XP2011 keynote abstract
I’ll be giving one of the keynotes at XP2011 (Madrid, May 10-13). Here’s my tentative abstract. How do you like it?
What Forms of Work-and-Life Make Sense for Us?
It’s widely agreed that Agile has “crossed the chasm” to mainstream acceptance. Along the way, some of the more interesting bits have fallen off. This talk will be the latest in a multi-year effort to recover those bits, rehabilitate them, make them stranger, and encourage you to put them to work. There will be no overarching “Big Idea”, but some smaller ideas will include the distinction between what I call “the stance of rationality” and “the stance of reaction” (I favor the latter), the high cost of thinking, the virtues of habit, and some criticism of the optimistic ideas about teams, enterprises, and leaders that infest our field. There may also be a tango lesson.
April 1st, 2011 at 11:37 am
Sounds interesting. I often find keynotes spend too much time trying to awe or inspire me with vision, rather than giving something really valuable and useful that they have that I could have taken away. I think if you pull this off, people may come away with something regardless of whether or not they are impressed. That said, I’d consider rewording this bit:
the distinction between what I call “the stance of rationality” and “the stance of reaction” (I favor the latter)
That sounds like a point in the talk, but perhaps there’s a more refined way to say it in the abstract that stands on its own? Especially given your stance on “history lessons” in code, tests, etc.