Comments on: Is Software Development Just a Game? http://dpwhelan.com/blog/agile/is-software-development-just-a-game/ Delivering better software Tue, 06 Jan 2009 11:44:52 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.2 By: Chris Jones http://dpwhelan.com/blog/agile/is-software-development-just-a-game/#comment-10 Chris Jones Sat, 21 Jun 2008 15:31:20 +0000 http://dpwhelan.com/blog/?p=5#comment-10 very interesting, i find myself comparing software development to other professions all the time. for some reason sports and programming have a lot in common in terms of process (at least the way i see it). great post! very interesting, i find myself comparing software development to other professions all the time. for some reason sports and programming have a lot in common in terms of process (at least the way i see it). great post!

]]> By: dwhelan http://dpwhelan.com/blog/agile/is-software-development-just-a-game/#comment-2 dwhelan Mon, 19 May 2008 14:49:40 +0000 http://dpwhelan.com/blog/?p=5#comment-2 I think there is plenty of insight to be drawn from this analogy. For instance, really good team players seem to always know where everyone is and counts on them being there. Scott Ambler talks about "specializing generalists" and I have really come to belive that this is key since technology moves so quickly. I remember watching Steve Nash get a 3 point play, an assist, a steal, a rebound and draw a charge in less than one minute. We need our teams to drop the functional silos that constrain us and just focus on delivering stuff. One downside is that it does not impact people powerfully if they have not participated a lot in team sports. I am a very competitive person so the analogy resonates with me. Oh well, an analogy is just an analogy - nothing more. I think there is plenty of insight to be drawn from this analogy.

For instance, really good team players seem to always know where everyone is and counts on them being there.

Scott Ambler talks about “specializing generalists” and I have really come to belive that this is key since technology moves so quickly. I remember watching Steve Nash get a 3 point play, an assist, a steal, a rebound and draw a charge in less than one minute. We need our teams to drop the functional silos that constrain us and just focus on delivering stuff.

One downside is that it does not impact people powerfully if they have not participated a lot in team sports. I am a very competitive person so the analogy resonates with me. Oh well, an analogy is just an analogy - nothing more.

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