Summary

Join us at Agile Yorkshire for an evening of insights where Conway's Law meets the art of listening, with a dash of networking along the way. We'll explore how the structure of an organisation inevitably shapes the systems it creates—so if your teams are scattered, expect your application architecture to follow suit. But that's not all; we'll also delve into the often-overlooked skill of listening, vital for anyone, but absolutely essential for testers. Drawing parallels between listening theories and testing practices, we'll uncover how truly effective listening can transform not just your testing outcomes, but your professional relationships as well.

Programme

We Become What We Behold: Sociology, software and Conway's Law
Conway's Law states that 'organizations which design systems ... are constrained to produce designs which are copies of the communication structures of these organizations' - e.g. highly distributed development teams will produce a distributed application architecture. "First we shape our tools, then our tools shape us". In the context of software development, do we reflect enough on the way our environment, tools, languages etc determine how we view the world and attempt to problem solve? What can awareness of these sociological aspects of software do to help our work, and what are the implications for business, politics and the economy?
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James Hull
Freelance Agile and Systems Thinking consultant and developer
Listening: An essential skill for software testers
“When you talk you are repeating what you already know. But if you listen, you may learn something new” Dalai Lama Are you really listening? Listening is an important skill for any human being but for a tester an essential skill. If part of testing is about information gathering and interpretation then Listening is a key component. A detailed look at the art of listening with parallels being drawn between listening theories and how we test. Listening when done effectively has the potential to change your relationships as well as your testing.
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Stephen Mounsey
Stephen is a scrum master and agile coach who values visualisation, games, play and fun at work. He's an enthusiastic agilist with a passion for emergent thinking and self organising teams. When Stephen gets time away from his 2 dogs and 2 young children, he likes to attend and speak at agile and test meet ups.