Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

LightNews

Allen Holub

@allenholub.bsky.social

3.6K followers 130 following 1.2K posts

Author, international speaker, consultant, software architect, kitchen-sink wrangler.

Posts Media Videos Starter Packs

Allen Holub @allenholub.bsky.social · 1d

I'm not sure that "remote" is the factor as much as people working as individuals throughout the day. You'll absolutely need some sort of daily (or more frequent) coordination if you do that. If you work in an ensemble (and you can do that remotely), the situation changes.

Allen Holub @allenholub.bsky.social · 1d

Yes, people do believe that. The belief is still inexperience talking—though I'll admit that I've seen ensembles fail because a handful of those "hero" programmers subverted the mob and forced a failure. Everybody has to participate for it to work.

Allen Holub @allenholub.bsky.social · 1d

Welcome to modern times, I guess. If you're open to learning, there's a great meta-resource at https://t.ly/8cghc
2/2

Organize anything, together. Trello is a collaboration tool that organizes your projects into boards. In one glance, know what's being worked on, who's working on what, and where something is in a process.

Allen Holub @allenholub.bsky.social · 1d

Why is it that the people who seem to have the strongest negative opinions about Mob/Ensemble programming are usually the people who have never experienced it? The thing they imagine has nothing to do with the real thing, but that doesn't stop them from having opinions.
1/2

Allen Holub @allenholub.bsky.social · 1d

The best cross-team bonding exercise I've participated in was playing cards after lunch a couple of times a week. The company paid for lunch, and we mostly played Spades. As a consultant, they wouldn't "pay me for playing cards," but in truth, a lot of useful work happened during those games.

Allen Holub @allenholub.bsky.social · 2d

So, to get rid of that standup, you need to change your system of work to one that does not require standups. That's certainly possible, as is proven by many organizations that have done precisely that, but it's not the mindless removal of a single component.
10/10

Allen Holub @allenholub.bsky.social · 2d

Put another way, you cannot just drop ensemble programming into your existing system and expect it to work. The overall system will guarantee its failure and pull you back to the previous status quo.
9/10

Allen Holub @allenholub.bsky.social · 2d

Things like individual performance reviews, a requirement for a single sign-off on a "ticket," PR-triggered code reviews, a lack of team autonomy and psychological safety, etc., all fight against ensemble work.
8/10

Allen Holub @allenholub.bsky.social · 2d

However, for that ensemble to function, you need an overall system that promotes ensemble work.
7/10

Allen Holub @allenholub.bsky.social · 2d

For example, organizations that use mob/ensemble programming 100% of the time do not need standups. (And, just to cut off the comment: no, that is not less efficient. Many ensembles work faster than they did when they were working as individuals.)
6/10

Allen Holub @allenholub.bsky.social · 2d

You cannot make even small changes to a system of work without considering the system as a whole and making systemic adjustments.

So, if you want to remove that standup, you need to adjust the overall system to compensate.
5/10

Allen Holub @allenholub.bsky.social · 2d

That DOES NOT MEAN "do what you're doing now, but without standups." The standups are a component in a larger system of work that does not stand alone. Simply removing the standup could break the overall system of work.
4/10

Allen Holub @allenholub.bsky.social · 2d

You cannot, for example, remove the carburetor (or even a spark plug) from a car—an automotive system—and expect to still achieve the goal of moving from one point to another at speed.

I'm bringing this up because yesterday's post said that you don't need stand-up meetings.
3/10

Allen Holub @allenholub.bsky.social · 2d

Removing or changing any part of that system impacts the system as a whole, sometimes leading to its collapse.
2/10

Allen Holub @allenholub.bsky.social · 2d

We all adhere to a *system* of work. That system may or may not be chaotic, but it's a system nonetheless: a collection of components and subsystems that work in concert to achieve a single goal—in our case, to produce a product.
1/10

Reposted by Allen Holub

Adam Grant @adamgrant.bsky.social · 2d

Cursing is rarely a symbol of low class. It's often a mark of high authenticity.

Evidence: Swearing predicts higher rates of honesty and integrity. It signals a willingness to prize candor over courtesy.

A little profanity can show that you're being real and you do give a damn.

Reposted by Allen Holub

Christopher Webb @cwebbonline.com · 3d

It’s the Feds making Portland look like a war zone— not the protesters.

And honestly, these protesters are brilliant. They’re flipping the whole authoritarian cosplay on its ass!

Allen Holub @allenholub.bsky.social · 3d

So, using mob/ensemble programming saves the company $3M/year, on that single factor alone. (It's actually more when you factor in the "time value of money," as any good MBA would do.

Worth thinking about.
5/5

Allen Holub @allenholub.bsky.social · 3d

$250/person * 5 people/team * 10 teams * 250 workdays/year == $3,125,000. That's "million," with an "m."

If you use mob/ensemble programming instead of "scatter-gather," you don't need a standup.
4/5

Allen Holub @allenholub.bsky.social · 3d

There are about 250 workdays in a year—2,000 hours—so that fully loaded salary comes to $250/hour. That's how much it costs the company.

That "15-minute" standup takes an hour when you factor in conversations after the meeting, context-swap overhead, and other distractions.
3/5

Allen Holub @allenholub.bsky.social · 3d

People typically use a "load factor" multiplier to convert from what you pay an employee to their actual cost to the company (which includes benefits, HR costs, &c.). When I was a CTO, I used a 2x load factor.

So, the "fully-loaded" cost of a senior programmer is $500K/year.
2/5

Allen Holub @allenholub.bsky.social · 3d

Let's talk about the cost of a stand-up meeting.

Here in the SF-Bay Area, A senior programmer can make $300K/year or more. Starting salaries are more around $175K. Let's average at $250K to make the math easy.

Your cost to the company is higher than that.
1/5

Allen Holub @allenholub.bsky.social · 6d

Thanks!

Allen Holub @allenholub.bsky.social · 7d

just visiting. was in copenhagen last week & decided to get out of the airport on the way home

Allen Holub @allenholub.bsky.social · 7d

Amsterdam!