Here’s some grist for why we agilists can contribute to the conversation on software ethics and why it’s a fit topic for Agile 2009:
Handout notes I prepared for Agile 2008 drawing on the work of Jonathan Haidt and describing why ethical dilemmas have essential complexity per “No Silver Bullet.”
“Doc” and I submitted our proposal for an open space for Agile 2009, The mushy stuff of values & culture – an open space for workplace dilemmas.
Please check it out and respond with words of support.
A rollable E-ink plastic display…
Now make the wrapper less obtrusive, the display larger and touch sensitive.
I’m talking to “Doc” List about proposing an open space for Agile 2009. Here are my initial notes. I know the deadline is any day now…
“the meteoric rise of interest in and sometimes tremendous criticism of Agile Methodologies is about the mushy stuff of values and culture” — Jim Highsmith, History: The Agile Manifesto
We, workers, sometimes feel pressure to overlook ethical lapses and compromise personal values in order to provide for our families.
We may turn a blind eye to unfair treatment, un-sustainable pace, and less candor than agile principles demand. Particularly in this economy, we may relax the types of businesses/clients for whom we are willing to labor, what we are willing to build and the code we are willing to commit.
We may pragmatically define performance as doing what we’re told to the potential detriment of end users, the long-term success of our projects and the mastery that builds careers.
Can we create a safe, open space where software workers can discuss these challenges with a community of peers for advice, critique and kinship?
Walking the village past the bankrupting sublet of our first new york month
refurbished sweatshop infested with more dogs than roaches
where our 3 month old shimmied off the unfamiliar bed into the bedside stand
where I commuted to the mid-bust media job after the first of five layoff rounds
realizing it’s been one bitch of a firefight since day one