perfectly with my plan to organize a CodeRetreat in Frankfurt or Rhein-Main area, so I might be biased)

That's already it. From there on, the local group initiators/organizers will have to organize and promote their groups. And this of course will depend on the local circumstances. But the mailing-list can serve as a back-up for all group leaders to work together and support each other.

Talk to me

Want to discuss this article, or how to promote Software Craftsmanship in germany? Contact me on Twitter or via email

Really nothing special to how I got to this book. I think it was an Amazon recommendation after I looked at some Jon Krakauer books. I expected the "Crazy For The Storm" to be a "tough-surviver" story, of someone who couldn't get enough adrenaline and for whom surviving a plane crash would give the ultimate "I-did-it" thrill.
Boy, was I mistaken. The book is not a simple survival story. But more on that later.

Contents

The author Norman Ollestad tells the story of how he survived a plane crash as an eleven-year old and the events leading up to the crash.
Living with his mother and her boy-friend, after their parents got divorced in his early childhood, Norman still has quite a intense relationship with his father, an ex-actor turned surfing- & skying lawyer in California. The father-son relationship is aptly summed up by the name with which Norman Sr. calls his son on important occasions: "Boy Wonder". Norman Sr. teaches his son how to surf and ski, and pushes his limits in not only these sports over and over again. Norman Jr. almost always hates it, and shows it openly. But his father either ignores it or pushes his son gently but firmly towards and past his fears.

The book's chapters alternate between describing the plane crash, and Norman Jr's survival thereof, and Norman's life with and later without his father shortly before and after the crash. The pace of the alternating chapters steadily increases throughout the book and climaxes shortly beforce the book's end.

Conclusion

Quite in contrast to my above mentioned expectation, the book is instead a very strong and heartfelt account of a very intense father-son relationship. Similarly to my previous read "The Mutt", although the book tells a very different father-son relationship, I found the story very gripping and incidently very much of what interests me at the moment.

Of course the book is very sad at times. But you always know while reading, that the book doesn't want to simply make you sad, but rather wants to tell you, that there are greater and more important things in life. That, no matter what, the current moment must be lived to the max. And that it's (in part) a father's responsibility to show this to his children.

And again, similarly to "The Mutt", it's a strongly told example on the importance and power of parents in one's life.

The book "World War Z" by Max Brooks was given to me by my long-time friend D. He had read it, and didn't want to take it back to Australia with him (airlines and luggage; a world of it's own).
Of course he recommended it as being a good read, but not with much fervor. So I put it on my stack. But somehow it always tickled me when I looked at it, because I found the story very much intriguing.

Contents

The book's subtitle is "An Oral History Of The Zombie World War". And this is pretty much it.
The setting of the book is a world, where zombies are a reality. They walk the earth and brought the earth's population of humans onto the brink of extinction. But in an almost 10 year fight, the already mentioned "Zombie World War", people managed to fight back, and reclaim most of earth's surface.

The book tells the story, starting with the outbreak until quite some time after the war, as a series of interviews with eye witnesses from around the world.

Conclusion

While the plot at first doesn't sound too original, Max Brooks manages to bring a level of authenticity into the oral accounts that ranges from stirring to shocking and simply frightening.
At some point I even asked myself if I really should read the book shortly before going to bed, because I thought, that it might keep me from sleeping well (keep in mind, that this comes from the guy who wasn't able to play Doom without God Mode because it was too exciting). Rest assured, my one-year old has a firmer grip on my sleeping habits, than any book can ever achieve.

So what I'm really trying to say is: The book gives a rather standard plot-idea a serious twist and near-perfect execution and is therefore a very entertaining read.

I must admit, I fell victim to the sensational title. I was aware, that the book is from 1995, but I thought Tom DeMarco (of whom I haven't read any other book yet) was some kind of quality-guarantue, and one can't do anything wrong when reading any of his works.
Boy, was I mistaken. Guess what his answer to the books title question is?! The professionals in the software world were simply too good in the past, and almost always over-performed and fulfilled unreasonably high expectations and requirements.
So what should we do in the future? Tell our customers to relax and point them to our great achievements of the past, while also telling them that we all should really get more realistic about expectations and costs.
All very solid advice.

The book even has a tutorial on "Desktop Video". You know, the kind where you record your computer's graphic output on VCR so you don't have to handle with Overhead Projectors anymore.

Yes, it was my own fault, to have bought and read this book.

Conclusion

A very outdated book, that demonstrates very clearly that not all writing is for eternity.