A as in Agile, Aboriginal

Based on ethnographic study, the following mental characteristics of Aboriginal Australians have been discovered:

(AB1)"By trial and error" method is the dominant way of dealing with problems. Copying someone else's approach to problems (even successful) is not the first choice.

(AB2) There is no competition between people, no need to be as good as someone else in something. It's very seldom that someone wants to rule or dominate over others.

(AB3) The focus is on the present time, thinking about the future does not happen often.

(AB4) The thinking is mostly pictorial, non-verbal.

Isn't it astonishing how much these characteristics have in common with what we strive to achieve with our agile software teams?

TDD for Absolute Beginners

In this post I aim at providing a solid overview of what Unit Tests are and what TDD is. It is intended for people not familiar with TDD yet and definitely not for seasoned developers. I'm not presenting any fancy or advanced methods, instead, I'm focusing on explaining TDD in a way that is easy to understand. Also, if you want to learn what TDD is about but your role is different than a developer, you are welcome to read on watch the video. It should help you understand what it is, what its benefits are, but also how much discipline it requires to be done right.

Less obvious advice on User Stories

Much have been written already about the craft of writing User Stories and this post is not meant to repeat or replace any of the existing writings on the subject. On the other hand I know there is a dead zone in there and it is not easy to find advice on certain practical aspects of writing well-crafted Stories. I also feel I've accumulated enough of the less obvious knowledge of that craft that sharing it is likely to fill in some of the gaps. This post is targeted at the audience with a good amount of experience at writing User Stories already: Product Owners, Scrum Masters and Agile Coaches.